Question
How long can I live without HIV drugs?
2 January 2017. Related: All topics, Life expectancy, Living with HIV long-term.
Can you please tell me how long can someone live without taking HIV medication?
Answer
The best way to answer this is to say that modern HIV treatment (ART) means that life expectancy is not affected by being HIV positive. HIV positive people with access to treatment can be expected to live as long as before they became positive.
Without using HIV treatment, life expectancy is related to how quickly your CD4 count drops and how low it gets.
Without treatment, some people see their CD4 count drop to under 200 within a few years of infection, while others people can go for 5-10 years or longer before they need treatment.
See also: Your CD4 count and the risk of becoming ill.
This is different to saying how long you could live. However, without treatment, once your CD4 count falls below 200 life expectancy drops very dramatically.
Note: This answer was updated in January 2017 from a question first posted in November 2011.
I found out that i was hiv positive 2014 but started taking my meds the whole 2015 then december i stopped now 2019 am getting sick now and then will it be because i stopped taking meds can i go back nd start taking them again???
Hi Kaykay,
Were you born HIV positive 20 years ago? If so, it’s great that you’ve never felt sick.
Do you have access to a doctor or clinic? but it’s still a good idea to get checked out by the doctor. That’s because even though HIV doesn’t seem to be causing problems, it can still damage your health.
Where do you live? There might be organisations in your country that can help with advice and support. Please let us know.
Hie what if you born HIV positive and have lived for more than 20 years without treatment and never felt sick
Hi Cena,
If your viral load is undetectable, there isn’t a risk. Please see here: http://i-base.info/u-equals-u/ If your viral load is detectable, then yes there’s a risk.
Am on art,can I affect my partner if I have unprotected sex
Hi David,
It sounds like you may have had a reaction to the meds. This is common. If you didn’t discuss it with a doctor you should do this. If you aren’t on medication you may also wish to discuss this with a doctor as well because you should be using ARVs.
I haave been living HIV positive for the last two years, so early this year I was given pills but never worked for but made me became very sick with rashes on my body, after three days I stopped taking the drugs and became normal till today, so what does that mean?
Hi Isaac,
Are you on medication? If you are then please see Q10 here: http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
What if you have known you are HIV positive after 6 year,how long shall you live
Hi Happyboy,
The best way to answer this is to say that modern HIV treatment (ART) means that life expectancy is not affected by being HIV positive.
Please see this Q&A for more info.