I am the Mt. Saint Helens of Poo
Do you wanna know the worst thing about having HIV? Shit!! No, I was not cussing (or cursing if you are from the North). I literally mean: I hate shitting. It is 6:45 PM and I have went no less than 4 times today. And that is a low number; most days I go more than that.
Yes, I did start on a new set of meds, though chemically there the same as what I was on previously, but with the addition of cobicistat. I am on Stribild now; previously I was on Isentress and Truvada. Stribild is Truvada and Isentress combined, with the addition of cobicistat to boost the levels of the drug in my bloodstream, thus making the drugs more potent.
My best educated guess is that my new “going #2” side effect is as a result of the cobicistat, as I did NOT have this issue when I was on Isentress/Truvada separately. But, sadly enough, my adherence with Isentress was not as good as it should be; I kept forgetting to take my morning Isentress (I had to take Isentress twice a day). By missing so many of my doses, I was at risk of or already caused my medications to fail. Only time will tell if my forgetfulness will result in treatment failure.
But anyway, adherence is it’s own subject and I will talk about that in more depth in a future post.
Back to the fascinating subject of my poo. This side effect is annoying at best, inconvenient for sure. And it affects so many aspects of my life in a negative way. At work, it causes suspicion from my bosses. They have already mistaken my bathroom trips for social visits (I have to walk down two wings of a hospital to get to the public bathroom.) The next time I see my HIV doctor I am going to have to obtain a letter requesting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA (Americans with Disability Act). Large corporations have a very poor track record of following ADA law, and I have experienced this before, so I fear this necessary and legal request will result in placing a target on my back.
Being on call for shitting also affects my sex life. For both of our sakes, I will not expand on that. :)
And besides being the Mt. Saint Helens of Poop, I also seem to have more fatigue with Stribild. When I started on Truvada/Isentress I experienced fatigue for the first month or so. There were weekends I would literally spend ALL weekend asleep. I had to become Scrooge about my activities through the week, saying no to so many invitations, events, and dinners because I had to save my energy up for work. But that was the one and only side effect and it went away after 4 weeks. With Stribild, I have been on it for about 4 months now, and I still have fatigue, though is intermitten and ongoing as opposed to constant yet temporary. I woke up in the middle of last night and could barely even get out of bed to go to bathroom (to pee, not to shit, haha).
Do I wish I had not switched to Stribild? No, I am glad for the convenience of the once a day pill. The benefits far outweigh the consequences. I am confident that my side effects with either minimize and/or I will find ways to mitigate them or live around them.
HIV is not for the weak, that is for sure. Now, where are my wet wipes??
Yes, I did start on a new set of meds, though chemically there the same as what I was on previously, but with the addition of cobicistat. I am on Stribild now; previously I was on Isentress and Truvada. Stribild is Truvada and Isentress combined, with the addition of cobicistat to boost the levels of the drug in my bloodstream, thus making the drugs more potent.
My best educated guess is that my new “going #2” side effect is as a result of the cobicistat, as I did NOT have this issue when I was on Isentress/Truvada separately. But, sadly enough, my adherence with Isentress was not as good as it should be; I kept forgetting to take my morning Isentress (I had to take Isentress twice a day). By missing so many of my doses, I was at risk of or already caused my medications to fail. Only time will tell if my forgetfulness will result in treatment failure.
But anyway, adherence is it’s own subject and I will talk about that in more depth in a future post.
Back to the fascinating subject of my poo. This side effect is annoying at best, inconvenient for sure. And it affects so many aspects of my life in a negative way. At work, it causes suspicion from my bosses. They have already mistaken my bathroom trips for social visits (I have to walk down two wings of a hospital to get to the public bathroom.) The next time I see my HIV doctor I am going to have to obtain a letter requesting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA (Americans with Disability Act). Large corporations have a very poor track record of following ADA law, and I have experienced this before, so I fear this necessary and legal request will result in placing a target on my back.
Being on call for shitting also affects my sex life. For both of our sakes, I will not expand on that. :)
And besides being the Mt. Saint Helens of Poop, I also seem to have more fatigue with Stribild. When I started on Truvada/Isentress I experienced fatigue for the first month or so. There were weekends I would literally spend ALL weekend asleep. I had to become Scrooge about my activities through the week, saying no to so many invitations, events, and dinners because I had to save my energy up for work. But that was the one and only side effect and it went away after 4 weeks. With Stribild, I have been on it for about 4 months now, and I still have fatigue, though is intermitten and ongoing as opposed to constant yet temporary. I woke up in the middle of last night and could barely even get out of bed to go to bathroom (to pee, not to shit, haha).
Do I wish I had not switched to Stribild? No, I am glad for the convenience of the once a day pill. The benefits far outweigh the consequences. I am confident that my side effects with either minimize and/or I will find ways to mitigate them or live around them.
HIV is not for the weak, that is for sure. Now, where are my wet wipes??
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