Charlie Sheen on HIV: “This Disease Chose the Wrong Person”

If you were perplexed when you found out that former Two and Half Men star Charlie Sheen was teaming up with Dr. Oz to find the cure for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), you were not alone. But let’s be honest, you’re curious about what actually happened during The Dr. Oz Show two-part interview, and we got all the details.

In November 2015, Sheen announced his HIV-positive status in a TODAY show interview with Matt Lauer. When Dr. Oz appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in early January 2016, viewers learned that the ‘winning’ celebrity would be on his show the following week. Fast forward to January 11, and part one of Sheen’s episode on The Dr. Oz Show aired, showing Sheen discussing his health following his HIV diagnosis.

Image: doctoroz.com

Not the typical one-on-one, the interview started with 5:45am jog. We learned that Sheen had been sober from alcohol and recreational drugs since the day after his TODAY show divulgation. When Dr. Oz asked how it felt going public about his HIV-positive status, Sheen described it as a weight lifted and liberating freedom. “I only wish I’d done it sooner,” he said. Oddly enough, Sheen revealed that he had a dream when he was 28 years old in which he could see himself standing across a road wearing a sign around his next that said ‘AIDS’ — as if it were a premonition for his battle to come.

It took Sheen four years to confirm his HIV diagnosis to the public, but he claims that it’s not one of the things that keeps him up at night.

“It’s funny, I don’t go to bed thinking about HIV. It’s the strangest thing. I think about it in the morning, that’s when I do my meds. And I don’t think about it all day long,” Sheen said while giving Dr. Oz a tour through his home.

In part two of the interview, which aired on January 12, Dr. Oz sat down with Sheen in the studio. This is where we learned more about his treatment and got an inside look at multiple doctor appointments.

Image: doctoroz.com

For three and half years, the three-drug cocktail Sheen was taking kept the HIV viral load at undetectable levels — which would be great news for anyone with the condition. However, Sheen dropped a major bombshell – he stopped taking his medication altogether. Instead, Sheen went a experimental, controversial route with Dr. Samir Chachoua in Mexico, who claims that he knows how to cure AIDS and cancer. Minimal information was available on Dr. Chachoua (he’s not licensed to practice in the United States), and when Dr. Oz spoke to him on the phone, he revealed something you would never expect a medical professional, or anyone for that matter, to say. Sheen confirmed that when he was in Mexico, Dr. Chachoua drew blood from HIV-positive Sheen and injected it into his own arm. Apparently this was to show that he believed in the treatments that were given to Sheen to cure him.

• The MD Magazine HIV/AIDS condition center

There’s no word on how that turned out for Dr. Chachoua, but Sheen is indeed still HIV-positive. Dr. Oz and Sheen’s physician, Dr. Robert Huizenga, were able to convince him to go back on the drug cocktail that he gave up a month prior. Sheen said he’ll start back on the drugs on his plane ride home.

“The days I make everybody my teacher, those are the days where I learn the most about myself,” Sheen said.

This is probably not the last time we’ll hear from Charlie Sheen and his chase to find the cure to HIV. But if there’s one thing we’re pretty sure of, the cure probably does not involve tiger blood.

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