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 Alka,
Please see the above post.
Hi,I tested positive in February and started ART immediately and have never missed,its been 5 months now,hasn’t been easy but i am trying,i eat healthy,exercise and drink alcohol occasionally but working on stopping completely since I don’t know how it affects my drugs. Please I’ll like to know how long until it becomes undetectable? Does it take years?
Hi Eunice,
Is your parnter on HIV treatment (ART)? When you take ART the aim is to get your viral load result to come back as undetectable. Being stable on ART and undetectable can protect you from HIV. Even if you don’t use condoms. You can read more on U=U here.
my partner is infected and we had a protected sex until his penis got limb after ejaculation,the semens started to fall down,I want to know if its possible for him to infect me,is it also possible for me to pass it on my baby
Hi Kay,
The good news is that Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U). You can read more info here. So you cannot transmit HIV when you’re undetectable even if you had sex without condoms.
Hi. My status has been undetected for a while now. I recently made out with a friend. We kissed deeply, he fondled my VJJ with his fingers and sucked my boobs but there was no sexual intercourse between us. Please I would like to know if I have put him at risk in anyway.
Hi Khina,
The reason why your friend is undetectable is because he’s taking medication. If he were to stop taking medication his viral load would rebound. This would mean that he would be no longer in control of his HIV.
ARVs are a lifelong treatment.
Hi a friend of mine takes odefsey a blue pill he say he is undetecable will he still have to take odefsey?
Hi Mamzo,
Unless your husband has issues with his medication, his viral load should always remain undetectable. As is viral load is undetectable he can’t transmit HIV to you through sexual intercourse.
Hi, I’m curious to know I’m – and my husband + and he is untedectable and on treatment for the past 10 years, how long will he stay undetectable because we want to have a baby? Can he sometime test detectable??