Question
I am just diagnosed with a CD4 count of 10?
7 December 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Newly diagnosed, Starting treatment.
I’ve recently tested HIV+ and unfortunately my CD4 count came out at 10. I am not ill, but do i have the chance to live any longer.
Answer
Hi
As well as being HIV positive, your CD4 count is very low. Unless you were only infected very recently, this means your HIV is very advanced.
Using ARV treatment (ART) as soon as possible is important. ART will reduce the serious risk of HIV-related health complications.
The medicines will still work for you. There are many reasons to be hopeful and optimistic.
Because your CD4 count is uder 50 there is also a chance that other infections (called IRIS) might become active during the first few months of treatment. These are usuallly easy to treat, but tell your doctor about any new symptoms over the next months.
Also, please be very careful not to miss any doses of your meds. This is called good adherence.
Your doctor should also give you antibiotics to protect you from other infections. This is usually cotrimoxazole (often also called Septrin or Bactrim) which is a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. This treatment should continue until your CD4 count gets much higher (at least above 200, maybe above 350).
While your CD4 count is still below 50, including now, your doctor should also examine your eyes. This is to check whether a viral infection called CMV is affecting your eyes. CMV can cause serious and permanent vision loss.
For more information see this guide to starting treatment, called Introduction to ART.
If you were not expecting to be HIV positive, this will take a while for the news to sink in. It will get easier – and hopefully you will get a good response from treatment.
These two links might help:
Just diagnosed:
https://i-base.info/just-found-out
Who can I talk to:
https://i-base.info/who-can-i-talk-to
Note: This answer was updated in December 2016 from a question first posted on 13 September 2011.
Hi Zinhle,
I’m sorry to hear your brother is so unwell! It’s good that he is in hospital though. This means he will be monitored and have a good chance of getting better. Many people who are hospitalised with low CD4 counts go on to make full recoveries. I know people who were in similar situations 10 or 20 years ago but are now living healthy and active lives. HIV treatment is very effective. The other problems – with his kidney and lungs- may be related to his low CD4 count. These may improve over time, or they may need seperate treatment. It sounds like he’s in the best place he could be though, so it’s important to stay positive. I wish you the best of luck, please do contact me if you have any questions!
hi…
please help.
my Brother was admitted in hospital,with swollen feet, loss of weight and short breath issue. They did an HIV test on him and it came out Positive – and his CD4 count was 70. Now the doctor told us his lungs are not functioning properly and he has kidney issues aswell(so they will do a dialysis on him). He is in the Intensive Care Unit – he talks and everything..but I’m so scared he will die and leave us. :( please share your success stories living with this virus – as I am losing hope. They just started him with his ARV’s last night.
A lot of people have started with a CD4 count under 10 and still recovered very well. Some are still doing well on treatment after 15 years.
You may want to check the lab test results though. CD4 results are usually only whole numbers ie 5 or 8 or 58. I don’t understand why the result is 5.8.
hi my husband and i tested hiv positive, and his cd4 count is 5.8 does it means he is going to die or is there any medication he can take to increase his cd4 count?
A few people progress very quickly after infection. So although someone diagnosed with an CD4 count of 40 is usually assumed to have been positive for many years, occasionally they may have been recently infected.
Now you know your boyfriend is HIV positive it is important to protect yourself by using condoms in the future. This might take time to get used to and to practice.
You will be at risk of catching HIV if you have sex without condoms, even if you partner does not ejaculate. This is because HIV is infectious in pre-cum.
Your partner needs to start HIV treatment with such a low CD4 count. If this reduces his viral loaf to undetectable (usually this takes at least three months) then his will become less infectious.
I hope you both get support during this difficult period which sounds very difficult. Your own tst result is good news but you should still check 3 months after the last time you had unprotected sex.
Good luck with everything.
Thanks Mark. It sounds like you have had a great response to treatment.
2 years ago my CD4 crashed to 20. I started on darunavir/ritonavir and Truvada plus some other meds to help me through. Now, I have a CD4 of 630 and an undetectable viral load.
My boyfriend tested positive recently,and we have been going out for moree than 15months I tested before we started sleeping,and my result were nagative,asked him to test he was so scared,yet some times he will have problems with eractions when he put the condom In short we did have occassionaly have unprocteted sex more than twice. I tested negative. We were on and off the Condom. On da 29/11 I did a bill of Heath that I ussually do every year. I forced him to test,cause we were having problems sexually. Waited until he got his result first “to my shock he showed me the result and he was HIV positive with a less than 40 CD4 count,da following day collect mine and I was still HIV negative,can’t say I’m releived I’m scared. I know I’m in a window period I did a 4thGen test.. My other test Platelets were 381x 10^9/L I’m not sure what it means but d DR said it fine. I’m confused cause he has a son born in 2009 and he said he is nagative and the mother as well. Can it happen that he was infected recently,but why he’s CD4 cound is less than 40… Please help I’m so confused and have know one to talk to and the same time he wants my support I find it hard and he was a good man and honest man to me,but it hard not to think why didint he wants to test and how he was inffected and I’m still in a waiting period myself. He never once ejaculated inside can dis reduced da chance of me being HIV positive
Bereavement can be difficult and can lead to health complications itself. Counselling about your mum’s death and time to come to terms with this wil be better that supplements.
Supplements do not have any impact on improving you CD4 count.
Cd dropped from 450 to 205 during a loss of a mom,lost weight and diagonised 2003 ,taking Atripla.Live in south africa need something to gain weight ,using lifegain supplements will it help?