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.
I stopped taking my ARVS for two years now, am worried am I going to die.? Can I start taking them again or they won’t connect with my body again
Hi Robert, when were these tests done? and do you know what your CD4 count is? An undetectable viral load would mean that HIV is being suppressed and that your immune system (CD4 count) should be able to begin to recover.
It is not too late to restart medication. Many people choose to restart their medication after years, not taking treatment for 3 months is unlikely going to effect how well your ARVs work. Was there a reason you went without for 3 months? When restarting it is advised to have a viral load test a few weeks/months after restarting to check that your treatment is still working.
I also didnt take my medication for 3 months…is it too late for me to take my medication again
Hy ,should i be worried if my Viral load is unditactable and CD4 count is also very low
Hi Mandy, as i-base is UK based I am unsure of access in other countries. Have you approached this other clinic about how to access treatment?
Will I be able to take antivirals from other clinics without transfere
Thanks so much for your help
Hi Don, thnks, it sounds like you are in the US where medical care is complicated. COVID causes a lot of problems in accessing care and it is good that you are challenging this. I hope you are back on treatment again now.
Well my new doctor after I moved started me on odefsey a one pill a day thing, but after the first 90 day prescription she discontinued my meds based on the fact that she needed to see me in person. This was at the peak of the COVID pandemic when social distancing was a mandate. I suggested we tele- communicate via the web since I was also living 50 miles from hospital and had no transport. Besides, I did not want to subject myself to unnecessary COVID exposure. No deal. This doctor continued to deprescribe my antiviral meds for a total of twenty months! I felt much like I did in the beginning some thirty years earlier. Up to this point I had historically maintained undetectable levels, but after about 9 months my viral load soared to 102,000. And cd 4 fell from 680 to 358. I was having labs done at an in town clinic and having them forwarded to the doctor. Just after two weeks my viral load soared to 89,000plus. I had to contact the White House as well as the facility Director to have my meds activated again. Unfortunately, I went without for some twenty months. Man, was I getting sick and week. Currently, this matter is under investigation by the medical board, the OIG, and other agencies.
Hi Lucky, after a week this is long enough for viral load to begin to rebound. Are you able to get a viral load test done in a few weeks? Usually restarting treatment after a week will not cause a problem, but it is best to check with a test.