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 Modester,
Don’t be worried. If the HIV meds are working well you should have an undetectable viral load.
But for nearly everyone, the HIV tests will still be HIV positive. This is because HIV tests look for an immune response (called an antibody). You can read more info here on this updated Q&A.
I’ve been on ART since April this year and a week ago i went for a normal test and it still came positive.does this mean my viral load is not lowering or the medication is not working for me?
I’m worried
Hi Yvette,
A persons viral load becomes undetectable when they adhere to their medication. This should take 1-3 months from starting medication. Depending the ARVs that you use they could have a reaction with the recreational drugs that you’re taking.
Are you able to get any help with the drug issue? Are you actually on ARVs?
Please send me information as I am a junkie and my t-cells are at about 100. How can I become undetectable before it’s too late?
Hi Mandla,
A persons viral load should become undetectable within 1-3 months. However it can also take longer. This is why its important to have your viral load tested. Please continue to use condoms until your viral load is undetectable.
Hi Janet.
Please see here: http://i-base.info/u-equals-u/
Its quite a relief knowing my boyfriends viral load is undetectable and chances if transmission were close to zero..i have done close to 5 tests in a period of 8 months since the exposure occured in February this year..Challenge im facing is itchness of the body..i read some of the questions and replies on this platform about itchy skin being related to hiv
my whole body has been extremely itchy with some red round patterns..
should i be worried
thank you
My doctor have prescribed Trivenz about a month ago. I’m on the 2nd batch of 30s. How long will it take for the virus to be undetectable in my system? I have just met this wonderful lady and do not want to chase her away by disclosing too soon although we are using protection. If i tell her when my virus is undetectable and we go for testing together i think that might not scare her away. Please help.
Hi Janet,
Thank you.
Yes, it does make sense that your guy’s viral load can’t be detected. So you could say it’s 0 point. ART reduces HIV in the blood to such tiny amounts that the usual viral load test can’t pick it up.
If all your rapid tests have come back HIV negative that sounds like confirmation you’re HIV negative. Here’s a link to Undetectable = Untransmittable.
Hie
I started dating some guy in August last year..in September last year we started having unprotected sex..infact since then till February this year..I had terrible yeast infection and for safety reasons i got tested in April this year using RAT it came out negative..in August he disclosed to me that he is hiv positive i went for the test again it was negative..i tested again in September twice using the same type of test it was negative..This month last week i tested ot came out negative..he told me his viral load is undetectable and the last time he went for aviral load test it was 0 point something/copies ml.i dont kno if that makes sense how can his viral load be on 0.point something and im not infected or i might be and it will test positive in future..oh he mentioned hes benn on ART since January 2016
Thank you for this wonderful platform..hoping to hear from you soon