Question
What happens if I stop taking treatment?
31 August 2016. Related: Adherence, All topics, Changing treatment, Side effects, Southern Africa, Stopping treatment.
What are the side effects if someone stops taking her medication for HIV?
Answer
Thanks for your question.
May I ask why you are thinking of stopping? Many people find adhering hard at some in their lives but there are ways to make it easier. Likewise if you are suffering side effects – you can switch to meds that better suit you.
Several years ago a very large study called SMART reported that stopping treatment increased the risk of serious complications. These included a higher risk for heart, liver and kidney complications in people who stopped treatment and also a higher rate of some cancers.
If you decide to stop treatment, your viral load is likely to rebound within a few weeks. If you stay off treatment your CD4 count will start to drop over the next few months. When this happens the risk of developing other infections and getting sick increases.
How quickly this will happen though varies a lot. The lower your CD4 count was when you started meds, the quicker your CD4 is likely to fall without ART.
In the SMART study, most people who took a treatment break did pretty well for a short time. However, most people were not able to recover their CD4 count to earlier levels even 18 months after they restarted treatment.
Please talk to your doctor about who you feel. It is not generally good to stop treatment. It is definitely not good to do this without first talking to your doctor.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Hy i suspect my uncle has stopped taking his medication i would like to know the side effect or signs of defaulting
Hi
I’m 22 year old girl from south Africa,last mouth I tested ( HIV+) they gave me treatment n I’m taking it.there thing is that I’m battling to take my meds like regularly,ever since I’ve tested I’m suffering from low self esteem like I look at others n think of my seduation I become sad.
I feel like I would wake up dead or something,the problem with taking my meds is I can’t swallow I have to chew them sometimes I would think of giving up on life n just let it be I don’t know I eat healthy as usual…..I never miss a spot,I need an advise how to flow with this!!
Hi Wendy,
Being diagnosed with HIV can be difficult, here’s a link that you may find helpful: http://i-base.info/just-found-out/ Though it may be hard now, it does get easier. Being able to talk to someone might help, this could be a close friend, a relative or even someone else who is positive.
It’s important to know that HIV isn’t the illness is used to be. With ARVs people can now live long and healthy lives. However, they do need to be swallowed whole.
Hi D,
I’m sorry to hear this story. We are based in the UK.
However, have you tried national services like GMHCare, perhaps worth trying. Most US states have free ARV provision under ADAP, but there are both restricted ARV prescription list and sometimes waiting lists are full. See adap.directory.
This is very hard. My co-pay is very high and I can’t afford my meds anymore. I tried to get financial help from the manufacturer, State disability, SS, and private foundations. I found one but I was dropped this month and the rest they say I make too much money to qualify for any help. This is ridiculous that we live in the richest and most powerful country in the world, yes the USA and I can’t take meds.
Hi Prashant,
Have I understood your comment? RVD is a chemotherapy for blood cancer and stem cell transplant. Is that what you’re taking? If so, please talk to your doctors about this.
This website is an info resource for people who are HIV positive. And so we are not doctors. But please let us know if you’re taking HIV meds too. Treating HIV and cancer can be complex and so your doctors should be experts in this treatment.
I missed one day taking the RVD tablet then what happens please tel mi as early as possible…
Hi Amit,
I’m sorry to hear your story. It must have been quite a shock to find out you’ve been HIV positive since birth.
But it sounds like great news that you are taking ART and having a healthy lifestyle. For more tips on healthy eating please see this guide to a balanced diet and your health.
Yes, almost all of us who are HIV positive need to continue taking ART. Here’s ART in pictures that explains HIV and treatment.
Please let us know how your treatment is going, and tell us what meds you’re on, along with your viral load results.
Best wishes,
Roy
Hi,
I am 25 year old guy from india. I was born with HIV but the thing is that I didn’t knew about this until last 25 years. I got this shocking news(HIV+) three months ago through my guardian & relatives when I suffered from urine infection in JUNE 2019 . As I was child when my parents were died & didn’t know the exact cause of their death & my guardians and relatives hide this information until now.
Now if I look to my previous lifestyle which was not so healthy as I liked to eat fast food instead of healthy food(milk,meat, very few veggies). I also have been suffered from food poison ,cough, high fever several times due to my unhealthy lifestyle but recovered from it time to time.
Since last three months I have been put on ART treatment & my CD4 count was 200 (tested on june 2019).Now I am leaving a healthy lifestyle. Do I need to continue the medicine?
Hi Melanie,
Once we start HIV treatment (ART), almost all of us have to keep taking it. Please see ART in Pictures to see ART explained.
But is there a reason why your friend has stopped ART? Is there a stock out of meds, or maybe there’s another reason. Please let us know more about the HIV meds and blood test results.