Question
Do I continue ARVs after my pregnancy?
22 August 2011. Related: All topics, Pregnancy, Starting treatment.
Hi guys. I am hiv + and 37 weeks pregnant. I am so scared as I don’t know what to expect. I am currently taking aspen lamzid (AZT/3TC) and Aluvia (lopinavir/r), will I be required to continue with the medication after my baby is born?
My cd4 is 480 and I only started taking medication after I found out that I was pregnant.
The med was giving me diarhea in the beginning, will this affect my baby or will the med do the same to my infant? Please help as am worried.
Answer
Hi
Great news about your pregnancy – and great that you were diagnosed in time to start treatment. The ARVs will dramaticially reduce the risk of your baby catching HIV.
All treatment is individualised. Whether ot not you continue treatment after the pregnancy will depend on many things.
This includes your CD4 count when you started treatment, how you feel about continuing treatment, and sometimes on the guidelines for the country where you live.
Diarrhoea is a common side effects of the Aluvia and other meds but will not affect the health of your baby.
Good luck for the rest of your pregnancy. See also this guide about HIV, women’s health and pregnancy.
Hi Juliet,
What medication have you been given? How long have you now been taking it?
My first born I used ARVs bt when delivered the baby was negative … I continued taking my ARVs around 2yrs and I left…. Hv left taking medications for around 3yrs ,now am pregnant of 8weeks bt again when I went back to medication I said is when am starting and gave me for the start. When I take the medicine I feel more sick and vomitting …. .what do I do now ? Plz help
Hi Lindy,
I’m so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. Do you have support from your clinic to help you through this difficult time? If you live in South Africa you can contact the Treatment Action Campaign. They could help with local support.
But although pregnant women are often advised against taking many medicines, this usually is not the case with HIV drugs.
When you are ready you could speak to your doctor about your HIV treatment. You can discuss any problems that might occur if trying for another baby.
Here is the guide to HIV pregnancy and women’s health.
Please stay in touch and let us know how your treatment is going.
Hi I’m HIV positive I had miscarriage I was 8 weeks is it possible that my treatment tenofovir affected my pregnancy