Question
How long can someone live with HIV?
2 January 2018. Related: All topics, Life expectancy.
How long can a man live with HIV if he was around 18 years old and was healthy when he was infected, both with and without medication?
Answer
Modern HIV drugs mean that life expectancy is now similar for HIV positive people to the general population.
This is based on being diagnosed early and having access to treatment.
The wide range of factors related to life expectancy include: where you live, your income, access to health care, lifestyle (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, exercise and diet) and other infections like hepatitis, genetics and chance – good or bad luck.
Several large studies have been published showing that life expectancy for HIV positive people is very good, and near to an HIV negative person.
Without treatment, HIV will slowly progress in nearly everyone. This speed that HIV progresses varies from a few years to more than 20 years.
Note: this answer was updated in January 2018 from a question posted in August 2008..
I just found out that I am HIV + a week ago i was just curious and went with a friend to do test he was negatif and i am positif !I haven’t told anyone yet I can’t even try to talk to my family on the phone I just feel like crying .it is really hard to think of it and I am just 22 years old and still at the college .
Hi Ola,
I’m sorry to hear about your friend’s situation. Unfortunately some people find it very difficult to come to terms with being HIV positive. It may help her to speak to other HIV positive people or to access support or counselling. It’s great that you are supportive of her. When you say she has refused ART do you know her CD4 count or whether she has been told she needs to start treatment? Can I also ask where you live?
hello sir,..
I have read comments and i must say they have been very useful,,.i am a medical lab scientist with specialization in haematology,..about 2 years ago i started working in a state hospital and i noticed a colleagues had cold that wouldn’t go,lymphadenopathy and continuous infection with candida,..i knew she had 2 get tested ,much later after about 1yr and half she opened up,.but she had it for about 5 yrs now the HIV and she has refused taking ART,..these days she behaves like she has psychosis and its been very difficult to get her attention when it comes to this topic cos she just blvs going thru fasting and prayers will heal her,..i do not knw how else to convince her that startin the ART will increase her chances of long term survival.she has started having this bad cough i am afraid she would get co-infected with TB..
I’m sorry but i-Base no longer answers individual questions about risks of HIV transmission or HIV testing. If you have had one positive and one negative test result it’s important to get another test to check your status.
This service is based on information relating to treatment of people who are HIV positive.
Information online
Most testing questions are already answered on the FAQ page:
http://i-base.info/qa/faq/hiv-transmission-and-testing
Our guide to HIV Testing and risks of sexual transmission guide has more detailed and easy to read information about these topics. It can be read online at this link:
http://i-base.info/guides/testing
hello sir from one weak i had more body pains and more tiredness and chest pain and severe back pain before two moonths i had unprotected test and the test is hiv negative i have severe head ache also and if i drink water within 5 mints i will get urine what will be my problem sir plss rply.
I been diagnose for 7 yrs but was in a relationship 2yrs however I told him that I was HIV but most of the time we had unprotected sex an I told him to go get check but he refused an now he is sleeping with another woman.how long could he go before passn it own.
You partner needs to have an HIV test to know whether he is HIV positive. HIV can be passed on whenever someone has unprotected sex.
Many couples who are both HIV positive have children who do not have HIV. The risk is reduced to close to zero by the woman using HIV meds (ARVs) during pregnancy. This is to reduce viral load to undetectable levels for when the baby is born.
For more information about conceiving when you are both positive, see this link – “when both partners are positive”.
we are a couple and are both HIV positive and planing to have children. Is it possible that the baby also get infected? i’m very worried. please help me out.
Hi Nits,
I’m very sorry to hear about your friend passing away. Although HIV treatment is very effective and many people are living long and healthy lives unfortunately not everybody is so lucky. When people die from HIV it is because of another infection which they catch when their immune system is weakened. Until you get one of these ‘opportunistic infections’ you may still feel well, even though your immune system is badly damaged. This is why many people get ill suddenly with HIV. Many opportunistic infections can be treated successfully but again this is not always the case. I am truly sorry for your loss.