| Crystal meth
Just wanted to say that I was very happy and touched to read Dr. Daniel Berger’s article in Positively Aware on crystal meth and HIV (July/August 2004). I agree that our community needs to do more on educating each other as well as our youth. I believe that his article is a step in the right direction, and I thank him.
Name withheld, via the Internet
Dear Dr. Berger, I read your article “Crystal Methampetamine and HIV—A Catastrophe” while I was waiting for my son, who was seeing a psychiatrist at the Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago. My son lives in Chicago and I live out-of-town. I was there for a short visit. Your article really hit home, as my son is 40 years old, was valedictorian of his class, has a master’s degree and had a great career in fitness until about a year ago when he was let go at his job. It has been downhill from there. We found out then that he was addicted to crystal and had been using it regularly for about two years. I think he was using it a few years before that. He is gay and found out about two years ago that he is HIV-positive. He only told us about being positive about 10 months ago. Last week he got a job, but when it came time to start, he had a panic attack and couldn’t go through with it. We have watched him deteriorate, going on and off the drugs, taking many pills for anxiety attacks, depression, etc. I have to say I am very angry that, being a very intelligent person who has always been loved unconditionally by his family, he could get himself involved with drugs and practice unsafe sex when he was old enough to know better. I know I can’t change the past, but what I am so frustrated about is how to help him. He keeps telling me that he is going to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, but never does. For the most part, he is afraid to go out of his apartment and just stays there, practically living on the Internet. He tells me that right now he is not using drugs, but I really never know what to believe.
We have offered for him to come here to live with us and get help, but he refuses and would rather be homeless, if that is what it would come to. As a mother, I shudder to think of him homeless on a street corner in Chicago.
I know you have to be a very busy physician, but if you can just give me any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Name withheld, via the Internet
Dr. Berger replies: I am sorry to hear about your frustration with your son. I have to tell you this scenario is, unfortunately, not uncommon. Without knowing your son, you have given me a very telling description: been out of work for a year, then had a panic attack when re-starting work, afraid to go out of his apartment, etc. I suspect that he is still doing crystal and possibly on a daily basis. How he gets the money for this, without working, is a question for which the answer may be even more disheartening. Your son is probably not living in a healthy environment and he obviously needs help. He may need in-patient treatment for his addiction, and I don’t know if he has insurance. In Chicago, Rush University Medical School has a very good treatment program. Also, you may want to consider the Pride Institute, which has a gay-oriented program specializing in this area. If you know his physician, perhaps you may consider calling him and alert him about what is going on. Because patients usually lie to their physician in this situation, his doctor may not be fully aware of all the facts. Also, your son may not be able to make his own rational decisions, which may allow you to intervene.
As another suggestion, you may also consider visiting him, and trying to reason with him again. If there are other family members whom he trusts or may identify with, they may be able to more successfully persuade him to get aggressive help. Unfortunately, even with professional help, successful treatment will require a great deal of effort. Hope I was helpful. Thank you for writing to me and I wish you the best of luck.
PA help I’m a prisoner who depends on Positively Aware for the main source of my info. It’s helped me with a lot of decisions over the years. The biggest help was with a bad reaction to abacavir [Ziagen]. I was in agony. My back and side hurt so bad I could hardly walk and my skin was really sensitive. I went to sick call and was given Motrin. At first I thought I pulled a muscle, but it kept getting worse. I mentioned the abacavir and they said, “You have to expect some side effects from these meds.” But I knew it was more than that. By reading the side effects in the 2004 HIV Drug Guide (January/February), I quit taking my meds and it went away within a day or two. Then the next jail saw me and told me if I take it again I’d probably end up in ICU [intensive care unit] or dead. So thank you for doing a great job. I’m also grateful for receiving the magazine at no cost. I wish I could afford to donate because yours is the best of all the publications I read.
Name withheld, Sommerset, PA |
