Question
Rate of CD4 increase after 2 years…
24 December 2023. Related: Adherence, All topics, CD4 and viral load, Living with HIV long-term.
My CD4 count increased only 70 to 184 in 2.2 years. Taking Biktarvy and Sulfamethoxazole and CD4 percentage is 13%, VL is less than 40 from 2 years. Why my CD4 is not increasing and they will never recover in normal range? if yes how many years it will take to recover to normal range or may not recover at all?
Did you know anybody recovered CD4 after 2 years ? I heard CD4 count will not recover if they are not increasing in first 2 years ?
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
It is great to hear that you have a suppressed viral load – this shows that your treatment is working.
I recognise that an increase of 70 to 184 in 2.2 years seems slow but it is going in the right direction. Recovery of CD4 count is a slow process.
Unlike viral load which is directly treated by ARVs and respond within a few months, CD4 count recovery is by the body not by your treatment. Starting from a lower count (below 100) will take a longer time than someone who is starting at 400.
Often people find that the higher the CD4 count becomes, the quicker it is for the CD4 count to return to a healthy range.
Unfortunately in some people CD4 count will never recover to a healthy range. Your count is still increasing though so this is still not a likely outcome for you.
There is no specific timeline for recovery. It is difficult to say what your count will be in the next year or two but you are already doing everything right by continuing with your medication. This is the best and only thing you can do to help improve your CD4 count.
Josh.
Hi Anonymous, I recognize that this does appear slow however there is a constant trend of your CD4 count increasing. This is very encouraging showing that it is still increasing albeit slowly.
There is some risk of reduced life expectancy when CD4 doesn’t recover. As the CD4 count is a marker for your immune system, the weaker it is the more vulnerable you are to other infections/illnesses. It is the risk of these illnesses that can impact your life expectancy.
However your CD4 count is still increasing. There is no reason to think that it will not recover. Even slowly, it is still trending upwards and your body is slowly recovering from the initial HIV infection.
Here is CD4 count % and count from last 2.2 years. Looks like struggling lot to go up. Hoping to recover in normal range in another 2.8 years, is it possible ?
If not recover to normal range then life expectancy less ?
Date Value CD4 Count
Dec 18, 2023 13% 184
Sep 12, 2023 12% 184
Jul 21, 2023 12% 258
Apr 25, 2023 13% 193
Jan 20, 2023 10% 211
Aug 8, 2022 11% 197
May 13, 2022 8% 169
Feb 17, 2022 9% 154
Nov 19, 2021 8% 157
Oct 20, 2021 8% 70