Question
What is the life expectancy of someone taking ARVs?
6 March 2012. Related: All topics, Life expectancy.
I am HIV positive and have been taking ART regularly for 4 years. My CD4 count is 625 and viral load is 519.
Can you please guide me about prognosis?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
No one can predict how long another person will live. This is because each person is an individual. How long someone can live also depends on a number of factors. Those that we can change such as taking ARVs, diet and exercise, and those we cannot change such as genetics and chance – good or bad luck.
However, studies have shown that these days with access to and careful use of ARVs (antiretroviral treatment for HIV), people living with HIV can have a life expectancy similar to HIV negative people. Please follow this link for more technical information on studies looking at life expectancy of positive people.
In your question, you mention that you have been taking ARVs for four years. It is unusual to have a viral load above 50 when you are on treatment, when did you last have your viral load checked?
Can I ask what combination you are on? Can I also ask how adherent you are to your medication? Adherence refers to taking your medication on time as prescribed. This is important in ensuring that you achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load (under 50).
If you are being adherent and your viral load is not below 50 after 6 months or more on treatment it is very important to discuss this with your doctor as this could mean that you have some resistance to one or more of the drugs in your treatment. Has your doctor discussed this with you?
Best wishes.
Hi Apudah,
The only thing that can help a persons HIV and control HIV is ART. Even if there is a possibility that ARVs can cause long term damage, it’s much better to take them, than not to. At the moment your CD4 is 306. Without meds this will drop. This could lead to you having health problems. For more info please see Q 7 here:
https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
I tested positive for hiv 4yrs ago. However,I have rejected arv medicine,specifically atripla for fear of damage to my internal organs. recently,october 2016,my cd4 was 306 but no machine for checking viral load.
Iam in fine health except lost 15kg,which iam regaining slowly. i take dapsone occasionionally. are there any other alternative treatment to current pharmaceutical medication.?
Hi Mimy,
Telling people who you care about that you’re positive can be hard. However, if you feel that now is the right time to tell your family about your status, then being armed with all the relevant info may help. So, for example being able to tell them that your life expectancy is just as it would have been had you not gotten HIV. Or that the risk of you transmitting HIV is close to zero due to you being on medication.
I can’t tell you how to go about this because I don’t know your family. However, HIV is a very manageable health condition, even if it is one that isn’t well understood.
I’ve been on ARVs for 2 years. I’m 21 and I’m yet to tell anyone about my status. I really want to tell my family, but I don’t know how to. Not knowing how to do this is stressing me out. I also think I may be pregnant.
Hi Dzekem, congratulations on your new baby. If your wife was on treatment with an undetectable viral load the baby is very likely to not have HIV – as with your first child. The only way to know HIV status is to test.
Having an undetectable viral load makes it difficult to transmit HIV sexually – so you are likely to still be negative too.
https://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study
Am married now for 4yrs n my partner is positive & on ARVs, a yr after we had our first daughter, she was negative as well as me. Now my wife just gave birth again. How do I know if the baby is infected, as well as myself. Are they some visible signs to look at before a test. thanks
Hi,
The kind of side effect you describe is not common any more. This is because it is connected to older treatment.
You can find information about your meds in our guide here:
http://i-base.info/guides/category/arvs
Hi. firstly i would like to appreciate the site, it is so informative and helpful. I am about to start treatment. my VL is 28726 and my CD4 is 298. I try by all means to eat clean, i go to gym 4 times a week, taking 45 minutes a session, i take 2L of water a day and i use supplements. my body is in very good shape and i want to keep it that way. i see people loosing their shape, developing buffalo humps and gaining fats at awkward areas in their bodies. how do i avoid that from happening?
Hi,
Many couples like yours safely have HIV negative children.
If the positive partner is on treatment this is now usually done by conceiving naturally. This means by having sex without a condom. This is because being on treatment and having an undetectable viral load significantly reduces the risk of transmission.
A recent study called PARTNER examined the risk of transmission from a positive partner to a negative partner during unprotected sex. The positive partners had undetectable viral loads. There wasn’t a single transmission on over 44,500 occasions when participants had sex. This does not mean there is no risk of transmission, just that it is very low.
You can find more information about HIV and pregnancy here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
And more information about the PARTNER study here:
http://i-base.info/htb/24904
Thanks for this interesting site. I have a few questions to ask. I tested positive last year September, at that time my wife was 8 months pregnant and she was negative so a month later our boy was born and is also negative. I have been on the HAART since then and now have a viral load count of 23. This should be undetectable hopefully by the next test in November. We would like to have another baby but a re scared. At undetectable levels of viral load what are the chances of infecting my partner and is it advisable?