HIV, Neuropathy and More: Avoiding Becoming a Nervous Wreck http://www.thebody.com/content/65006/hiv-and-neuropathy-how-to-avoid-becoming-a-nervous.html A blog by Dave R. at TheBody.com. http://www.thebody.com/images/blog/daver_biobox.gif Dave R. http://www.thebody.com/content/65006/hiv-and-neuropathy-how-to-avoid-becoming-a-nervous.html 115 145 HIV and Sexual Assault in Times of War: Conscious Acts of Terror http://www.thebody.com/content/75243/hiv-and-sexual-assault-in-times-of-war-conscious-a.html I wonder where you're reading this. On your tablet on your way to work? Sitting with a glass of wine in the warmth of your home? In a café on the corner? Wherever it is, I would imagine most of you will be glancing at it in a position of comfort, with all mod cons around you, warm and well-fed, just as I am while writing it.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/75243/hiv-and-sexual-assault-in-times-of-war-conscious-a.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 17 Nov 2014 23:29:00 GMT The Condom Conundrum: What Good Are They Anyway? http://www.thebody.com/content/75032/the-condom-conundrum-what-good-are-they-anyway.html Before you get the wrong idea, this is not a call for the abandonment of rubbers in favour of uninhibited sex. It's an attempt to place condoms in the context of a world where sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are out to get us at every turn.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/75032/the-condom-conundrum-what-good-are-they-anyway.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:23:00 GMT Houston, We Have an HIV PR Problem http://www.thebody.com/content/74988/houston-we-have-an-hiv-pr-problem.html It's no secret that I'm a supporter of better education regarding the safety of people with an undetectable viral load. I've had many reactions to that stance and almost all were supportive. I'm not alone in this; many serious voices have been lobbying for a better understanding of the word "undetectable." However, a significant minority both misunderstand and take offense at the message, claiming selfish motives to justify abandoning condoms for bareback sex. We're being accused of being in some HIV-positive clique, intent on converting others to our perversities.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/74988/houston-we-have-an-hiv-pr-problem.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 17 Sep 2014 19:38:00 GMT I'm Positive, I'm on Treatment, I'm Undetectable, So Get Off My Case! http://www.thebody.com/content/74921/im-positive-im-on-treatment-im-undetectable-so-get.html Okay, look out folks, senior citizen out of control and about to rant!

To quote any queen on the Drag Race, I'm sick of being treated as a pariah (which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as: "a term of reproach or abuse: a worthless or contemptible person; a wretch, a cur."), officially!

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/74921/im-positive-im-on-treatment-im-undetectable-so-get.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 2 Sep 2014 17:10:00 GMT When Push Comes to Shove ... How Far Would You Go to Eradicate HIV? http://www.thebody.com/content/74641/when-push-comes-to-shove--how-far-would-you-go-to-.html It always seems pretty weak to begin an article with a disclaimer; as if you don't really believe in what you're writing. Well in this case, I genuinely don't know what to believe. My instinct says that governments who force people to do things are always a bad thing but I can't find a reasonable argument to defeat the premise of this post. Maybe readers can give me something more than a moral objection to the question posed here; maybe a moral objection is enough but the point is, I think we should at least talk about it.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/74641/when-push-comes-to-shove--how-far-would-you-go-to-.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:42:00 GMT The Painful Reality of Neuropathy http://www.thebody.com/content/74453/the-painful-reality-of-neuropathy.html Occasionally, everybody tingles, or has numb fingers or toes, or feels the nerve at the back of their leg twitch to give them shooting pain. They may be woken by restless legs that shudder without reason, or recoil if they touch something too hot or too cold, or conclude they've got a trapped nerve somewhere on their bodies. These are all perfectly normal but nothing prepares you for the effects of your nervous system going into major short-circuit mode!

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/74453/the-painful-reality-of-neuropathy.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 14 May 2014 16:54:00 GMT The Bug Chaser's Tale: An Interview http://www.thebody.com/content/73956/the-bug-chasers-tale-an-interview.html I've been exchanging emails with Jamie for about 9 months now; at first not for any other reason than he has neuropathy and has got it bad. He has followed the same frustrating path that many people do when faced with burning feet and loss of sensation in toes. Each treatment is equally as ineffective as the last and like many of us he has ended up on opiates which have finally given him some relief.

However, this story has nothing to do with neuropathy and everything to do with the fact that he was a bug chaser and having chased the bug, has tracked it down and it chases him these days.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73956/the-bug-chasers-tale-an-interview.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 3 Mar 2014 12:01:00 GMT Please Don't Leave Me Because I Need You: An HIV Take on Separation Anxiety http://www.thebody.com/content/73700/please-dont-leave-me-because-i-need-you-an-hiv-tak.html My last article was about people who find it very difficult to commit to others; no matter how much they care about them, they just can't get over that feeling that they're going to become someone's property and lose their sense of self. Those people rarely open up to the possibilities of a relationship.

However, there's another side to that same coin and that's the fear of being abandoned, neglected; left in the lurch and not being loved. It's called separation anxiety and it's equally painful and equally destructive to healthy relationships.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73700/please-dont-leave-me-because-i-need-you-an-hiv-tak.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 22 Jan 2014 14:12:00 GMT Please Don't Ask Me to Say I Love You: An HIV Take on Commitment Phobia http://www.thebody.com/content/73652/please-dont-ask-me-to-say-i-love-you-an-hiv-take-o.html If you're living with HIV, you've already been through stuff; that's a given. You may have seen friends or lovers dying, or being seriously ill and recovering by the skin of their teeth to live on bearing the scars. You may also have had your own brushes with disaster, leading to a well-justified and experience-based fear of the unknown and the future. If you're lucky, you've found a partner along the way to share shit with; someone to lift you up when you're down, just as you do to them. If you're not so lucky, you may be living alone, hoping that a new relationship may turn up; or just getting along, grabbing moments when you can and getting through, happy enough but not looking for wedding bells on the horizon.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73652/please-dont-ask-me-to-say-i-love-you-an-hiv-take-o.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 15 Jan 2014 03:32:00 GMT Nelson Mandela: "Great" Is Too Small a Word http://www.thebody.com/content/73432/nelson-mandela-great-is-too-small-a-word.html While most modern leaders base their careers on the Machiavellian quote that "It is better to be feared than loved," a handful of people throughout history prove by their lives and work that that doesn't necessarily have to be true. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa are names that spring to mind but history may judge Nelson Mandela to be possibly the greatest of them all. His ability to unite a land on the edge of chaos and riddled with partisan hatred and division, after 27 years of imprisonment and personal humiliation, is nothing short of miraculous.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73432/nelson-mandela-great-is-too-small-a-word.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 6 Dec 2013 19:14:00 GMT The Loneliness of the Long Distance HIVer http://www.thebody.com/content/73308/the-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-hiver.html Sometimes the weather is so bad you're forced to stay in and watch people hurrying by, heads down, or shielded by umbrellas, as if they deliberately don't want to catch your eye. The rain spits relentlessly onto the windowpane and although you're warm and dry, you long to be wet to the skin and hurrying with them, as companions to wherever their destination may be. Those are the times when loneliness cuts you off from the world and exaggerates your belief that every man is an island after all.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73308/the-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-hiver.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sun, 1 Dec 2013 08:00:00 GMT Anal Cancer: The Point of No Return http://www.thebody.com/content/73184/anal-cancer-the-point-of-no-return.html After almost six weeks of waiting and endless tests and appointments, John was finally admitted to the cancer hospital on 9th May, 2013. The following day he was operated on and his body changed forever. The anal tumour was successfully removed and his intestine and colon were re-routed to an opening on the front of his abdomen. There a colostomy bag could be fitted to take over waste removal functions. The anus was temporarily closed off and would play no further part in his daily bodily functions.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73184/anal-cancer-the-point-of-no-return.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 8 Nov 2013 18:10:00 GMT Anal Cancer: How Much Can One Man Take? http://www.thebody.com/content/73156/anal-cancer-how-much-can-one-man-take.html On the 10th July, John sent me a mail:

"I had to sleep for a few hours; I was so tired. I'm going to have to have between 28 and 31 radiotherapy sessions and during the same period, chemotherapy in tablet form. The oncologist is hopeful of a complete remission because the cancer hasn't spread to the lymph glands. ... One thing is sure, it's not the same cancer as the last time and isn't a spreading of the bladder cancer. He thinks I should be done with the treatment at the end of September. ... This coming Friday at 10:00, an explanation meeting; 10:30 blood tests; 11:00 they'll draw the tattoos of where they're going to radiate me; 12:00 a CT-scan. Monday, 09:00 an infusion of chemotherapy; 11:00 radiotherapy. The party's about to really begin!"

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73156/anal-cancer-how-much-can-one-man-take.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 5 Nov 2013 01:08:00 GMT Anal Cancer: One Blow After Another http://www.thebody.com/content/73136/anal-cancer-one-blow-after-another.html It had taken the best part of 2010 to finally ascertain what sort of cancer John had. There were reasons for that: they'd called it bladder cancer but in fact it turned out to be a cancer found somewhere between the bladder and the prostate. The communication ran along the lines of, 'Hey, if we tell the patient he's got bladder cancer, he knows roughly which area of the body we're talking about'; a condescending approach to say the least. Its treatment had been an unnecessarily long process, with misdiagnoses, delays, cancelled or forgotten appointments and the careless attitude of an HIV specialist who brushed him off with platitudes, and after all that ... the treatment began!

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73136/anal-cancer-one-blow-after-another.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 1 Nov 2013 13:43:00 GMT Anal Cancer: The Lead-Up http://www.thebody.com/content/73109/anal-cancer-the-lead-up.html I know you're anal retentive and this is really shitty news but the bottom line is really a pain in the ass I'm afraid ... you have anal cancer but after the treatment all your problems will be behind you. (Collated from a cancer jokes site)

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73109/anal-cancer-the-lead-up.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 29 Oct 2013 20:21:00 GMT Look At Us Dammit! We're Not One Color, We're a Flaming HIV Rainbow! http://www.thebody.com/content/72962/look-at-us-dammit-were-not-one-color-were-a-flamin.html Sometimes I look at the gay lemmings springing joyfully off the social acceptance cliff, clutching their wedding bouquets in one hand and new spouses (hate that word!) in the other and I can't help but think ... well I'm speechless actually. Why are we doing it? Why do we want equal billing on everything from prime time TV shows, to Olympic podiums? Why do we feel the need to prove that we're as good as the straights in reality TV dog-eat-dog competitions and why do we desperately need the affection and respect of our neighbours when we set up our Martha Stewart shrines in suburbia?

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72962/look-at-us-dammit-were-not-one-color-were-a-flamin.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 16 Oct 2013 16:53:00 GMT Your Sixth Sense: Can You Trust It? http://www.thebody.com/content/72782/your-sixth-sense-can-you-trust-it.html "How do I know you're not an axe murderer planning to store my limbs in the freezer?"

"Do I look like an axe murderer?"

Well now there's the question.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72782/your-sixth-sense-can-you-trust-it.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 23 Sep 2013 19:53:00 GMT "Undetectable": Safe or Not? http://www.thebody.com/content/72549/undetectable-safe-or-not.html Positive people, on effective treatment, with an undetectable viral load and healthy immune system, still don't know if they can or can't pass on the virus to their partners. New UK developments suggest that official conclusions may already have been reached.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72549/undetectable-safe-or-not.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 28 Aug 2013 05:59:00 GMT What If HIV Had Never Happened? http://www.thebody.com/content/72460/what-if-hiv-had-never-happened.html 'What ifs ...' are a glass half empty, late night go-to for many a positive person, but of course each 'what if' is really only a salve for the soul; it doesn't provide answers. They're essentially self-pity mechanisms but end up only reminding you of wrong turnings and mistakes made. We've all been there though and many people will have asked themselves at least once. What if HIV never existed? How would my life look now? Irrespective of its relevance to your personal situation, it's an interesting conundrum and one which can certainly make you think.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72460/what-if-hiv-had-never-happened.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 14 Aug 2013 09:19:00 GMT HIV: What's God Got to Do With It? http://www.thebody.com/content/72203/hiv-whats-god-got-to-do-with-it.html

My mother always said: "Never, ever talk about politics, sex and religion with friends; it will only get you into trouble!" Well, I guess the sex boat has long-sailed and we can't talk about HIV without talking politics, so that just leaves religion. Dangerous waters maybe and some people may never read anything I write again after reading this but I've grown to believe that sex and politics are at the heart of religious attitudes when it comes to HIV and LGBT people and always have been, so how can we avoid discussing it?

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72203/hiv-whats-god-got-to-do-with-it.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 15 Jul 2013 04:14:00 GMT The Other Side of Love, Part Two: Partner Abuse in LGBT Communities http://www.thebody.com/content/71807/the-other-side-of-love-part-two-partner-abuse-in-l.html

You're afraid to leave and afraid to stay. You're afraid of other people's reactions if they find out. Your gay friends will look at you differently and assume that you're a walkover or weak with possible masochistic traits and unable to stand on your own two feet. They'll snort and claim they would never allow themselves to be in that position. Your family and the world at large will jump to conclusions. You can hear them saying it; they'd really never expected anything else from a same-sex relationship; they knew nothing good would come of it.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71807/the-other-side-of-love-part-two-partner-abuse-in-l.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:14:00 GMT The Other Side of Love, Part One: My Story of Same-Sex-Partner Abuse http://www.thebody.com/content/71668/the-other-side-of-love-part-one-my-story-of-same-s.html

That over one-third of LGBT people have been subjected to violence from an intimate partner is evidence of the brutality we can inflict upon one another, even those whom we claim to love.

-- David Phillips

The quote above from David Phillips, was a comment on an earlier post of mine. At the time I thought, "Damn, he's right. I should have mentioned that side of it in the article." Then a couple of days later it hit me that by saying that, he had inadvertently reopened a chapter of my life that I'd more or less successfully filed away.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71668/the-other-side-of-love-part-one-my-story-of-same-s.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 3 Jun 2013 01:50:00 GMT The Gay Scene: "The Biggest Suicide Cult in History"! Say What Now? http://www.thebody.com/content/71453/the-gay-scene-the-biggest-suicide-cult-in-history-.html

It's morning, I open my eyes
And everything's still the same
I turn to the guy who stayed last night
And ask him, "What's your name?"

-- "So Many Men, So Little Time," Miquel Brown, 1983

I must admit, when I read this title quote by the much-lauded British performance artist and TV personality David Hoyle, I thought it must be something from a late eighties politician, and one not exactly gay-friendly. In fact, the very gay David Hoyle said it in 2007, on the day before World AIDS Day ...

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71453/the-gay-scene-the-biggest-suicide-cult-in-history-.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 7 May 2013 23:49:00 GMT Neuropathy: Facts and Fiction http://www.thebody.com/content/71421/neuropathy-facts-and-fiction.html Neuropathy is one of those diseases that affects millions of people (20 million in the USA alone) and between 30% and 40% of people living with HIV and yet if you ask 100 people on the street what it is, the vast majority of them won't have a clue what you're talking about. This article is based on some of the commonest questions from people new to the disease and is meant to establish some facts and clear up some misunderstandings, especially in relation to people with HIV.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71421/neuropathy-facts-and-fiction.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 3 May 2013 10:29:00 GMT The Bitter Sweet Pain of Remembranc http://www.thebody.com/content/70827/the-bitter-sweet-pain-of-remembrance.html As you get older things come back to you out of the blue. They do. Unannounced, unexpected and unwanted most of the time and usually in the quiet, more contemplative moments when you just want to switch off and not think of anything. When you're young, you're busy building up libraries of experiences and memories and filling your head and heart up with trivia and absorbed knowledge. When you're older, your memory banks are stuffed to the gills and although you may not be able to remember what you did yesterday, your childhood and later years will burst out of dusty memory files, in spontaneous clips of recollection and without apparent rhyme or reason.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/70827/the-bitter-sweet-pain-of-remembrance.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:45:00 GMT Opioid Dependency: What's It Got to Do With HIV? http://www.thebody.com/content/70427/opioid-dependency-whats-it-got-to-do-with-hiv.html So what is the 'real and present danger' to us as people living with HIV, its co-morbidities and any resulting extra health problems? If your pain does not respond well enough to analgesics and other drugs (anti-depressants, anti-convulsants and other drugs meant to interact with nerve signals to the brain), you may be advised to move onto opioids of one sort or another. This shouldn't alarm you too much, despite the content of Part One of this article.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/70427/opioid-dependency-whats-it-got-to-do-with-hiv.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 1 Feb 2013 12:40:00 GMT The Opioid Solution and HIV: From the Frying Pan Into the Fire http://www.thebody.com/content/70426/the-opioid-solution-and-hiv-from-the-frying-pan-in.html A nightmare for some and a godsend for others, some people become addicted to opioids because opioids have become their recreational drug of choice, while others become addicted because their pain symptoms are so severe that they have no choice. Either way, a problem has arisen which threatens social stability in whole communities, especially in North America, and makes authorities unsure which way to turn.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/70426/the-opioid-solution-and-hiv-from-the-frying-pan-in.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 1 Feb 2013 12:07:00 GMT Neuropathy and HIV: A Progress Report http://www.thebody.com/content/70235/neuropathy-and-hiv-a-progress-report.html With over 100 possible causes and over 100 possible forms, neuropathy is nerve damage that affects roughly 30% of people living with HIV. If you're really unlucky, you may also be diabetic, or have also been treated for cancer, or are a heavy drinker, in which case your chances of suffering from nerve damage unfortunately become exponentially greater.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/70235/neuropathy-and-hiv-a-progress-report.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:25:00 GMT Battle Front Angels: HIV/AIDS Heroines of the '80s and '90s http://www.thebody.com/content/69700/battle-front-angels-hivaids-heroines-of-the-80s-an.html Give or take a year or two and depending on your personal history, we've been living and dying with HIV and AIDS for 30 years. Every year on World AIDS Day, we remember those who fell. However, in this morally topsy-turvy world, we don't always remember those who picked up our men, wiped their arses and their tears and unselfishly gave help, humanity and dignity during what for many were last weeks and months. We damn well should because without the thousands across the world who gave their time when nobody else would, a lot fewer of us would be around to talk about it today.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69700/battle-front-angels-hivaids-heroines-of-the-80s-an.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 15 Nov 2012 09:50:00 GMT Crime and Punishment: The U.S. and Canadian Contexts of an International HIV Disclosure Dilemma http://www.thebody.com/content/69530/crime-and-punishment-the-us-and-canadian-contexts-.html As far as the United States and Canada are concerned, the HIV criminalization cases there have been well documented; leading to various degrees of outrage from LGBT and HIV groups alike. Probably the best known is the homeless man who was given thirty five years for spitting at a police officer in 2008, with his saliva being declared a "deadly weapon." This in spite of the fact that nobody has ever proved that saliva is a medium for transmitting HIV and the fact that the officer didn't contract HIV. This case was highlighted in the same year by South African judge, Edwin Cameron, in a speech about criminal transmission at the international AIDS conference of 2008.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69530/crime-and-punishment-the-us-and-canadian-contexts-.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:49:00 GMT Crime and Punishment: An International HIV Disclosure Dilemma http://www.thebody.com/content/69529/crime-and-punishment-an-international-hiv-disclosu.html There are times when many people outside the United States and Canada experience National Enquirer levels of disbelief at what's goes on in parts of North America in the field of sexual behavior and politics. The current criminalization of people with HIV who fail to tell their partners of their status is just such a moment in time. The sex may be safe and the viral load may be undetectable but you can still be charged with using your body and your virus as a murder or assault weapon, if you don't pre-warn that you're living with HIV.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69529/crime-and-punishment-an-international-hiv-disclosu.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:48:00 GMT Truvada: Troubles Ahead? http://www.thebody.com/content/69314/truvada-troubles-ahead.html Sometimes a sort of HIV-related sixth sense kicks in and you get that feeling in your water that the latest advance regarding prevention and treatment just doesn't ring true. Do you feel that occasionally? This story about Truvada, being used as a prevention tool, just gives me the chills. It's as if they just haven't taken into account the foibles of human nature when it comes to doing what you're supposed to do.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69314/truvada-troubles-ahead.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 5 Oct 2012 14:52:00 GMT Self-Protection Against Cyber Haters and Other Bullies http://www.thebody.com/content/69110/self-protection-against-cyber-haters-and-other-bul.html I think many people react quite understandably and sensibly to cyber hate mail by trying to show the bully up as immature and antisocial. However, if the bully thinks he or she has been seen through, that serves to inflame their hatred in a sort of reverse psychology and the situation can become worse. This occasionally leads to what's known as cyber stalking. This most often applies to public figures and celebrities but many HIV-positive people have been the victims of hate campaigns and continued pestering. The bully can apparently find ways to recruit others to his/her cause and uses technology to track the victim's every Internet movement. This can be very alarming, especially if you feel you're being watched at all times -- a classic symptom of being stalked. Upsetting cases have led to exposure in the victim's work environment, as rumors and half truths are spread amongst unwitting colleagues at work. Once in the open, as we all know, Pandora's Box can never be closed. In the end, no reaction at all to the original tweet or comment may be the safest option, however angry or upset you may feel.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69110/self-protection-against-cyber-haters-and-other-bul.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:21:00 GMT 140 Ways to Hate ... Just One to Despair http://www.thebody.com/content/69109/140-ways-to-hate--just-one-to-despair.html One of the few advantages of getting old is knowing that you really don't have to put up with other people's crap anymore. That said, the first hate mail that hit my inbox shocked me more than I expected. I almost gave up blogging there and then; the hurt was both unexpected and unjust and I had to take several breaths and remind myself that this happens millions of times a day across the world. Then I wondered why people feel the need to vent their hatred on the Internet and what could be done about it.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69109/140-ways-to-hate--just-one-to-despair.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:20:00 GMT Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones. http://www.thebody.com/content/68954/dem-bones-dem-bones-dem-dry-bones.html You know whatever they say about 50 being the new 40 and 60 being the new 50, well that's all fine and dandy for the super-fit, senior gym bunny but if you're HIV positive it can be a very different matter; or at least in my case! From my point of view, 50 was the new 60 and 60 was the new 70 and now every new birthday seems to increase in dog years.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/68954/dem-bones-dem-bones-dem-dry-bones.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:07:00 GMT Polari: The Lost Language of Rainbows http://www.thebody.com/content/68511/polari-the-lost-language-of-rainbows.html Sometimes, in the rush to integrate into society as a whole, we forget parts of our heritage that made us unique and special. Polari is the largely forgotten, hidden gay language that enabled men to communicate in the secure knowledge that only they would understand. From the 18th Century until the growth of gay liberation in the 1970's, it defined our difference from the rest of society.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/68511/polari-the-lost-language-of-rainbows.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 3 Aug 2012 15:20:00 GMT They May Not Be Your Best Friends ... but Doctors Need Love Too! Part Two http://www.thebody.com/content/67785/they-may-not-be-your-best-friends--but-doctors-nee.html People have to find the happy medium between passive respect for the doctor and yelling at him or her because you don't hear what you want to hear. We also all need to make adjustments in our approaches and learn to use the wealth of new information available in such a way that a consultation with a doctor becomes a constructive and rewarding process for both sides.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67785/they-may-not-be-your-best-friends--but-doctors-nee.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:03:00 GMT They May Not Be Your Best Friends ... but Doctors Need Love Too! Part One http://www.thebody.com/content/67715/they-may-not-be-your-best-friends--but-doctors-nee.html I often find myself having conflicting feelings about doctors. I've got several specialists, who take care of various complaints both pre and post-HIV and a home doctor who deals with every-day ailments and tries to keep an eye on the big picture too. Sometimes I'm enormously grateful that I live in a country where that's possible and where I don't have to pay extra for any basic medical services. Other times, I seethe with frustration at mistakes, or wrong diagnoses, or misguided treatments.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67715/they-may-not-be-your-best-friends--but-doctors-nee.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 3 Jul 2012 10:02:00 GMT Guinea Pigs, Crash Test Dummies and HIV/Neuropathy Treatment http://www.thebody.com/content/67521/guinea-pigs-crash-test-dummies-and-hivneuropathy-t.html It's hard to estimate the impact of the latest news to hit the neuropathy forums (what! we can't have trending stories too?) but anyone who has recently Googled the words HIV and Neuropathy has been confronted by dozens of links referring to the news that Lyrica (or pregabalin) is pretty much useless for treating neuropathic pain. It's not often that the internet neuropathy community (normally a mild-mannered, stoical, too-busy-dealing-with-symptoms folk) spreads a story so quickly across their websites, blogs, forums and chat rooms and when it happens, it's for a good reason!

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67521/guinea-pigs-crash-test-dummies-and-hivneuropathy-t.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:14:00 GMT Viral Politics, or How They'll Spin You Into Sin! http://www.thebody.com/content/67330/viral-politics-or-how-theyll-spin-you-into-sin.html Poorer regions of the world have never been given so much money and support to combat the spread of HIV as during the last ten years, yet despite massive financial back-up for health initiatives, HIV prevalence and rates of infection are increasing in those areas and not shrinking! As a result, while the epidemic is weaker in terms of global statistics; it is expanding and intensifying in specific areas.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67330/viral-politics-or-how-theyll-spin-you-into-sin.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 31 May 2012 10:12:00 GMT She Worked Hard for the Money: Donna Summer, 1948 - 2012 http://www.thebody.com/content/67200/she-worked-hard-for-the-money-donna-summer-1948--2.html For those who partied in the '70s and '80s, the name Donna Summer evokes nostalgic memories of hot discos throbbing to the heat generated by 'I Feel Love', 'Love to Love You Baby', 'Hot Stuff' and Last Dance', to name but a few. This woman put sex and disco together and instigated a musical genre, which belonged to gays and was only later adopted by the world at large. She was the musical 'love-child' of Georgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and was the voice that fronted a new techno-synth and electronic sound that was distinctly European in flavour and first broke there too in the early '70s. The icing on the 'Macarthur Park' cake went into meltdown however, when in 1983, La Summer opened her newly converted Christian mouth and made some remarks, which instantly alienated the gay community and thus her strongest fan base. Whether the things she said were misquoted or not, suspicions were aroused which refuse to go away.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67200/she-worked-hard-for-the-money-donna-summer-1948--2.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 17 May 2012 16:15:00 GMT "Dear Dave ...": The Virus Writes Back! http://www.thebody.com/content/66877/dear-dave--the-virus-writes-back.html Are you surprised? Seriously! How can you be surprised? You knew all about me before we met and let me remind you ... you knew what to expect! How many friends had I killed, with you watching me do it and yet still determined to get into bed with me eventually? Oh please, don't tell me you never meant for this to happen! You pretty much knew how to avoid it, or am I wrong?

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66877/dear-dave--the-virus-writes-back.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:06:00 GMT Crimes and Generations, or How We Throw Our Elders Out With the Bathwater http://www.thebody.com/content/66696/crimes-and-generations-or-how-we-throw-our-elders-.html Societies across the world will be facing many challenging situations over the coming years but one of the greatest may well turn out to be one of the most shameful; the hidden and unrecognized, wide scale abuse of our elderly. What does it mean now and what will it mean in the future for many people in the HIV generations that have been saved from an early death but may be condemned to a miserable last few decades?

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66696/crimes-and-generations-or-how-we-throw-our-elders-.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:16:00 GMT Can I Get A Witness! Authentic Voices Tell the Story of Neuropathy http://www.thebody.com/content/66586/can-i-get-a-witness-authentic-voices-tell-the-stor.html In 1931, the French medical missionary Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote: "Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself."

If you have headaches, or toothaches, most people will be able to identify with you and sympathise. They can't feel your pain at that moment but they've had headaches and toothaches before, so can imagine exactly how you're feeling. Similarly, if you've fallen and broken bones, or cut yourself and are bleeding, most people will be able to empathise with you.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66586/can-i-get-a-witness-authentic-voices-tell-the-stor.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:56:00 GMT Attack of the Killer Couches, or Why People With HIV and Neuropathy Need to Get Off Our Backsides! Part Two http://www.thebody.com/content/66466/attack-of-the-killer-couches-or-why-people-with-hi.html Okay, all that information about exercise provided in Part One probably leaves you feeling somewhat frustrated if your movement is already limited by pain and disability. So what can we do for ourselves? We've been pushed reluctantly into our chairs by neuropathy and have learned that activity can be painful but there must surely be things we can do. Unfortunately, immobility is a huge problem for neuropathy patients. It can shrink your muscles even further and cause them to lose flexibility. Your metabolism will decrease, which means again, less energy and more fat gain.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66466/attack-of-the-killer-couches-or-why-people-with-hi.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:20:00 GMT Attack of the Killer Couches, or Why People With HIV and Neuropathy Need to Get Off Our Backsides! Part One http://www.thebody.com/content/66453/attack-of-the-killer-couches-or-why-people-with-hi.html Nobody with neuropathic pain, or tingling, or numbness wants to hear it. Neither do those people with HIV who are exhausted from the pressures, both physical and psychological, of living with HIV and its medications. These are people who on some days are so tired they can't move one foot in front of another and they just don't want to be told to go forth and exercise. Yet they have to; we must! It's a question of how much longer we want to live.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66453/attack-of-the-killer-couches-or-why-people-with-hi.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:37:00 GMT The Vitamin Evaluations, or How to Reduce Your Urine Costs! Part Two http://www.thebody.com/content/66297/the-vitamin-evaluations-or-how-to-reduce-your-urin.html The following two sections are probably the ones of most interest to most people and for that I apologize for the amount of information you had to wade through in Part One to get to this point. Although we want to know when to take these supplements and which daily dose is the right one; I always want to know what it is I take and what it's supposed to do. This is not so easy when researching HIV medications but is much easier with vitamins.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66297/the-vitamin-evaluations-or-how-to-reduce-your-urin.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:28:00 GMT The Vitamin Evaluations, or How to Reduce Your Urine Costs! Part One http://www.thebody.com/content/66282/the-vitamin-evaluations-or-how-to-reduce-your-urin.html As a confirmed supplement taker, it struck me some time ago that I should really make more effort to understand what I'm taking and why and whether I'm doing it in such a way that my body gains maximum benefit. I always suspected that swallowing a handful of vitamins and minerals with the orange juice every morning was possibly swallowing a whole lot of advertising propaganda at the same time. Yet still I did it (and forgot the orange juice too) because as someone with both HIV and neuropathy, I felt that my immune system was continually under attack and therefore needed boosting with supplements to enable it to fight off the unknown and unexpected.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66282/the-vitamin-evaluations-or-how-to-reduce-your-urin.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:18:00 GMT FDA Adds More Heat to the Capsaicin Debate http://www.thebody.com/content/65941/fda-adds-more-heat-to-the-capsaicin-debate.html It's a series of events that has become all too familiar to people living with HIV over the years. A promising drug or treatment emerges, either for HIV or an associated illness; the news spreads like wildfire across the Net and people become excited at the prospect of a breakthrough and finally getting some relief. However, the news that something's in the pipeline is just the beginning. Trials need to be organized that can take years to complete and then the drug has to go through assessments akin to the Inquisition before it can be approved.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65941/fda-adds-more-heat-to-the-capsaicin-debate.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:58:00 GMT I Hate to Be a Kicker, or How to Get Neuropathy Into the Glossies? http://www.thebody.com/content/65825/i-hate-to-be-a-kicker-or-how-to-get-neuropathy-int.html Apparently the figure of twenty million Americans alone with neuropathy isn't enough to make it a Twitter Trending Topic, or a Facebook phenomenon. That's maybe understandable when you think of the average age of social networkers but the fact remains that, one way or another we have to get neuropathy taken seriously as a major health problem. In an ideal world you'd expect the doctors, medical authorities and drug companies to take the initiative. After all, with those statistics, there's surely money and reputations to be made but apart from a few serious neurology and diabetes conferences (where solutions are genuinely looked for), there's nothing in the mainstream media that makes Joe the plumber sit up and take notice. Why are we missing the target?

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65825/i-hate-to-be-a-kicker-or-how-to-get-neuropathy-int.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:56:00 GMT The Health Cost Crisis? Who Cares?! http://www.thebody.com/content/65671/the-health-cost-crisis-who-cares.html There's no denying it; the post-war baby boomers are getting old but there's one thing baby boomers have always loved and that is getting on a soapbox and having a good old moan (that's as near as you'll get to an apology in advance, from this particular grumpy old man!). However, aging has meant different things to different tribes within that group.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65671/the-health-cost-crisis-who-cares.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 8 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT The Supplement Syndrome: "I'm Not Sure It's Helping but It May Get Worse If I Stop!" http://www.thebody.com/content/65555/the-supplement-syndrome-im-not-sure-its-helping-bu.html The advent of HIV in our lives coincided with the beginning of a western obsession with alternative self-help and self-medication. Not that HIV was responsible for that but people with HIV were desperate to find ways of improving and extending their lives; many alternative therapies were adopted and in many cases maintained to this day. However, the biggest boom was in the use of supplements to our diets to improve general health and hopefully boost our immune systems. The rest of the population was on board because the idea of taking a few pills beat dieting and exercise hands down, and the western world at that time just wanted to look like Lee Majors and Jane Fonda. For some reason, it didn't click with the general couch-potato population that supplements were exactly that and no substitute for healthy eating and exercise.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65555/the-supplement-syndrome-im-not-sure-its-helping-bu.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Wed, 1 Feb 2012 07:01:00 GMT The Self-Worth Analysis, or How Neuropathy Can Steal Your Social Self http://www.thebody.com/content/65448/the-self-worth-analysis-or-how-neuropathy-can-stea.html Allow me to imagine a scenario: You've been there before remember ... with HIV. The day before your diagnosis you were more or less a fully-functioning part of society, even if that wasn't particularly the aim and the day after ... you weren't. That's not to say that you ceased to exist; your role just changed that's all. It's a two-way process; society looks at you differently and you see society as something outside yourself. For many people, it's the first time they've been forced to examine their position in the world and for many people it's a real shock.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65448/the-self-worth-analysis-or-how-neuropathy-can-stea.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT The Lemming Compulsion, or How People With Neuropathy and HIV Will Grab at Straws http://www.thebody.com/content/65348/the-lemming-compulsion-or-how-people-with-neuropat.html A short post on my other blog started me thinking. How many people deliberately avoid acting responsibly, to take their minds off their medical problems? Is it one of those things that nobody talks about because everybody does it to one extent or the other? Is there an iceberg, of which the study at this link is only the tip?

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65348/the-lemming-compulsion-or-how-people-with-neuropat.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:42:00 GMT How Neuropathy Is Currently Treated http://www.thebody.com/content/65300/how-neuropathy-is-currently-treated.html It is probably best to be brutally honest here: neuropathy is essentially nerve damage and as of November 2011 (the writing of this piece), there is no cure for nerve damage and nerves where the cells are dead cannot be repaired. Anyone who claims to be able to "cure" your neuropathy is exaggerating at best! That said, many of the worst aspects of neuropathy, and that means the symptoms, can be helped or alleviated, so that life becomes more bearable.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65300/how-neuropathy-is-currently-treated.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Tue, 3 Jan 2012 07:11:00 GMT Why Do People With HIV Suffer From Neuropathy? http://www.thebody.com/content/65253/why-do-people-with-hiv-suffer-from-neuropathy.html It really does seem profoundly unfair: you've contracted HIV and have begun treatment; you may have sailed through to this point without too many problems, or you may have already been to hell and back dealing with secondary infections and psychological problems. Then, after you've been on the meds for some time, again you may have noticed no significant difference in your life, or may have suffered every side effect on the list. Eventually, for most people the situation tends to settle down and you learn to live with HIV as an irritating but constant companion (apologies to those for whom life never seems to get better). Then, seemingly out of nowhere, you begin to feel strange, new and unpleasant symptoms. After some time these are diagnosed as neuropathy (peripheral or otherwise) and your life is changed forever. For some people that can lead to annoying but ultimately not very serious symptoms and for others, the end result is invalidity and a life of pain.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65253/why-do-people-with-hiv-suffer-from-neuropathy.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:31:00 GMT What Is Neuropathy? A Growing Problem http://www.thebody.com/content/65219/what-is-neuropathy-a-growing-problem.html Let's keep it simple here. If you've had neuropathy for some time, you'll already know what we're dealing with but if you're just beginning to encounter strange sensations in your feet or hands, or numbness which makes it feel like you've got wet sand in your socks when you walk, you may be wondering what on earth's happening to you. You may also be concerned that it's something that may happen to you in the future, or maybe already know a family member or friend with neuropathy and want to understand what's involved to be more supportive.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65219/what-is-neuropathy-a-growing-problem.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:50:00 GMT Neuropathy? Never Heard of It! http://www.thebody.com/content/65005/neuropathy-never-heard-of-it.html Becoming an HIV statistic in 2004 was bad enough. But despite all the problems with the various medication regimes and side-effects and assorted crises here and there, I eventually learned to live with it. I put it in a file alongside the arthritis and lung problems which had affected me at an earlier age. Okay, I thought, enough is enough; although there are always people much worse off than yourself, I figured I already had my fair share of life-changing health problems. Not so apparently because then, almost unannounced, neuropathy arrived in my dossier.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/65005/neuropathy-never-heard-of-it.html drew50@chello.nl (Dave R.) Fri, 2 Dec 2011 21:47:00 GMT