Question
I am worried about a drop in my last CD4 count…
16 August 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Starting treatment.
I was diagnosed in June 2011 with a CD4 count of 225, and I started treatment in August when I discovered it had dropped to 125. I was told by the doctors not to be anxious because I’m now
on treatment, but this has really made me very concerned.
I won’t know for a few weeks if it has dropped further.
Answer
Hi,
Try not to be too concerned about the drop of your CD4 count.
You are only recently diagnosed and only having only two CD4 count so far does not mean very much. Your doctor is right that now you are on treatment this will generally go up. You next results are likely to be higher again.
Then, you need to have several results over time to see what the trend is. The trend is an average reading from all the results that you have taken.
CD4 counts fluctuate up and down – for example, depending on the time of the day, diets, exercises and whether you have any other infection. Also, only a small proportion of CD4 cells are found in the blood, the rest are found in either your lymph nodes or tissues. As CD4 cells travel between the blood, the lymph nodes and tissues, this movement of cells in and out of the blood can causes differences in your test results, but this does not mean your health is worse.
UK guidelines recommend that you should have your CD4 count done every 3-4 months. You could also ask your doctor for your CD4 percentage (CD4%). This looks at the CD4 count in relation to other immune cells and its a more stable indication of whether there has been a change in your immune system. If your CD4% was the same for the two results above, then there really was no difference.
More information regarding CD4 fluctuations and CD4% is here and here.
Comment