Question
Is it too late for me to restart ART?
13 June 2021. Related: All topics, Changing treatment, Life expectancy, Living with HIV long-term.
I stopped taking my meds after taking them for about 5 years. I got tired and depressed on taking med on my everyday life. Now regrets are coming and i don’t know what to do.
I had a friend who died after stop taking meds and when he come back to doctor he take i think other medications (dont know specifically). Then he died after 2 weeks.
I’m scared that if i go back taking meds i might die as a early as i expect?
Answer
Hi there – thanks for your questions – and it is really good to hear from you.
Even without more details of you CD4 and viral load, it is NEVER too later to restart ART (HIV meds) again.
It sounds like a bit more support earlier on might have helped too. I have been taking meds for over 25 years and the drugs today are so much more effective and easier.
I have never see the pills in a bad way – even when they were difficult. Instead, for a minute or two each day, they keep me alive and healthy. And I have the other 23 hours and 58 minutes each day to do anything I want with my life.
Maybe speaking to a counsellor about how you feel might make it easier next time.
Your doctor and clinic will also be worried about you. They can support you to restart again – either with the same meds or different ones. The treatment will still work.
It sounds like your friend was very unlucky. They maybe developed a serious infection because their CD4 count would have dropped. Without treatment, you are at risk of all the terrible illnesses that used to be so difficult many years ago.
Please let me know if you have other questions though. Please also get in touch with your clinic too – it really isn’t too late. But it might be in the future if you don’t get treatment again.
I hope everything works out well.
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