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.
Hi Mathew,
Yes, the way to find out if someone is HIV positive is to have an HIV test. All FAQs about HIV testing and HIV transmission are answered here.
Hi, someone do have symptoms of HIV yet to go for test to confirm but d person already felt he is positive ….
hi,am Eric in Kampala,Uganda.I think its pretty important 4 someone to start the ART treatment soon after a +ve test!
Hi Bisbis,
Please discuss this with your doctor, they may need to do an examination.
Hi, I was diagnosed 2018 July and I started my medication even though I don’t no how long av been infected, I was having some sore in my private parts so I went to see a doctor before I was told am positive but after using d drugs for more than a year I still see d systoms, please what can I do?
Hi Michael,
What does your doctor say about stopping treatment?
It’s good that your CD4 count is high. But do you have access to your viral load result? Is it undetectable?
Taking HIV treatment (ART) can keep HIV undetectable. And that means your CD4 count can stay high.
However, stopping ART is not generally a good idea, unless there is a medical need to do this. That’s because your viral load would increase and your CD4 count would drop. Please see this page about stopping ART.
Please let us know if you have other reasons for stopping ART.
Hi am Michael live in Accra Ghana I test positive for HIV and for more then 10 years now I have stop treatment. Cause it be that my Immune System is stronger or my CD4 is very high
Hi Simmy,
Some people can be HIV positive for years not on HIV treatment (ART) and be healthy and without any symptoms. Unfortunately, other people can get seriously ill in a short time.
Do you have acces to your viral load result? Some people have an immune system that keeps viral load undetectable for more than five years without ART. They are called elite controllers (ECs). Please see this link to ECs.
However, ART is still generally recommended in the long-term.
Simmy
Hey I just wanna know if someone got tested HIV positive for 5 years and doesn’t take any meds but actually gains weight and not even have a sign of any HIV symptoms.How does that being possible
Hi Licia,
There isn’t really an easy answer to this question as it all depends on how you get on with with your family, as too does the level of knowledge that they may have about HIV. This is what Lisa says on this Q&A.
Getting prepared to answer their questions is important. There’s a lot of info in the i-Base guides at this link. The link will also help you to decide if and when you want to start HIV treatment (ART).
This Introduction to ART can help you think about starting ART.
I know that telling your family about your HIV can be a hard thing to do. But if you feel like you need to share this with them, then do. Only you really know how, and when, to do this.