Latest 'Lab Porn'

(Brian called this lab porn, which I found amusing enough to steal.)

So I got my results this week, with no big changes, no big surprises.

CD4+ Absolute: 255

While this seems like a big jump, it is really about the same as it has been for quite a while. It's certainly better than when I started, as you can see from the chart, but I can't help feeling that I'm stuck on some kind of endless plateau, with actual mountains taunting me from a distance.

CD4+ Percentage: 15

They don't call this a more stable indicator for nothing. You can see how it takes the excesses out of the CD4+ Absolute chart, and how my plateau is even more visible. I think I've actually reached the point of not expecting any more rebuilding of my immune system. While that might sound dreadfully dreary, I don't think it is. I've reached a point where I'm reasonable healthy most of the time and any big boost to my immune system might actually cause me more problems with respect to my psoriatic arthritis, so I'm okay with staying on the plateau and keeping away from the edge.

Viral Load: Undetectable (<50)

Here it is plotted as it should be on a logarithmic scale. I also subscribe to the point of view of the lab that gives me the 'undetectable' results as the number just below the level of sensitivity of the test (499 for undetectable until March 1999, 49 for undetectable thereafter). That explains the two different plateau levels, and we can see that I continue to be blipless since February 2006.

I found myself in the strange position of having more trouble adhering to my 'easier' regimen of Sustiva, 3TC and Tenofovir and had to change my pill-taking time for one of them. After seven and a half years of taking Crixivan three times a day fasting and having missed possibly two or three dozen doses over that entire period, I was up to at least a dozen missed doses of Tenofovir (which I took with breakfast) in only three years. While that's still a pretty good record, I found it alarming to be a week and a half behind on the Tenofovir, so I started taking it at night with the other two.

I am also exploring switching out the Sustiva for something with less impact on my mental health and sleeping patterns. I have heard that Tibotec is allowing tolerability switches to TMC-125 (Intelence), the next generation NNRTI, so that is my plan. (It is still at the level of a compassionate access program here, only now being considered for coverage by the Conseil du medicament.)

Wish me luck.