Question
Is my maximum life expectancy 8 years?
10 April 2013. Related: All topics, Life expectancy.
I am on 2nd line treatment in India with atv/r+ Truvada for 2 yrs. My dr says that your life span is maximum 8 yrs. Is it correct?
I tested +ve. in 2000, with a CD4 of 70. ART started irregular in first year lack of most expensive on Fortavase (saquinavir/r) +d4t+3Tc. After 9months I stopped ART. Next I started ART with nevirapine, efavirenz; Azt;3Tc; d4t;ddi on 9yrs.
At present cd4 is 977 cells. Vl is less than 50 copies on Atv/r+ Truvada on 2yrs now..
I also have gastric problems but PPI (proton pump inhibitor) antacids are not recommended. What should I do?
Answer
Hello,
Thank-you for your question. I edited your text a little to make it easier for other people online to read. Please let me know if I have misunderstood anything you said.
I am not sure why your doctor would say that your maximum life expectancy is 8 years. Even if you have resistance to some of the drugs you took in the past it is still possible that your current combination can last for a long time. Your CD4 count and viral load are both very good and these show that treatment is working very well for you.
If you have changed treatment is because of resistance to your previous drugs then it is very important that you are careful to take your current combination exactly as prescribed. It’s important not to miss doses so that this treatment can continue to be effective for many years. So long as you are adherent to your medication there is no reason why it shouldn’t keep working for you long into the future. Please follow this link for more information about adherence.
Not all antacids are proton pump inhibitors. You could ask your pharmacist to recommend a different type of antacid that is suitable to be taken with atazanavir/r. With non proton-pump inhibitor antacids the recommendation is that atazanavir/r should be administered 2 hours before or 1 hour after antacids- i.e. not at the same time.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you need more information about anything to do with your treatment.
Hi Rasal,
The life expectancy for people who are positive, is very similar to people who are negative. This is if you are on effective treatment and adhere to your medication. More information about life expectancy can be found here:
http://i-base.info/qa/?s=life+expectancy
Today living With hiv is possible what is life expectancy today diagnosis ?
Hi Taranath
The best way to reduce the risk of drug resistance, is to be really good with taking your meds.
This means aiming for the same time everyday.
After viral load becomes undetectable, so long as adherence is good, very few people develop drug resistance.
hie…I have heard that cxcr mutations in hiv virus can lead to drug resistance. .in patients taking ART. can u make me clear on that..n how to avoid that resistance. . thanks a lot