Hi!
I wondered if someone is going through or went through the same thing that is happening to me right now.
Very briefly:
- I had a risky contact at the end of July, 2012 (condom broke, me insertive)
- I started PEP 3 hours later (Truvada/Kaletra) and continued for 28 days - but I was not informed that I had to take Truvada with some food...
- 9 days later I developed an ARS-like disease (maculopapular rash on chest and arms diagnosed by physician, high fever, night sweats, sore throat) which made me think that PEP had failed. It really was a very severe illness, never experienced anything like this before
- All the tests came back negative for Hiv and other STIs. (Hiv ab at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 4 months and 8 months post risky behavior, Hiv-1 PCR at 5 months). In addition, they did a C4 and C8 count, which apparently is in the normal range (C4 627, C8 396).
Ok, so it looks like I do not have the virus. However, about one month after the last dose of PEP my health started deteriorating. I developed massive fatigue, my eyes are puffy and dark, I suffer from consistent diarrhea, frequent low-grade fever and other general symptoms. Fatigue is worst, since I cannot work properly anymore. This is going on for half a year now.
Doctors don't really know what is happening to me, some think I might have developed some kind of chronic fatigue syndrome; some think it's a post-traumatic fatigue, some speak of postinfectious fatigue (but without being able to tell me, what infection I had...). Blood tests revealed a high cholesterol level, low vitamine D and B9 levels and some markers of panchreatic insufficiency, everything else was +/- normal.
Does anyone know if PEP can trigger symptoms like these? Has anyone experienced something similar? I really would like to understand what is happening to me and to move on with my life, which is more like a nightmare right now.
Thanks a lot for any help or ideas!