Charlie Sheen Stopped HIV Meds, Sought Alternative Treatment in Mexico

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Actor Charlie Sheen made headlines in November when he went public with his HIV diagnosis. The 50-year-old award-winning actor spoke with TODAY's Matt Lauer to discuss his health condition and debunk all rumors and put a stop to all extortion he experienced for keeping his diagnosis a secret.

Sheen admitted that he had spent over $10 million to keep people's mouths shut following his diagnosis four years ago. He maintains that he does not know how he contracted the virus.

According to FOX News Latino, Sheen took a risk to pursue alternative treatment for his HIV in Mexico, meeting with Dr. Sam Chachoua, a physician who claimed he was working on an HIV vaccine and was later revealed to be not licensed to practice medicine in the United States. According to the actor, he was feeling side effects from his original medication and wanted to look into other alternatives to help him with is HIV.

Sheen appeared on "The Dr. Oz Show" to share his disappointing ordeal, in which he shared that after several weeks of having stable blood tests, the detectable traces of HIV are back in his blood.

"I'm a little off my game, because right before I walked out here, I got some results that I was disappointed about. I had been nondetectable, nondetectable and checking the blood every week and then found out the numbers are back up," the actor and father of five said.

"I didn't see it as Russian roulette. I didn't see it as a complete dismissal of the conventional course we've been on. I'm not recommending that to anyone—I'm presenting myself as a type of guinea pig," he admitted.

While Sheen did not say what methods the Mexican doctor used, he did reveal a recorded conversation between the two where Chachoua admitted injecting himself with Sheen's blood because he was confident about the treatment.

Meanwhile, Sheen's manager, Mark Burg told People that the actor is back on his medication following the revelation that his numbers in his blood tests went up.

According to the CDC, over 1.2 million individuals in the United States have HIV, and about one out of eight of them are yet unaware of the infection. The CDC estimates that about 50,000 people are infected every year, and the most affected group are the gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with other men, regardless of race or ethnicity. This group represents 4% of the American population but accounts for 63% of all new infections.

HIV can also be contracted through the use of injection drugs. In 2010, 16% of new HIV infections were attributed to injection drug use.