Question
How long can I live without HIV drugs?
2 January 2017. Related: All topics, Life expectancy, Living with HIV long-term.
Can you please tell me how long can someone live without taking HIV medication?
Answer
The best way to answer this is to say that modern HIV treatment (ART) means that life expectancy is not affected by being HIV positive. HIV positive people with access to treatment can be expected to live as long as before they became positive.
Without using HIV treatment, life expectancy is related to how quickly your CD4 count drops and how low it gets.
Without treatment, some people see their CD4 count drop to under 200 within a few years of infection, while others people can go for 5-10 years or longer before they need treatment.
See also: Your CD4 count and the risk of becoming ill.
This is different to saying how long you could live. However, without treatment, once your CD4 count falls below 200 life expectancy drops very dramatically.
Note: This answer was updated in January 2017 from a question first posted in November 2011.
Thank you for this very informative platform.
I’m a 25 year old male and I lost my father then mother in 1998 and 1999 respectively. My father died from Pulmonary tuberculosis TB2 and my lovely mother from Criptocoal meningitis. I have had a happy active childhood despite the illnesses and continued eating healthy,exercising and up till now Ive remained a virgin.
In 2016 after some medicals at work I realised I’m HIV+ I was devastated even though I had always suspected it.i immediately told my siblings who did the same and came out negative. Up till today I can’t explain how I got the virus and why my younger siblings don’t have it.
I’m currently taking Efavirence,Lamuvudine,Tenofovir and Cotrimoxazole.
6 months ago my viral load became undetectable.
Should I continue taking Cotri?
I have no problem with adherence,I get messages from my siblings(since I live alone) every day at nine pm reminding me to take my meds.
But my main worry is liver damage and resistance to Cotri.I am sure I was never sexually abused,cut myself or done drugs or experimented with sex.How I got HIV+ is still a mystery to me.But I can see some positive changes ever since I started taking my combination pill+ cotri.
I have a few questions:
1.Can I start body building?
2.Can I discontinue taking cotri?
3.Can I get a corrective operation on my eye?
4.Will I ever get married without being judged?
Hello D,
Sorry, this sounds tough. But you are right to ask for your CD4 count and viral load results. If your CD4 count is strong and over 500 your risk of HIV-related problems is very low. So you could work out whether you have time to think about starting meds until you go back. Here is a guide to starting ART, and this page gives you information on how your CD4 count relates to the risk of becoming ill.
I am living in a foreign country with no medical insurance. I found out I’m positive 3 days before I left my home country. I am not able to pay for the medication here and can’t afford to fly back and forth to start meds. How long can I wait to start my meds? I paid for the cd4 test st week and will get my count this coming week. Any suggestions?
Hi Gale,
ARVs in most countries are free, where is it that you live? If its anywhere in Sub Saharan Africa you can access meds at a clinic. Yes you may need to wait some time as things can often be slow, you will however be given meds.
If you live in the States this will be different.
If there is a delay in you accessing meds you aren’t just going to die. Your viral load will rebound, and your CD4 could start to drop, but it’s unlikely to be anything dramatic. The important thing is to access meds from another source. If you’re unsure what to do, if you let me know where you live I’ll be able to help you.
I’ve been in medication for 5 years and now for some reason my I was denied Medicaid and I can’t afford the $3600 a month medicine. I need to no how long can I go without my medication? I’m trying to reapply to see what happened but I’m scared I’m going to die quickly because I almost died before I started the medication I was under 200 and seriously I’ll but now I’m undetectable
Hi Stella,
Yes. Women around the world have taken HIV drugs safely in pregnancy now for over 20 years. Now this usually involves taking at least three drugs and is called ART.
ART has completely changed the lives of people with HIV in every country where it is used. ART has had an enormous effect on the health of HIV positive mothers and their children. It has encouraged many women to think about having children (or having children again). You can read more answers about having a baby here.
Being detected positive, can I still get married and ve a negative children
Hi Flaz,
If you’re positive and not on medication, then you can transmit HIV. Your partners to date have basically been very lucky. If you want to make sure that your partner doesn’t contract HIV from you, you’ll need to use condoms. The other option is to be on medication. Once on medication, when your viral load is undetectable you cannot transmit HIV. At the moment your partner and his health is at risk.
Is there any reason why you aren’t on medication?
I have been living with HIV for 10 yes now without treatment, my ex boyfriend tested negative up to now n my fiancee too,does it mean I can’t transmit the virus,what are the possibility that I can get married with my fiancee and he lives healthy with me.
Hi Jack,
What is it that you need advice about? Is it about smoking?