Question
What happens when i start HIV treatment?
19 June 2015. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Starting treatment.
What happens when i start HIV treatment? What happens with viral load?
Answer
Hi,
Several things happen when you start HIV treatment. Your viral load will usually quickly start to drop and should be ‘undetectable’ (less than 50) within 3 months. Your CD4 also starts to increase.
This happens slower than your viral load drops however. It happens at different rates in different people and like viral load it can be affected by how adherent you are. Adherence means taking your meds in the way and at the time that you are supposed too.
To clarify your viral load shows how much virus is in your blood. Your CD4 count shows how your immune system is doing.
You can find more information about CD4 count and viral load here.
And more information about starting treatment in our guide.
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