Question
My viral load is more than 100000…
6 December 2023. Related: Adherence, All topics, CD4 and viral load.
I went to see a doctor and they told me my my HIV viral Load is 124,215 and my CD4 count is 575. I have been off my medication for a month and some weeks is that bad?
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
Can I ask why you have not been on your medication for the last few weeks?
And what was your viral load while you were on treatment?
Because you have stopped treatment, HIV is no longer being suppressed in your body. This is why you now have a high viral load. This means that HIV is active in your body and risks damaging your immune system and passing on HIV to others.
Your CD4 count is still in a healthy range (430-1690) but with a high viral load, you risk this number falling quickly. When HIV is active it infects CD4 cells and kills them. This then weakens your immune system and can be at risk of other infections.
Treatment will be able to suppress HIV again and prevent this damage to your immune system.
Would you consider going back on treatment? This is the best way to keep you healthy and stop transmission to other people. If you do it would be recommended to have a viral load test a few weeks after starting to check your viral load is being suppressed.
This is a guide about starting treatment.
Josh.
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