Question
Can I restart my treatment after years?
31 August 2023. Related: Adherence, All topics, CD4 and viral load.
I have stopped taking my ARVs and it’s been years, will they work if I retake them now?
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
How many years have you been without treatment? and do you know the name of your treatment?
Have you had recent viral load/CD4 tests?
It is great that you want to restart. In most cases restarting treatment will not be a problem and it will continue to work.
Depending on your current CD4 count you may be required to take additional medication for a short while as your CD4 count recovers. This is called co-trimoxazole and is an antibiotic used to prevent other infections as your immune system recovers.
It would be recommended that after restarting treatment you have a viral load test a few weeks after. This will be to check that your medication is working and that HIV is being suppressed.
Are you going to the same clinic where you had your medication from last?
Josh
Hi Samson, please go to the closest clinic now and register there as a ne patient. You can still go back on HIV meds but the doctor will need to check your helath and might even need to test for HIV, CD4 qnd viral load. I don’t know how this works in different countries but this would all be okay in the UK. Please also ask for a sexual health check and ask the doctor about the problem with sex. Please do this now rather than waiting any longer :)
Hi yes I want to restart again but my clinic is too far from where I’m staying, can i go to another clinic as well.. that’s my question thanks. It is almost a year now since I stopped treatment.end I’m not feeling well. Also I got some problem in my private part from last month until now I can’t manage to get sex..
Hi Luthuli, you can restart treatment after 3 years. Are you able to return to your old clinic?
It’s been 3 years now