Question
Does my CD4 of 1000 means I was misdiagnosed?
14 November 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
I have been HIV positive for 12 years and my cd4 has never been under 1000 what does that mean, my doctor always tell me that my cd4 is better than people who aren’t HIV positive, sometimes I feel that I was misdiagnosed could that be possible?
Answer
I am assuming that you are not on treatment and that your CD4 count has just stayed high since your diagnosis.
The range for a CD4 count in someone who is HIV negative varies with each make of test but is usually around 400 to 1600.
There is not much difference in health or life expectancy for HIV negative people wherever they are within this range. Some people just have a higher ‘normal’ count than others.
Similarly, HIV positive people respond differently to the virus. For some people their CD4 count drops quickly but for most it drops gradually over many years. For a very small percentage (less than 1%) their immune system stays relatively stable evan after many years.
It sound like you are just lucky and have a strong immune response. If your viral load is also undetectable then you are part of an even rarer group (less than 0.01% of HIV positive people) called an ‘elite controller’.
It is unlikely that the test was wrong and that you were misdiagnosed. If you viral load is undetectable though it will not do you any harm to retest for HIV if this is something you are worried about.
Very occasionally we hear of a report of misdiagnoses, sometimes even when people have used treatment for many years.
Hi Ipho,
It’s important to keep having your CD4 count monitored regularly but while it is this high you are very unlikely to experience any HIV-related illness. Please see this link for more info about CD4 count and risk of illness.
Hi i was diagnose with a 769 cd4 on 2010 then i go for a six month it came with420 then i go this year it came 857 but i dont take any medication . Do i have any chances of getting ill?
What treatment are you taking? It’s important to talk to your doctor about seeing a heart specialist. This may or may not be related to HIV.
Hi i was diagnosed during 2009 with the cd4 of 138 and in 09/2011 my cd4 was 765 and 2012/09 my cd4 is over 1000 and iam sick,i cant even walk.the doctor said i have heart failure and he does not know the cause of my heart
Hi Lynn,
So-called immune boosters don’t cause CD4 counts to increase so this is unlikely to be connected. If it is possible that when you had your first CD4 count you had recently been infected then this increase in CD4 could be a result of your body’s initial response to the virus. CD4 changes after infection are explained in our treatment manual.
Hello
I was diagnosed in January 2012, my cd4 count was 525 then. I did another test 2 days ago for my 6 monthly and it has increased to over 1000. The nurse asked if I was on any immune boosters, saying that they were causing my count to increase and that I should stop taking them because they caused “fake” results. Does this make sense? I’m so confused!
Hi Leeh,
HIV treatment is very effective, even at CD4 counts under 200. Many people who are diagnosed with a low CD4 count- even a low as 10- do well on treatment. Can I ask if you are currently receiving any treatment? Please follow this link for more information about starting treatment with a CD4 count under 200
My cd4 is 118 am I going to die on this cd4 count?
Hi
Although you are right and generally they go in opposite directions, this is only your second set of tests. If there is a chance that this is a very recent infection this can also produce different results until things settle down. Technically, the two viral load results would be interpreted by your doctor as being the same. This is related to the range of variability in viral load tests.
I hope you are coping ok with your new diagnosis and are getting the support that you need.
Lots of researchers are now working on cure research but predicting when this might happen is very difficult.
There are lots of reasons to be hopeful, but realistically this might take another 10 years, if it can be done.
Hi, I found out that I’m HIV positive in August 2011. I have spoken to my siblings and close friends about it. I had done the same test last year and it was negative. This makes me believe that I’ve heard this virus for less than 18 months now. The CD4 count in September came back at 463, the viral load was 94,000.
I’m not taking any medicaiton at the moment, I’m eating healthy and living a healthy life style.
I again, decided to go and check two months later how the Virus was in m blood. I tested on the 11 November and the cd4 count was 676, Viral load was 115,867. What does this mean? Isn’t the viral load and CD4 count supposed to take different directions. ie. if the other one goes up, the other comes down?
Secondly, I’d like to get an update about find the real cure for HIV? How far are we? How positive can we be?