Question
What can one do against HIV wasting syndrome?
28 September 2010. Related: Access to treatment, All topics, Opportunistic infections, Starting treatment.
Is there any hope at this stage with very low CD4 levels..lower than 10?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
By ‘wasting syndrome’ do you mean when someone looses a lot of weight and is not yet on treatment? If so then once treatment is started and your health is improved then you will see that your weight will increase and go back to normal again.
If you have a very low CD4 count of less than 10 then it is extremely important that you start treatment immediately. I have known people who started treatment with CD4 counts as low as 1 and, 20 years on, are now healthy and able to live a normal life. It may take slightly longer to recover the CD4 count but it is very possible to live a normal, healthy and happy life once treatment is started.
For more information about starting treatment please follow this link to the i-Base ‘Introduction to Combination Therapy‘ guidebook.
Thank you so much for your answer.
Hello MJ,
I would not have included that statement in my answer if it wasn’t true. For more information please follow this link to a similar question and this link to a review of a scientific paper which has found HIV positive people to have a near normal life expectancy on ARV treatment. You should not worry. With current treatments available HIV positive people are living longer and longer. If you wish to speak to other positive people about their experiences of living a long time on treatment then please call the treatment information phoneline on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Take care
Charlie
Charlie
Hello Charlotte,
Is this statement valid “I have known people who started treatment with CD4 counts as low as 1 and, 20 years on, are now healthy and able to live a normal life.”
20 yrs seems to me like so long a time…!! I have to say that being positive,in my mid 20’s, I am personally afraid that I wont even leave those years ahead now!!
Thanks for the service. Much Appreciated.