Question
What happens if I stop taking treatment?
31 August 2016. Related: Adherence, All topics, Changing treatment, Side effects, South 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.
In nigeria our doctors don’t care about us, or how we feel with our symptoms
Hi James, when will you be able to access treatment again? Where are you based?
Hi I stopped taking my meds a few weeks ago my company drug plan is not covering the cost anymore so will take next week for a few days want it to last longer
HI Bimb, do you have a recent viral load test? If your viral load is still being suppressed it means that you are not resistant to your current medication. Have you been experiencing these symptoms for as long as you have been on this medication? and have you mentioned this to your doctor?
Hello I don’t know the ARV I’m on because I don’t check the names, this days I feel certain painful movements on my belle and sight blur and I’ve never skipped a day of my medicine
Hi Bimb, being drug resistant does not mean you are resistant to all drugs. There are other classes/types of medications that you can try that HIV will be susceptible to. More information can be found here: https://i-base.info/guides/starting/resistance
What to do if someone becomes drug resistant
Hi Bimb, what medication are you taking? It is great that you have restarted. How long have you been taking them again for? Are you able to get a CD4 count and viral load test? This will let you know if your medication is still working?
What do you mean by feeling sick? Can you describe the symptoms you are experiencing and how long you have been feeling this way?
Hello i stopped taking my medications for over 5 months, I fell sick and now I started taking same drugs I started with and I still feel extra sick. What do I do
Hi Gift, how long has this person not been taking medication? If not using medication there is increased risk of transmission to baby. Not being on treatment also risks the health of mum and baby.
Baby will be given their own treatment after birth, but risk can be reduced if mum starts taking medication again.