Question
Will I continue to progress slowly?
25 September 2012. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
I was diagnosed in Nov 2011, my counts are very good and I am not on medication.
Follow up tests have shown very minor changes. My counts are declining very slowly, so far. Is this an indication of how things will progress or can my counts decline dramatically too?
Answer
Hi,
It’s great to hear that you are doing well, and your CD4 count is staying high. Can you give me more detail about your test results? If I know more about your CD4 count and viral load it will give me a better idea of your situation.
It’s probably a bit early to be able to say what your future progression will be like. People who stay stable for a long time after infection are reffered to as ‘slow progressors’. The definition of a slow progressor varies in different settings. A general definition though includes still having a CD4 count about 500 after five years and without using treatment.
So you are probably a bit early to know this yet.
Even if you don’t fit the definition yet, it’s good that your counts are staying high. This is likely to mean that you are not in any immediate risk of infections and you can take time to find out about treatment, if and when you do need treatment.
Actually, I’m mistaken, my VL is 187. Definitely this. It was 150 at my first test and had to be re-tested to confirm this. With this low VL I’m hoping it’s an indicator of slow progression and hope that I will not need to take medication for a long time to come and also we’ll be nearer to a cure at that stage and drugs will have fewer side-effects.
Thanks Anne-Marie,
These are both very good results. This is a very low viral load! It’s important to keep getting monitored but at this point everything is looking very good!
Currently CD4 Count 957, VL 87 – After 3rd test CD4 has dropped and gone back up again. VL is declining slowly.