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.
Hi Na, have you started your treatment again? After starting, are you able to have a viral load test in a few weeks? This will let you know if your medication is still working. What was your viral load before missing your treatment?
Missed 10 days of treatment what now?
Hi Emmanuel, no you do not need to worry. As you are undetectable, missing 2 doses is not going to be long enough for your viral load to rebound. There is no risk to your girlfriend.
Good day Josh? I want to find out i’ve missed 2 doses over the weekend and slept with my girlfriend who is Negative but my Viral Load has been undetectable do I need to worry?
Hi Austine, are you feeling better now? As you were undetectable (20 copies), missing a few days of medication will not be enough to allow for a viral rebound. It is still best to have a VL test in a few weeks to check that everything is still working.
Even if your viral load did go up in this time, it would not be a great enough increase to risk transmission to your boyfriend.
I’ve maintained a vl of less than 20copies/ml for four years now. Last week of May, I was very sick and was admitted in a hospital, so I missed my ART for 5days, I resumed medication immediately I got home. On 21st of June, I had unprotected sex with my negative boyfriend. I’m just not comfortable, I days I missed my drugs won’t make my vl to shoot up and I hope he won’t get infected?
Hi Konathung, have you restarted your medication? Hopefully nothing will happen and your medication will continue to work.
To check this it is best to get a viral load test done within the next few weeks. This will check to see that your viral load has remained suppressed.
I missed my Arvs for 10 days.
What shall I do now?
Hi Mookho, have you been able to restart your ARVs now? While it is not ideal, missing 6 days of medication is not likely to cause any long-term problems. Though as it has been this long will you be able to get a test for your viral load? This will be able to check that your medication is working and help you know if you are undetectable or not.
I’m worried because doctor receptionist didn’t submit my blood results on time that caused my ARVs delivered 6 days behind and caused me not to take my Arvs for 6 days, what will happen with me I’m worried