Question
What can I do to reduce my viral load that rebounded on Kaletra?
7 July 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Changing treatment.
I’ve recently had my bloods done and my viral load has gone up to 1,563.
I’m currently on Kaletra and have been taking them everyday as told but know my doctor is telling me i have to go on more tablets as im showing resistance.
Is there anything else i can do to improve my viral load aswell as taking the medication?
Answer
If Kaletra was the only HIV drug that you were taking, adding in two new drugs from a family called nucleosides (‘nukes’) should bring your viral load back down again.
Although most combinations use three active HIV drugs, several studies showed that for some people, using only Kaletra is strong enough. In these studies, when viral load rebounded, adding in new drugs worked well at pushing the viral load back down again.
If you have been taking Kaletra once-daily (4 tablets once-daily), then your doctor may also recommend moving to a twice-daily schedule (2 tablets, twice daily – every 12 hours).
The new drugs would usually be adding Truvada (tenofovir/FTC) or Kivexa (abacavir/3TC) or sometimes Combivir (AZT/3TC).
However, if you have resistance to Kaletra, then this would normally need to be changed at the same time to an alternative protease inhibitor.
For more information about treatment failure and drug resistance see the Guide to Changing Treatment.
This is all down to find drugs that will control the virus. Other than taking your meds as prescribed, there is nothing else you can do to directly affect viral load.
Hi Diana,
What is it that you’d like to know? Is this is a new diagnose or have you been on meds for some time?
Am Diana today my viroload was 1500 but i was advised to take my medicine property for three months
Hi Abigail,
Itchiness in the vagina region can be caused by varies things, of which thrush is just one cause. Therefore, as this is unlikely to HIV related please see a doctor about this.
I’m having an itchy vagina especially if I don’t drink lots of water, what can this be?
Hi Doreen, in the UK the viral load test would be taken again to to confirm if this is an accurate result. A resistance test would then look for drug resistance. If your viral load really is this high, then it is very likely that the HIV is now resistance to nevirapine. It is also likely to be a little resistant to the other meds too.
This doesn’t mean that the drugs are not working, just that they re not working as well. If you are in a country with limited access to viral load, resistance testing might not be available.
What did your doctor say? Guidelines in nearly every country recommend changing to a second-line treatment after viral load rebounds. The next treatment will work well.
Please email me if you have other questions – and to let me know more details – if this would help: simon.collins@i-base.org.uk
Hi, am Doreen I have been on ARV since 2010, Lamivodine, Zidovodine, Nevrapine. Last week I collected my viral load result and realised my load read 9,700. Pls what do I do? is there a test that could be ran to find out if am resistant to my drugs. I need ur help please.