In this podcast interview with Tales of the LGBTQ+ I talk about the early years of the AIDS epidemic in Edmonton and how the community reacted to the virus that was taking so many of our friends from us. I also share how I dealt with the deaths of many close to me and the lasting impact it had on me to this day. I reveal my personal feelings about being diagnosed HIV+ and with “full blown AIDS” in 1998 and the failure of health professionals leading up to the diagnosis. We also talk about the struggle taking some of the early HIV meds and the gradual decline on my health leading to being unable to work in 2010. And I share the difficult struggle dealing with the arrogance of health professionals who were unwilling to hear me on treatment options to regain my health which had left me barely functioning due to the impacts of Drug Induced Mitochondrial Toxicity brought on by the HIV meds I was taking for many years.
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https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ron-byers/id1560717465?i=100051491555
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https://www.audible.com/pd/Ron-Byers-Podcast/B08XN5PD23
Resources and Information Links
- Mitochondrial Toxicogenomics for Antiretroviral Management
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.00497/full - The Impact of HIV- and ART-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cellular Senescence and Aging
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7830696/ - Mitochondrial toxicity and HIV therapy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1744319/ - HIV and Mitochondria: More Than Just Drug Toxicity
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3357135/ - The Missing Link between HAART, Mitochondrial Damage and Insulin Resistance
https://biomedpharmajournal.org/vol13no2/the-missing-link-between-haart-mitochondrial-damage-and-insulin-resistance/ - Impact of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone on HIV Persistence
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03091374 - Drug-Induced Oxidative Stress and Toxicity
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jt/2012/645460/ - Therapeutic Effects of Nandrolone and Testosterone in Adult Male HIV Patients With AIDS Wasting Syndrome (AWS): A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47544018_Therapeutic_Effects_of_Nandrolone_and_Testosterone_in_Adult_Male_HIV_Patients_With_AIDS_Wasting_Syndrome_AWS_A_Randomized_Double-Blind_Placebo-Controlled_Trial - Changes to Your Face and Body (Lipodystrophy, Wasting and Weight Gain)
https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/changes-face-body-lipodystrophy-wasting - Human growth hormone reverses HIV-associated wasting and improves exercise performance
https://www.aidsmap.com/news/may-2005/human-growth-hormone-reverses-hiv-associated-wasting-and-improves-exercise - Acetyl-L-carnitine and L-carnitine – CATIE
https://www.catie.ca/en/fact-sheets/vitamins-and-supplements/acetylcarnitine-and-carnitine - A Practical Guide to HIV Drug Side Effects – CATIE
Body Weight and Body Shape Changes
https://www.catie.ca/en/practical-guides/hiv-drug-side-effects/3-body-changes