Question
Does HIV cause weight loss?
5 January 2016. Related: All topics, Newly diagnosed, Opportunistic infections, Side effects, Starting treatment.
Can facial wasting and losing weight happen prior to starting treatment?
Can they simply be features of HIV (or stress) without being due to opportunistic infections?
Answer
Thank you for your questions.
General weight loss and facial wasting (fat loss) are very different things.
Before effective HIV treatment (ART), wasting and loss of appetite were very common among people living with HIV.
Some of the reasons that caused wasting were nausea, diarrhoea, poor absorption of food, fevers and loss of appetite. These symptoms are largely related to having a low CD4 count and not being on ART.
Information about body changes as a side effect are at these links for body fat changes (lipodystrophy) and fat loss (lipoatrophy).
Losing fat from the face is sometimes a feature of aging – ie it happens naturally as you get older. HIV doesn’t cause fat loss prior to treatment though, and is unlikley to cause it after treatment so long as you don’t use either d4T or AZT.
This answer was updated in January 2016 from a question first posted on 21 May 2008.
i started treatment last month, now my weight started to decrease. before starting hiv treatment my weight was 78 kg but nw is 75 kg. i dont wanna lose my weight.
Ten week is fine for third generation tests.
Hi all. I have lost weight 10 pounds but I don’t feel sick and tested negative to hiv. Am I in the window period. Tested at 10 weeks post exposure
Hi Joey,
I’m sorry it sounds like it’s tough at the moment. But it’s great that you’ve fought hard for so long and won.
However, in 2016 HIV treatment is now more effective and simpler to take than ever before. There have been dramatic improvements in HIV treatment (ART) since AZT was the only drug available.
ART now is safe and effective. It involves far fewer side effects and usually fewer pills since combination therapy began in the mid 1990s.
With over 30 drugs and formulations – all approved for safety and efficacy – this choice means you can now aim for the best quality of life. You could talk to your doctor about starting ART and find out what it can do to help you as an individual.
You can read about starting HIV treatment in this guide: Introduction to ART
I am a 61 year old male and was diagnosed back in 1988. I never wanted to take AZT so I have always refused it. I saw what AZT did to my partner. Well I have been very lucky and have never had an opportunistic infections. I have had my in and out of the hospital . However I have had spine surgery with in the last 6 weeks. I received an epidural for pain along with steroid.. Ever since that happened it’s been down hill. I lost 26 pounds in 14 days, I’m feeling weak, no apitite and my face is puffy looking. I also have this acne looking pimples on my head and on my body. I’m getting very depressed and I feel that this would be my last fight. I’m so tired of fighting for so long to stay alive and healthy. What to do?
Hi Joseph, Weight loss is a side effect associated with older ARVs that are usually not used in current treatment. It sounds like your ARVs are working because you say you haven’t changed treatment and you don’t feel sick. But you can ask the clinic for your latest results to make sure viral load is undetectable and your CD4 count isn’t too low.
It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about this sudden weight loss. Especially if you’ve lost about 10% of your weight.
You can ask your doctor to look for reasons behind the weight loss. They may also be able to suggest dietary supplements to encourage weight gain.
I am HIV positive and have been on ARVs since 2010. I have lost weight in a period of three weeks and I have not changed my treatment and I also dont feel sick.
What could be the cause of this weight loss? What do I have to do cause I am worried, I am dying?
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The main cause of facial wasting is actually antiretrovirals themselves but thse are now less-used, eg, AZT, d4T.