Q and A

Question

What happens if I miss a week of ARVs?

I have been on treatment for the last 8 months. I stopped my medication for a week and just did a viral load test, it says I have a viral load of 700000. I don’t understand.

Answer

Hi, how are you doing?

Do you mind if I asked why you missed a week? Adherence to a daily medication can be difficult and you might find a better way of managing it if you speak with a doctor.

For ARVs to be effective they need to be taken daily at the same time. This is because a constant level of the medication is required to be in your body to keep HIV suppressed. Missing a week of ARVs would allow the level of medication in your body to drop below a required amount. If it drops this low it will stop working and HIV will be able to replicate and increase its viral load. Here you can find out why taking ARV daily is important.

Missing a week means there is a chance HIV has gained resistance to your current medication. Taking ARVs until you are undetectable does not mean you can stop with taking them. ARV therapy will be required long-term to prevent the virus replicating. You may need to speak to your doctor about better ways to adhere to medication or if there is a more suitable combination.

If you have another question please get in touch,

Josh.

55 comments

  1. Simon Collins

    Hi N, I am sorry but there is not enough info here for me to be able to help.

    The answer will depend on your CD4 and viral load when your started ARVs and whether there are any other health concerns. It will also depend on which meds you are taking to know if this might be a side effect.

    You doctor needs to decide if this is related to health or a side effect.

    Most side effects get easier over the first few weeks.

    If you started with a very low CD4 count though, this might be a new infection.

  2. N

    Have just started taking arv.i am feeling so tired even almost not able to walk my legs are tired. When will this end

  3. Josh Peasegood

    Hi Allen, HIV medication needs to be taken at the same time everyday or at least within the same hour of your regular time e.g., if you take HIV treatment at 9am it would be okay to take it anytime between 08:30am and 09:30am.

    HIV treatment is only effective in the body for around 24 hours. After this time it is less effective and cannot suppress HIV as well. This risks the medication not working as well and can lead to resistance of treatment.

    Are you able to find a way to make it easier to take your treatment at the same time each day e.g., using an alarm or doing it as part of your routine after brushing your teeth?

  4. Allen

    I dont have a fixed time drinking my pills but i make sure i drink everyday is it okay

  5. Josh Peasegood

    Hi Ish, for information about transmission please see here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/hiv-transmission-and-testing

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