Question
How long will my wife need to take ARVs?
14 February 2012. Related: Adherence, All topics, Pregnancy, Resistance.
Hi doctor.
I tested HIV positive 3 yrs ago together with my wife. I took septrin for 2months before I stopped. From the onset I took CD4 count and it was 465; the 2nd was 543; the 3rd was 650; the 4th was 770; the 5th was 861 and the last one I took two weeks ago was 940. The same case my wife who now has 897 up from 360.
She is on ARVS because we are trying to concieve. My question is, what are the risks of my wife stopping taking the ARVS? Or for how long will she take the Arvs?
We have not been using any protection. What are the risks?
Answer
Firstly, I would like to confirm that we are HIV positive treatment advocates, and not doctors.
You have asked a number of questions so I will try and answer them one a time.
Your first question is what the risk to your wife if she stops taking her ARVs. Without treatment your wife’s CD4 count is likely to drop back to where it was before she started and to continue dropping. If her CD4 count drops to 200 cells or less, she may be at risk of developing opportunistic infections. These are infections such as pneumonia, which a person can get when they have a weak immune system.
Your second question is how long she will need to take the ARVs. Both European and WHO (World Health Organisation) treatment guidelines recommend starting when you have a CD4 count of 350. This is close to what your wife’s CD4 count was when she started. The aim of treatment is to maintain a good CD4 count (above 350) and to reduce the amount of virus in your body. This is referred to as having an undetectable viral load. Your wife will therefore need to continue taking the treatment for life. Having a good CD4 count and an undetectable viral load will enable her to stay well for many years.
Your third question was regarding what the risks are if you don’t use protection as you are trying to conceive. Many HIV positive choose not to use condoms for protection. The main risk involved is if one of you has resistance to 1 or more HIV treatments. This is another reason why your wife should not stop taking ARVs. She will therefore need to take her medication exactly as advised and not miss any doses. This is to prevent her from becoming resistant to her current medication and risk passing on the resistance on to you. For more information on resistance, please follow this link to our guide.
Another risk of not using condoms is getting STIs [Sexually transmitted infections]. A further issue could be being re-infected with another strain of HIV. The HIV which one person has is not always the same type(strain) as another person. However, without knowing the full details around your circumstances, it is not possible to know if this will be an issue for you.
Generally, if neither of you have resistance or STIs, then there should be not problem with having unprotected sex. The key thing to note though is that if your wife does become pregnant, the recommendation is to use condoms. This is in order to minimise the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby. For more information on HIV, pregnancy and women’s health please follow this link to our guide
Best wishes
Good Day, Was tested positive some days back and was given some medications to use.i have not started using it because i feel scared for the side effects or either something more drastic happening to me.i just always feel slightly tired time to time .whats the way forward please?
Hi Juanes, as you comment is important for many people, I reposted it as a new Q&A question and answer here:
http://i-base.info/qa/14316
Hi Moeder,
It’s great that you and your boyfriend are happy together. Has he started ARVs too? The START study in 2015 showed that starting treatment has important benefits for your health. Here’s more info.
Going on treatment and getting undetectable can reduce the risk of serious illness. Having sex without condoms with him doesn’t increase risk for you both.
I have been diagnosed HIV positive from 2005 and started ARV in 2006. My boyfriend is also Positive and very ignorant. We are having unprotected sex at least twice per week and he’s not co operating. We are very happy together but not good for our health
Hi Keyshia.
Lots of people who are positive have children. And children who are negative. You are already doing the best thing by being on treatment. For more info on HIV and pregnancy please see our guide:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
Being infected twice can happen, it is though rare. In most cases if it happens its because there is treatment failure. Please see the following link:
http://i-base.info/qa/10140
hi.
I have boyfriend been together for a year now. he was hiv positive I was negative . September ‘2016 this year
I found out I’m hiv+ cd4 count was 564 they started my treatment. we have not been having protected sex since we met. Even today .
my qs is am I not risking to get the virus more from him? If I’m having sex without a condom. Yes also on Treatment but it’s like he had hiv for years and never noticed until he fell sick. And there’s high possibility that I can fall pregnant. will I risk again my babies life
please help me. Thanks
Hi Felicia
Everyone misses a dose – or sometimes two – occasionally.
Once you remember, just restart as normal.
This single time will not casue any problmes – only if it start to happen more frequently.
Five years is a long time – congratulations – it is fantastic that yo are doing so well.
Hi i forgot to take my arv meds for two days due to wrking night shift, so could i be at risk of getting any infections, im very worried, i’ve been on arv’s for 5y5yrs now
Hi Sdula
Please see this link to the results from the PARTNER study.
http://i-base.info/htb/24904
The PARTNER study report zero HIV transmissions within about 800 couples and after more than 44,500 times when a positive partner had sex without a condom (when they also had an undetectable viral load).
This means that the risk to your boyfriend is likely to be very low.
My boyfriend is HIV negative and we always have unprotected sex , I’m HIV positive and on ARVS ,and. He is not circumised is he going 2be HIV positive