Question
What causes my CD4 to drop from 220 to 30 in less than a month?
16 November 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Opportunistic infections, Other tests.
Can you please tell me what would cause my CD4 count of 220 drop to 30 in less then a month?
Answer
A big drop in CD4 count is highly unusual – it can also be a lab error, in which case it needs confirming immediately. Go and speak to your doctor so that they can run the test again. If the results are the same then ask your doctor to check your CD4 percentage to see if there is any changes. If there are changes, then you would need to start or change your treatment immediately. By the way have you started your treatment yet? If so what type of HIV drugs are you taking?
Your CD4 has drop to quite a low level and this means that you are prone to other opportunistic infections (OIs). Many people with very low CD4, even below 10, can still remain healthy. It just means that the risks of being infected by HIV-related illness increases as the CD4 count drops.
Your best option is to see your HIV doctor immediately. Your doctor should be able to investigate the cause of the problem. People with CD4 below 50 is much more susceptible to CMV (cytomegalovirus) – a viral infection that affect your eyes and vision. They will be able to provide you with prophylaxis and also an eye examination.
If you are not on treatment then you must start immediately. If you are on treatment then this means that your treatment is not working for you. Another reason is that you could have another health complication and it has become acute. So further investigation by doctor is needed.
A very detailed answer to a similar question are at this link which you may find useful, and another link about CD4 and viral load.
Hi Kavitha.
When was your mom diagnosed? Is she on treatment?
We’ve a detailed answer about what it means if a persons CD4 is less than 200 here:
http://i-base.info/qa/3560
My mom’s CD4 count is 109, what does this mean?
Hi Ira, thanks for your comment. If your CD4 count is now 38, then your health is at high risk unless you start HIV treatment (ART) again. What was the problem 10 months ago? There might be other drugs that you can use instead. Because you CD4 count is less than 50, without treatment you are at risk of serious infection right now. Without treatment, these could be fatal, so it is wrong to think that you can have another three years, unless you start ART again.
its going to be 10 months without treatment now, my last cd4 was 38, a view weeks ago i saw an sentence that my life expectancy will be 3 years without treatment is that really true? what can make cd4 drop? i got aids last year.
Hi Manuel, based on your results it is important to see your doctor. If you CD4 count is now 40 it is very important to restart treatment. Which country are you in? Is resistance testing available? The same combination might still work but without more information it is difficult to comment more. You need to be on meds if your CD4 count is only 40.
What if i used aids medication for 12 years and i left it for 2 weeks. now my cd4 count is 40 and viral load is 2100 when it was 200 an 500 before. must i start again with the antiviral treatment and will it help.
It is difficult to interpret any CD4 count information without the numbers- what was your CD4 count, and what is it now? Any unexpected CD4 count result should be checked with another test. CD4 count testing isn’t very accurate and therefore one test result doesn’t tell you very much.
Hi, is it possible that a cd4count can drop at about 50% within 6 months but at firstly it droped about 2.5% in 12 months, how is that oppsible ?
This is something you need to speak to a doctor about. We are not doctors. It is not clear if you are talking about your child or your partner, but please speak to a doctor.
what makes my boy to grow thin with plenty of food and medication?