Charlie Sheen revealed he is HIV positive Tuesday in an exclusive TODAY interview with Matt Lauer.
"It's a hard three letters to absorb. It's a turning point in one's life," the 50-year-old actor said.
Sheen said he made the announcement to end a smear campaign and extortion efforts.
"I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about me, threatening the health of so many others that couldn't be further from the truth," he said.
Sheen said he's trusted the diagnosis with people he thought he could confide in, but has paid out upwards of $10 million to keep the illness a secret.
"What people forget is that that's money they're taking from my children," he said about the "shakedowns" he has experienced. "I trusted them and they were deep in my inner circle, and I thought they could be helpful. My trust turned to their treason."
He said appearing on TODAY will help put a stop to those payouts.
"That's my goal. That's not my only goal. I think I release myself from this prison today," he said.
Sheen said he was diagnosed roughly four years ago, but doesn't know how he contracted the virus.
"It started with what I thought was a series of crushing headaches," he said. "I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over."
He also insisted it was "impossible" that he knowingly transmitted the virus to others. While he admitted to having unprotected sex with two people since the diagnosis, both were informed ahead of time and have been under the care of his doctor. But Sheen dismissed the idea that he engaged in high-risk behaviors.
"You're talking about needles and that whole mess? No, definitely not," he said.
HIV is the virus that leads to AIDS, which has no cure. But "Charlie does not have AIDS," said the actor's physician, Dr. Robert Huizenga, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
While an HIV-positive diagnosis used to be considered a death sentence, and there still is no cure, medical advancements have helped turn it into a manageable illness. However, antiviral drugs must be taken for a lifetime.
Sheen revealed he takes four pills every day, and his doctor said the main battle facing the actor is not related to HIV, but relapsing into substance abuse problems or entering into depression related to his diagnosis.
"We're petrified about Charlie. We're so, so anxious that if he was overly depressed, if he was abusing substance, he would forget these pills and that's been an incredible worry," he said. However, he said Sheen has been vigilant about his regimen.
"Magically, somehow in the midst of incredible personal mayhem, he's managed to continue to take these medications," Huizenga said.
Sheen said he hopes by going public with the diagnosis, it will help dispel the stigma of HIV.
"I have a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people and hopefully with what we're doing today others will come forward and say, 'Thanks, Charlie,'" he said.
Sheen said he told ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller about the diagnosis when he found out. He also shared the news recently with his oldest daughter.
"It hit her hard, but she recovered. She's tough like her dad," he said.
"I said, 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but it didn't seem like you could do anything for me and I didn't want to burden you with all the stress.' But she was a rock star about it."
Sheen's personal announcement Tuesday renewed a spotlight on Sheen's troubled history with drug addiction, pornography and prostitutes.
Read more on http://www.today.com/health/charlie-sheen-reveals-hes-hiv-positive-today-show-exclusive-t56391
Source: Today
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