Question
Will my CD4 count and VL change?
22 November 2007. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
Hi,
In August, when I was diagnosed, my viral load was 500,000 and my CD4 count was 380.
In October my viral load came down to 185,000 and CD4 dropped to 360.
Is it likely that my viral load will drop further? Or is it likely to stay high once it reaches a high level?
I am also interested in once your CD4 count drops is it possible that it would rebound? Or is that it, it just continues to be stable or drop?
Answer
Any change between now and your next results depends on when you think you caught HIV.
If you were only recenly infected, then it is liekly that your viral load will continue to go down, and your CD4 count could go up again over time.
If you are likely to have been HIV-positive for some years, then both the CD4 count and viral load would be seen as stable (ie no difference between the two results). Having a viral load over 100,000 copies.mL in chronic infection is a factor for starting treatment, even with a CD4 count that is higher than guidelines recommend.
Both CD4 count and viral load results can fluctuate substantially from test to test. There are many reasons for that. Among the most important ones are: other underlying infection(s), stage of the infection, menstrual cycle in female patients and sometimes even lab mistakes. That is why it is important to follow the trend, rather than the one-off results.
Generally speaking, it is expected as the infection progresses the VL to go slowly up (after the stage of the seroconversion, when it is very high) and the CD4 count to drop. In rare cases we are talking about discordant results when the CD4 count drops while the VL stays the same or even drops too, or vice versa.
Detailed information about the CD4 trends and VL is available from the i-Base Treatment training for advocates.
Hi Muhammad, how long have you been on treatment? and when were you diagnosed? Your viral load is low and suggests you have recently started treatment.
My cd4 count is 337& vL 1113 Feb 2023
Hi,
The ‘normal’ range for the CD4 count of someone who does not have HIV is between 400 and 1600. This could mean that you did get infected when you thought you did or that you had been infected earlier. It is difficult to say. 496 is a strong CD4 count still. You have time to process your diagnosis and to consider treatment options.
You can find more information about being newly diagnosed here:
http://i-base.info/if-you-have-just-found-out-you-are-hiv-positive/
I got infected in August and i tested positive on September 16th. On october my CD4 count was 496 is this possible or maybe i would have got HIV earlier than that i wasn’t aware?
Thank you for your question.
There could be several explanations for this change in your CD4 count and viral load. For more information on possible answers as to why this might happen please see these links to previous similar questions here and here.
I was tested HIV positive in 2004 and started HIV medication same year. Then my CD4 was 118. By December 2007 my CD4 was 300 and viral load less than 50. However, today I got results of tests I did three months ago. My CD4 is now 274 and my viral load is 1007. What does this mean? Has my treatment failed? What are my options?
Your doctor is giving you good advice. These changes in your CD4 count are not significant.
When you come to need treatment, age is not a factor in how well it works. If anything older people sometimes responsd better because adherence (not missing or being late with pills) has been reported as better in older people.
I was tested in 2004 which was negative and again in sept 2007 which was positive.
My CD4 is 530 and VL was 53,000 in September and in November 2007 the results were Cd4 480 and VL 91,000.
I am 48. What is my prognosis? Does my age explain the CD4 drop of 50 in 2 months? My doctor said it can fluctuate a lot even in a day! I get light headaches and light stomach ache fairly regularly and also have started to have a sweaty smell even though I wash regularly. Also my ass gets spots for several months quite badly, also totally new!……I have never smelled before!! is this all HIV?
Sorry but am getting little paranoid…..my doctor is great and says with these counts I should be fine for some time and when I do start meds will be fine for a long time