Q and A

Question

How can I decrease my viral load?

hi my question is that I found out I am hiv positive and my c4 was 64 and am now on treatment. The last time Ii do my varal load was more than 3000, they asked me to do it again this month. I’m stressed to much and that makes me scared. What can I used to boost my viral load? I don’t have a problem with my treatment my problem is the stress I have.

Answer

Thanks for getting in touch.

What was your viral load when you were diagnosed? How long have you been on treatment? Has your CD4 increased since you started meds?

I appreciate that you are concerned that your viral load is not undetectable. It is though still low, and will continue to go down if you take your meds. It can take up to six months to become undetectable. It is taking your meds that will decrease your viral load, and nothing else.

146 comments

  1. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Louis,

    Your mother needs to be on medication. Once she is on medication her viral load will begin to decrease. Please see here: http://i-base.info/guides/starting

  2. Louis

    My mum’s viral load is 84,304. What cn we do?

  3. LUTHANDO

    HI I AM VERY STRESSED MY VIRAL LOAD IS INCREASING FROM 167 TO 1015 I AM TAKING MY PILLS CORRECTLY N DAILY I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S THE CAUSE OF THIS I AM STRESSED PLEASE HELP ME

  4. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Mahi,

    Are you on medication? If you are how long have you been on it for? Do you also know what your CD4 count is?

  5. Mahi

    my virul load is 750n I have been told if it doesn’t decrease I might get sick..pls help what can I do to decrease it

  6. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Luthando,

    If your viral load is increasing when you’re on medication this would indicate that the meds are no longer working. You’ll need to talk to your doctor about the possibility of changing to another combination. Please see here for more info: http://i-base.info/guides/changing

  7. Roy Trevelion

    Hi Emmanuel,

    What HIV meds are you taking? And have you been on treatment for a while? However, if you’ve just started HIV treatment (called ART), it can take a few months to get your viral load to undetectable and under 50 copies. That’s especially the case if your viral load was very high when starting ART.

    If you’ve been on ART for some time, please ask for a repeat viral load test to make sure there isn’t viral rebound.

  8. Emmanuel

    My viral load is 4000,am I at risk?

  9. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Tebogo,

    If your girlfriends viral load is increasing and she’s on medication this would imply that the meds are no longer working. She may have developed resistance to her medication. This will need to be discussed with her doctor. Its likely that she’ll need to change her treatment. Please see here for more info:

    http://i-base.info/guides/changing

  10. tebogo

    hi my girlfriend her viral load is going up instead of it should be on de minimal average so my question is dat what can she do to keep her viral load low cos she is taking her meds in a right way at de same time.

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