Question
Which immune booster pills will decrease my viral load?
11 January 2016. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Changing treatment, Starting treatment.
Which immune booster pills or herbal supplement can i take to decrease my viral load?
Answer
Hi,
Booster pills and herbal supplements will not reduce your viral load.
The only thing that can do this is HIV treatment (ART).
Once someone starts ART, viral load decreases very quickly – within a month or two it should be under 50 copies/mL (called undetectable).
If you have already been on HIV treatment for longer than this and you viral load is not under 50 you should speak to your doctor or clinic.
They can help you work out why the treatment isn’t working so well. They can let you know what alternatives are available.
You can find information about starting treatment and information about changing treatment in our online guides.
Hi Lekan, i-base is an HIV focussed charity. Have you spoken with your doctor about target viral load for Hep B and the treatments available to you?
My name is Lekan. My Hapetitis B viral load is 1,846. What does it mean? What do I need to beat it down?
Hi Vuyiswa, you do not need to worry. Your viral load is still being suppressed by your treatment. You have an excellent viral load.
A question was answered previously for why you may have had a detectable viral load: https://i-base.info/qa/914
Hi I’ve been taking my treatment for 9 years every was until I went for my blood check up I found out my viral load increase to34 and I’m scared now what can I do to keep it undetectable
Hi Lintle, have you only recently found out about your status?
Many women do not find out about their status until later on in their pregnancies with high viral loads and have healthy HIV negative children. It is great that you have started medication – this is the best thing you can do. As you have found out later on in your pregnancy, baby will be given their own course of HIV medication to help prevent transmission – usually this will be for about 12 weeks.
Congratulations on your pregnancy and good luck for the final month.
Hi my viral load is 41300 and I’m almost 8 months pregnant and the nurse has jz told me that I’m at risk of infecting the baby.Please help what can I do because I’m taking my meds accordingly and in time
Hi Mandla, have you been undetectable before/has your results been changing? An hour either side of a regular time is not likely to be a problem. The same time every day is to ensure the same level of medication remains within the body. Most drugs last a little longer than 24 hours allowing for an overlap.
Did you both acquire HIV from the same source? If you did not and you are having sex without a condom there is a risk to your parter to gain an HIV superinfection. This means having her own strain and yours, making medical management difficult. It is good to hear your partner’s viral load is so low. How long have you been using ART?
I have discovered that my viral load is 887 ml,but to my suprize i take my medication acordingly.yes sometimes I take them after an hour or two,and my partner is also on ART.The main thing that i must confess yes we dont use condon when we are making love and her viral load is 20 copies/ml ?
Hi Sophy, thanks for your post. It sounds like several different things are involved. What are the details of viral load increases.
What is the latest number and what was the one before this? If viral load is now over 500, certainly if higher than 1000 copies/mL, then your HIV might already be resistant to the meds. It is important to talk to your doctor about this. At this level it is important to use condoms with your partner.
If the increases are all much smaller and you viral load is still less than 200 copies/mL, then these might just be blips. Your partner is not at risk when below 200.
Changes to your body might be due to HIV or might be a side effect of early treatment. This involve knowing when you were diagnosed, plus your CD4 and treatment history. Again, what does your doctor say about this.
These links have more info:
Body changes
https://i-base.info/guides/side/lipodystrophy
Fat loss
https://i-base.info/guides/side/fat-loss-lipoatrophy
Fat gain:
https://i-base.info/guides/side/fat-accumulation
My viral load is always increasing, I’m taking my ARVs everyday and my husband is negative we do sex once a week and I’m starting to be deformed my legs are thin and my upper body is big please help