Question
How long do I need to stay on HIV drugs?
8 December 2009. Related: All topics, Living with HIV long-term, Side effects, Starting treatment.
For the last year I have been on HIV therapy.
Please can you let me know how long I need to take meds?
Answer
HIV treatment is currently (in 2009) seen as treatment for life.
Unless there are other medical complications, then it is also not recommended to take a break in treatment.
If you were to stop treatment, your viral load would increase very quickly (within weeks) and your CD4 count would be likely to drop to the same level it was when you first started treatment. Your CD4 count would then take a long time to recover again, even after you restart treatment.
Unfortunately, the answer now is that treatment is life-long.
If you have problems with your current treatment in terms of side effects, then please speak to your doctor so you can change to a combination that is easier to tolerate in the long-term.
Future research may change this of course, but this is likely to take a long time.
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