Question
What happens if I miss a week of ARVs?
3 December 2021. Related: Adherence, All topics, CD4 and viral load.
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.
Hello Dan and thanks for getting in touch.
Chances are that your medication will work when you start taking them again.
It might be a good idea to tell your doctor though, so they can offer you another test soon to ensure you remain undetectable.
My guess is that your viral load might have started rebounding now so you might not be undetectable.
You will certainly lose the undetectable status if you remain longer without medication, which also means you will need to use condoms if you don’t start medication immediately.
I am wondering though, why did you stop?
Was it because you had side effects?
Hi I’m Dan. I’m a bit new to this, it’s been 2 weeks since I took my pills …I have had undetected viral loads before that. I’m feeling great, no symptoms of any sort so far. Tomorrow the hospital is gonna have a new batch of medication for me, just wondering if it’s still gonna work
Hello ZS and thanks for getting in touch.
Please do not worry. Missing those two doses will not affect the efficacy of your treatment.
It is important though that you notice how you take your medication.
If this happens often to you, then you might need some support:
https://i-base.info/guides/starting/adherence