Question
Will diet and exercise increase my CD4 count?
26 March 2012. Related: CD4 and viral load, Starting treatment.
My last cd4 count, taken 05/2011 was 453,and my most recent one taken last month came back as 280.
Now this has come as an extreme shock to me and hard to accept. I am not ready to start meds.
Can I re-take a cd4 test just for reassurance?
All my other previous ones have been above 500. Yes my diet has been beyond poor but what could be the main/possible cause for such a drastic drop?
Also need to know if I can boost it up by getting back on track with my diet and exercise?
Answer
I can appreciate your concern about the drop in your CD4 count. This is not uncommon as the change could be due to any number of factors. Firstly, CD4 counts do generally tend to drop over time, especially if someone has not started treatment. CD4 counts also fluctuate (vary) depending on lots of other factors including lab errors and the time of day the test was done. There is, therefore, certainly no harm in re-taking the test for reassurance.
Your second question was whether you could boost your CD4 count through diet and exercise. Staying healthy by eating a nutritious balanced diet, excercising regularly, reducing stress levels, etc, can all help to maintain a healthy immune system. However, this will not necessarily increase your CD4 count.
In general, the only way you can increase your CD4 count is by taking ARVs (antiretrovial treatment for HIV). ARVs are the only proven way of increasing and maintaining a good CD4 count.
You mentioned that you are not yet ready to start treatment. The WHO (World Health Organisation) treatment guidelines recommend starting treatment with a CD4 count of 350 or less. Even if your confirmatory test indicates that you do not need to start treatment straightaway, you may find it helpful to start preparing for when you will need to start treatment in the future. Our guide to An introduction to combination therapy answers a lot of questions you may have around starting treatment.
Good luck with the test.
Hi Mmmjay,
Treating HIV and TB can be complex. Treatment guidelines in the UK say you can delay HIV treatment for up to 12 weeks while the TB is treated first. A CD4 count of 1243 is very strong so your HIV meds could have been delayed until the TB is treated. But it doesn’t sound clear from what you say. You can ask the doctor to explain why you haven’t started HIV meds.
Hi, i was diagnosed Hiv + with CD4 Count of 1243 last december 14. After receiving my confirmatiry last January, doctor advice me to take med for TB. But i was nigative with HIV. Also, i didnt start to take my ARV meds. Please advice. I was confused when to start.
Dear Lizo,
I’m sorry to hear this, it sounds tough. But there are some questions you can ask the doctor.
Many people start ARVs by taking efavirenz. This drug is a part of tablets such as Tribuss or Odimune, and a side effect of it can be nightmare dreams. You can ask your doctor to change your ARVs because of this.
Taking treatment for TB and other infections can be complicated. But your doctor is making sense to say you should finish the course. Infections like this can be cured, but they need a full course of meds to do it.
Eating a balaced diet is good for everyone. Here’s some info on this from the i-Base guide to your quality of life.
Last September 2017 i test HIV positive my cd4 count was 138 i was put on AVRs on the second of October 2017, with a supplement treatment trixazole, i took trixazole for couples of days and i stopped, came January i had lost 2kg . Last time i went to the doctor told me that i must take them until they tell me to stop. One more thing i was put on TB prevention treatment on January 17 2018. I would love to know that since ‘m on three types of medication will it be possible for me to increase my cd4 count, also the types of food must i start eating, i stopped drinking and smoking .My challenges this far night mare dreams and the stigma from the close people who have noticed my wait loss. Please help ‘m so worried.
Hi Mandla, if your CD4 count still 3 after two years there is something wrong. If it is still this low, then it sounds like you need to change to a new treatment. What is your current treatment and is this still your first combination? Did your CD4 count increase at any time?
Also is your doctor checking your eyes every tine? Are you also taking the antibiotic co-trimoxazole?
I have a problem I started treatment January 2016 but my cd4 count is still 3
Hi Micah,
You’re welcome.
The difference between HIV1 and 2 is discussed here:
http://i-base.info/qa/36
Noted. Thank you very much for the response. Appreciate it a lot. One more thing, what’s the difference between both HIV 1 and 2?
Hi Micah. You are right that your results, if they are right, are very unusual. So one possibility is that there was a problem with the sample or the lab result.
Normally, with such a low viral load, HIV would not be expected to reduce you’re CD4 count so much. Is there any chance you might have both HIV-1 and HIV-2 and that HIV-2 wasn’t picked up by the viral load test? This might be important to ask your doctor because your current meds are not all active against HIV-2.
However, as your CD4 count was so low, this is the most important result to think about. Being on ARVs should already have helped your CD4 count to be higher. Your viral load should also be undetectable by now.
Hi, just been diagnosed with HIV last August 2017. Per baseline assesement, my CD4 is only 36 and my viral load is 634. I am on ARVs (LTE) immediately since my diagnosis.
I’m just curious, been reading a lot of stuff about CD4 and viral load. How is it possible that my CD4 is only 34 when my viral load is not as huge as with the others who have 100,000+ ?
Please explain. Thanks!