1996-2000
The Hidden Cost of Survival
When the Cure Changed Your Body
Key Moment
Life-saving HIV drugs caused disfiguring fat redistribution
In 1996, the AIDS crisis turned a corner. New combination drug therapies — the famous 'cocktails' — were saving lives. People who had been planning their funerals were suddenly planning their futures.
But the drugs came with a price. Within months of starting treatment, many patients noticed something strange. Fat was disappearing from their faces, arms, and legs, but piling up around their bellies. Their cheeks became hollow. Their limbs looked skeletal. But their abdomens swelled.
Doctors called it lipodystrophy — a fancy word for 'fat in the wrong places.' Patients called it something worse: 'Crix belly,' named after Crixivan, one of the drugs that seemed to cause it. They had survived AIDS only to look like they were still dying.