Question
How long does it take to become undetectable?
13 November 2015. Related: Adherence, All topics, CD4 and viral load, Changing treatment, Sero different couples.
Me and my girlfriend have been having unprotected sex for 3 months between August and October. She told me around the end of October that she”s been HIV positive for 5 years. She’d been undetectable. I also went with her to get her HIV viral load test and her viral load went up because she stopped taking her medicine in October for about 3 weeks to a month. She stopped taking it cause she felt depressed. Her viral load was about 1600 and her CD4 is over1300. We use condoms now since her viral load went up but we still both perform unprotected oral sex on each other. I was tested almost 2 weeks ago and I was negative. I had a antibody test and a HIV viral load test.
She started taking her medicine again around the end of October and has been taking it since. The name of her medicine is called Complera. How long will it take her viral load to drop? How long will it take her to get undectable again? Will her body become resistant to Complera?
Answer
Hi,
So your girlfriend should quickly become undetectable again. Viral load drops very quickly with effective treatment and you girlfriend’s is quite low already. People often become undetectable within a month of starting.
The risk of transmission of receiving oral sex generally, and giving oral sex to a woman are both likely to be zero, or close to zero. For your test to be accurate you should test 28 days after your last exposure. This means after the last time you had unprotected sex with your girlfriend when she wasn’t on treatment. That test will pick up 95% of infections. This pretty much shows you are HIV negative. Then, a test at 3 months will confirm that.
You can find more information about testing in our guide.
You don’t say if Complera was the same medication she was on before. If it was the risk of developing resistance is lower than if she stopped gradually, taking some here and there.
She could ask at her clinic if they have resistance testing available. If not her viral load going down and then becoming undetectable is a sign that she is not resistant to the meds she is on. In the future it is important for her to keep taking her meds.
If she has side effects that are affecting here she should take to her doctor or clinic. They can change her to a different combination, rather than just stopping.
Hi Trx, asking about viral load of <400 sounds like this is just the cut-off for the test that is being used. Technically, this is undetectable if this is the cut-off for the test.
Most people who are <400 are also likely to be <200 and even <50.
Being undetectable for U=U and protecting your partners uses a cut off of <200. U=U: https://i-base.info/u-equals-u
Studies for straight couples support having a viral load <400 also protects your partners.
DOES VIRAL LOAD <400 MEAN UNDECTABLE
Hi Su, the risk is really low and could easily be zero. Your partner is already likely to have an undetectable viral load by now and HIV is a difficult virus to catch from one time: https://i-base.info/u-equals-u/
Hi greetings, my girl friend is hiv positive and has been on active treatment for 2 months only, my condom break off while we were having sex, is possiblity that I contacted the virus?