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.
CD 4 of 150, can I look healthy again? Can I live for 10 years?
Hi Abraham,
First of all don’t worry and stay calm it’s not the end of the world it’s 2017 and there is a treatment for HIV no one dying because of it anymore with your pills even you can become non detected (means less than 40 viral load in your blood) you just have to visit hospital which provides hiv treatment in your town and they gonna help you and inform you about everything. Don’t worry thanks to new treatments live is normal and healthy for patients actually I don’t feel any difference I mean I’m healthy and strong and looking good living healthy life and taking my ONE PILL (yes just one pill) a day.
Hi Abraham,
If your next result comes back as being positive, please get back in touch. We’ll be able to help you with relevant info.
I was recently tested and I got a preliminary positive and awaiting the final lab results… the likelihood of me having it from what I’ve read is almost 100% likely. I feel healthy and if I didn’t know I had it I wouldn’t be so mentally drained right now because I workout, I eat healthy, drink greens, eat them, go running, sleep good …i have no symptoms but according to this test I took a few days ago…i have it. Can someone provide me all the information I need? Can I cure this somehow ?? My family doesn’t know, it would devastate them all. I don’t intend to make them suffer for my recklessness. I regret e everything bad and I’m not a bad person, ho ever I made bad choices. I need help. Anyone please, provide info in detail about Hiv??
Hi Luke,
ARVs in most countries are free. Where is it that you live? Have you just been recently diagnosed?
I’ve no one to talk to, the lady talked about taking medication, but its quite costly down here …am confused
Hi Luke’s.
If you think that the test may be wrong, it would help to have another test. In the meantime, is there someone you could talk to? Where you told about medication options? Where other tests done?
I was just confirmed positive in a single HIV test and I don’t even know how I got it ..plise what should I do..
Hi Med,
What’s your CD4 count? Are you on medication? If you are, how long have you been on it for? How much weight have you lost?
I need help please I am from Africa and I am HIV positive. Please tell me what to do to get more weight, because I am reducing my weight day by day.