Hi, all, Just a quick note to any of you who might have hiv/aids, or who know anyone in this category:
The Gilead drug generic name Tenofovir (I haven't been able to catch thge marketing name), which I've been on for more than a year on an experimental basis, has been approved in the U.S. by the FDA. It's in a different category from the Protease Inhibitors and the Reverse Transcriptase drugs, and (1) it's easy to take, with few side effects (unless you have kidney trouble), (2) it's amazingly effective, and (3) you only have to take one -- I repeat ONE -- pill a day. I understand also that given this last fact, it will be cheaper than many of the other aids meds on the market (although, god knows, it's better if you're living in a place where they have some kind of financial assistance -- ADAP, MFAP, or some such). To give you an example, before I started Tenofovir, my viral load was over 200,000; after six months, it was undetectable (i.e. <50), and remains there. And nothing else had ever worked, or if so, only for a very short time. To all those who know no one with the disease, my apologies, but I thought it was important enough to give the heads up. And by the way -- I *don't* work for Gilead. :-) Good health to everyone! warmly, walt
