RAE LEWIS-THORNTON: Well, you know, there was no treatment when I was diagnosed with HIV, so no. I was actually referred to the National Institute of Health, where I started to participate in a study there where they followed me every six months. It was an epidemiological study, and it wasn't until about three years into my diagnosis that actually AZT was available, and I started to take AZT, which was the national recommendation at that time, and I laugh when I think about it, because they had us taking about 600 mg of AZT, which was a toxic overload, and we know now that 300 can do what 600 does. So it was about three years before I started taking medication.
VAREN BLACK: Describe some of the challenges that you've had over the years taking medications for HIV.
RAE LEWIS-THORNTON: When I first started AZT, I remember the doctors saying, "You'll be nauseous for four to six weeks." In fact, I was nauseous for three years. AZT also made me fatigued, so I was tired all the time. No matter how much rest I'd get, there was never enough rest. I went from AZT to ddI. ddI was interesting, because it also created a queasy feeling in my stomach, but it also created diarrhea. But ddI had an emotional hurdle to it. I had these two big pills that looked like Alka-Seltzer that you had to grind up every day, and so it was an emotional, painful reminder of how ugly AIDS/HIV was.
