Charlie Sheen Is Battling a Virus with No Cure & Kept It a Secret for His Daughter's Sake

Charlie Sheen hid his diagnosis for years and even paid millions to keep it a secret but decided to come out with and finally reveal the news himself.

He shared the symptoms he experienced before getting diagnosed and fought with the illness for four years before announcing it.

He informed his daughter about his illness late. Here's a look at the symptoms he had to endure and why he told her late.

Carlos Irwin Estévez, popularly known as Charlie Sheen, was born on September 3, 1965. His father is an actor and encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. At nine, he made his acting debut on "The Execution of Private Slovik."

However, his breakthrough role came when he starred in "Platoon" in 1986. He went on to star in "Wall Street," "Eight Men Out," "Scary Movie 3," and more before landing "Two and a Half Men."

HE WAS ONCE HOLLYWOOD'S BAD BOY

Sheen, who had battled with drug addiction and continued drinking, once said he was clean but was high on himself because he was on a drug called Charlie Sheen.

The actor and Hollywood bad boy revealed that he is superhuman. He believes this because he took many drugs at once, and the quantity he took could have killed others.

He went on to say he had a different constitution, brain, and heart than regular people. Being different had allowed him to survive such drastic bouts of drug use.

Sheen further revealed that he had "tiger blood," and the way his brain fires makes him believe that he may not be from this particular terrestrial realm.

However, he said he wasn't afraid of dying from using certain drugs because he avoids the blends that get people killed and that dying was for fools.

Amid his addiction, he was once arrested for assaulting his wife but dodged jail time by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor third-degree assault charge.

In 2011, because of his deeds, Warner Bros. fired him from "Two and a Half Men." They labeled his conduct as being "dangerously self-destructive."

The 11-page letter further accused Sheen of forgetting his lines, turning up late for rehearsals, or missing rehearsals entirely.

When his drinking got so bad and he couldn't take his daughter to her appointment, he knew it was time to get sober. He realized that his actions deterred him from being present for his children.

Once he became sober and was in therapy, he felt like a completely different person than he used to be. He also changed his rules and routines to reduce his chances of feeling an urge to drink.

REVELATION OF HIS ILLNESS & ITS SYMPTOMS

In 2016, Sheen finally announced being HIV-positive in an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer. He decided to make it public to end a smear campaign against him and extortion efforts.

The doctors had diagnosed Sheen almost four years before he announced it and said he had paid out upwards of ten million dollars to people he thought he trusted to keep the illness a secret.

However, he revealed that he didn't know how he contracted the virus, but his symptoms began with insane migraines, a series of cluster headaches, and excessive sweating. He said,

"I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over."

The day he was diagnosed, Sheen said he thought of "eating a bullet," but his mother was there, and he didn't want her to see that.

According to CDC, HIV, which is the human immunodeficiency virus, is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. When not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

There is no cure for HIV, but the body can control the virus when it is properly treated. The virus remains in the body for life, but infected people can live long, healthy lives while protecting their partners with adequate medical care.

According to the CDC statistics, at the end of 2019, they estimated that 1,189,700 million people from 13 years and above had HIV in the United States with 36,801 new diagnoses.

WHY HE KEPT IT A SECRET FROM HIS OLDEST DAUGHTER

Upon learning about his condition, he informed his ex-wives; however, he didn't share the news immediately with his oldest daughter.

When Sheen eventually told his oldest daughter, he said she took the news hard but quickly recovered because "she's tough" like her dad.

After sharing the news with her, he apologized to her for keeping it a secret. 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 had his oldest daughter, Cassandra Estevez, in 1984 with Paula Speert. Cassandra stayed away from the spotlight for most of her life, and there is very little information about her.

She studied acting at the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, married Casey Huffman, had a son in 2013, and made Sheen a grandfather for the first time.

DISPELLING STIGMA AGAINST HIV

By personally announcing his condition to the public, the actor hoped to dispel the stigma against HIV and the people fighting it. He said,

"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,'"

Sheen also took part in a Food and Drug Administration Study for a new HIV treatment. The trial was for a medication called PRO-140, which was in the late stages of its trial run.

When he partook in the study, he revealed that the drug was very close to being approved. The drug had no side effects like other drugs that took its toll emotionally and physically.

He added that it was also not a hideous cocktail and all he had to do was take weekly shots. After his announcement, Sheen said he had entered a more thoughtful and reflective phase in his life.