Question
My TB test was negative- why am being given treatment?
18 October 2012. Related: All topics.
I have been on ARVs for four months.
I tested negative for TB but was given TB treatment rifafour because I was showing some symptoms of TB.
After taking ARVs my CD4 increased from 367 to 699.
I’ve only been on TB meds for one week. Is it risky taking TB meds even though you haven’t been diagnosed with TB?
Answer
Diagnosing either active or latent TB is not always straight-forward in HIV positive people.
There is no simple blood test for active TB. Pulmonary TB will show on a chest X-ray. When TB is active, it can usually be grown in the lab from a sample of spit or blood. These tests are accurate if the result is positive, but not if the result is negative as infection can be missed. So even though your test result was negative if you are showing signs of TB infection your doctor is right to give you treatment.
It’s not dangerous to use TB treatment without a positive test result. In a household where one person is diagnosed the whole family may be given TB treatment to prevent infection, even if they haven’t been tested positive.
Some HIV medicines interact with TB meds. Can you tell me which ARVs you are taking?
Please follow this link for more information about HIV and TB.
Hi Benjamin Br,
Are you also HIV positive? If so what HIV meds are you taking? One of the drugs in Rifafour, called rifampicin, can interact with drugs used to treat HIV.
Having TB as well as HIV can be complex. So it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about all your treatment.
Smoking can be bad for your health and can lead to lung disease. Please discuss this with your doctor too.
Is there any danger smoking while taking The drugs,Rifafour?(TB drugs).
Hi,
When someone gets side effects these happen when a person first starts meds, not 4 months after beginning them. People get bad dreams for all sorts of reasons.
Hy hiv positive and taking the treatment to prevent tb its been four months now I had no side effects and I was working under pressure at work there was no problem however for the past few days I have been having bad dreams I didn’t dream at all should I b worried
Hi,
Are you living with HIV? If you are what meds are you taking? What boosters are you taking, and which diabestic treatment are you taking?
Hi my name is dumisa currently I’m taking tb treatment and diabetic treatment at the same time .i usually use some sexual boosters,When im about to have sex with my wife eg pills and injection can I continue using this?,please help
Hi Tendani,
Pleural effusion is water on the lungs. It’s a build up of excess fluid between the layers of the linings of the lungs. To treat it the fluid has to be drained. But as Rebecca says above, even though your test result for TB was negative if you are showing signs of TB infection your doctor is right to give you treatment. It’s not dangerous to use TB treatment without a positive test result.
I have pleural effusion and they withdraw some of the fluid from the lungs and blood to check if i have tb, the results came back negative but i was put on a treatment of ritafour. Can ritafour cure pleural effusion?
Hi Thomas, We are not doctors at i-Base. And treating HIV and TB can be complex and difficult. So it’s important you talk to the doctor and check the TB results. TB treatment uses antibiotics. There are four antibiotics or anti-TB drugs in Rifafour. But treatment for TB can interact with your HIV treatment. It’s a good idea to talk to the doctor about how your HIV and TB treatment works together.
I finished my tb treatment for nine months and discharged. I started coughing after thee months, I went back to the doctor where he started with a rifafour , after two weeks my results came back negative. I asked the doctor about what must I do with the treatment he said I can stop. I want to check with you if its correct to stop the treatment. And he also said I do have infection and he gave me antibiotics.