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 Ntokozo,
Its great to hear that you’ve started meds. How is it going?
It shouldn’t take longer that 3 months for your viral load to drop to undetectable. However, in some people this can sometimes take longer. For more info, please see here:
http://i-base.info/qa/4669
Because you’ve just started meds, you may find this helpful:
http://i-base.info/guides/starting
I’ve been positive for the past 10 years, but not on meds. I’ve two kids now. My husband is negative.
I started last month taking meds because my viral load is at 48,000 and my CD4 count is at 512. How low will it take for my viral load to drop?
Hi Rhoda,
Please see the above post, and here:
http://i-base.info/qa/4669
I on efavirenz,emyricitabine and tenofobir disoproxil. I did my first viral load and it is 312 I did another and I’m waiting on result how long will it take for me to become undetectable… I found out I was positive 10 months now but started the meds two months after diagnosed
Hi Raman, when is your next viral load test? Usually viral load becomes undetectable within 1-3 months after starting treatment. How long this takes is related to how high it was when you stared treatment. If you have been on treatment for 4 months, you must have started in June or July. This means it should be undetectable now but you need a viral load test to check this.
Hi, I’m a gay man HIV positive for the past 3 years. My CD4 is 535 and right now I’m on treatment for the past 4 months. My last Viral load was 3200 in February this year.
The medicine I’m taking is Telura. My question is how long could it take for my viral load to become undetectable. Please tell me.
Regards,
Hi Happiness
Great you have these plans – please see these qeustsion and answers:
http://i-base.info/qa/faqs-on-having-a-baby
One option is to just conceive normally. If your husband has an undtectable viral load for three years it it close to zero chance of HIV tramsmission.
My husband is hiv positive and am hiv negative for three years now. His on medication and we want to have baby in future, pls how sure are you that I will remain negative
The Cipla-Douvir-Efavirenz combination has 3 drugs in it, lamivudine, zidovudine, and efavirenz.
However, all HIV combinations (ART) quickly reduce viral load. ART starts working from the first dose. Viral load is usually reduced by 90% within the first few days. It then continues to fall but not as quickly until it becomes undetectable.
You can find out more information about how quickly you can become undetectable at this link to a similar question.
Im taking efaverinz combination of douvir, how many weeks before I become undetectable