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 Stella,
There’s no risk, there’s no risk because your viral load is undetectable.
I am hiv positive, but I became undetectable after one month of being on Art with only 47 copies from my viral load test, after 3 months into treatment I had my second viral load test and it came back 21 copies. I had sex with my boyfriend unprotected, should I be worried or was there any risk of him getting infected, even if I’ve had two consecutive undetectable viral load ( since research says 200 copies considered virally suppressed) but even if it’s not been over 6 months yet since I started treatment?
Hi Vincent,
It’s great that your girlfriend has been taking HIV treatment (called ART) for years. Being on ART and having an undetectable viral load means that HIV can not be transmitted, even if you don’t use condoms.
Please see much more info at this link to Undetectable = Untransmittable.
My GF was born with HIV and she’s been on meds for year’s does that im safe from having infection.?
Hi Leera,
When someone starts medication their viral load should become undetectable within 1-3 months of starting meds. Unless you’ve had issues with your medication, your VL should be undetectable. To know for sure you’d need to have a VL test.
hi I have a yr and 2months since I’m on ART how long will it take to b undetected
Hi Gift,
When a person starts taking ARVs, their viral load should become undetectable within 1-3 months of starting meds. However, for some people it can take longer. This is why it’s important to have your viral load tested.
If your viral load is detectable and you’re not using condoms, then yes there is a risk to your partner. Your partner ovulating won’t protect her from contracting HIV.
If you can, you’re going to need to have a viral load test. Your girlfriend should also have a HIV test.
Hi I’ve been on treatment for more than three months and i dont know if i am undetectable with a cd4 count of 504 when i started treatment.recently been trying to have a baby with my girlfriend during her ovulation is the a chance of transmitting HIV since she’s negative.
Hi Bkk,
I’m sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. But it’s great that you’ve started ART (or HAART).
ART starts to work with the very first pill. Viral load can drop by 90% within the first few days, and by 99% within the first few weeks.
Viral load then continues to drop over the next few months. Most people become undetectable within 3 months.
Please see this page from ART in Pictures to see how this happens.
And here’s the Introduction to ART for lots of info about starting treatment.
Hi. I was diagnosed on 24th April and started on HAART on 3rd of June 2020. I was prescribed with Tenvir-EM ON and Efavirenz 400mg ON. With my baseline CD4 148 and viral load of 1901095 copies. How long it takes for it to become undetectable?