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.
Hello Christopher and thanks for getting in touch.
We are saying that right now we don’t have a cure for HIV BUT we have really good treatments that keep people alive and allow them to have good quality in their lives.
We are also hoping there will be a cure soon.
That also depends on research, the funding available for it and participation in clinical trials.
We all have to do our part to have a cure soon.
Catching HIV has nothing to do with how a person lived their life though.
It’s just luck.
So please don’t speak ill of people – there is no need for judgement.
It doesn’t help and doesn’t make you a better person.
Read more information on this website, educate yourself, forgive and accept others as they are.
These actions will make you a better person.
good day.i think by now we should have found the cure for HIV.You can’t say there is no solution. I aim hoping that one day we will have a cure.
Hello Felix and thanks for getting in touch
As I said before :
please re-start your HIV medication as soon as possible.
However, it might be important to understand why you did not take them.
Was it because of side effects?
We have some information here you might find useful:
https://i-base.info/guides/side/what-are-side-effects
(1) Are there any side effects of taking ART after 3-5 Days?
Hello Felix and thanks for getting in touch.
CD4 are cells of the immune system that can be used by the HIV to reproduce (and that is why they are the most affected in HIV infection).
CD4 is not an acronym.
As for the medication: if you are talking about HIV medication please re-start your tablets as soon as possible.
However, it might be important to understand why you did not take them.
Was it because of side effects?
We have some information here you might find useful:
https://i-base.info/guides/side/what-are-side-effects
If you are talking about other medication please discuss with your doctor or pharmacist any concerns you might have.
(1) Hello, IAM From Papua New Guinea and What Does the Word CD4 means?
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(2) Are there any side effect of me missing a drug for 3days?
Hi Kgomotso, thanks – though your question isn’t very clear. Stopping treatment is not a good idea, becasue otherwise HIV will steadily reduce your immune system. Then you becaome at high risk of serious health problems. Healthy food and vitamins are generally a good idea but they won;t help HIV unless you are also taking HIV meds. You can still have sex if you want to, whether or not you are on meds, but your partner needs condoms or PrEP if you are not on effective treatment.
Can a person living with hiv stop treatment. Abstain from sex, eat healthy food and taking vitamins live a normal life?
Hello Martins and thanks for getting in touch.
This is quite rare as the medication the undetectable person is taking are protecting them.
You can read more about this here:
https://i-base.info/qa/9869
Please , can a person with hiv pass on hiv to a person who is already undetectable by sex?