Question
My mother has just been diagnosed, I have some questions..
5 September 2016. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, HIV transmission, Newly diagnosed, Side effects, Starting treatment, Support.
I am From India. My mother has recently been diagnosed with HIV. She has been prescribed Trustiva OD.
What is the precaution for living together? Is there any possibility with mosquito bite or living together like contacting any dresses / soaps/ tooth brushes. Is touching the tables with hands any problems.
What tests should my mother expect? What are the side effects with the medicines?
Answer
Hi,
Thanks for your questions.
How is your mother coping with the diagnosis? Does she have any support networks she can use? Hopefully you can support her and help her through this difficult time.
This information on being newly diagnosed may be a good place to start.
There is no risk of transmission from her to you by any of the ways you have mentioned. Many people live together with HIV positive partners, friends and family and are not of risk of acquiring HIV from them. Please see our guide on transmission for more information.
The medication your mum has been given is a generic version of Atripla. It is a single tablet containing three different drugs: FTC, tenofovir and efavirenz.This is a very widely used combination. Provided she takes this as prescribed she will likely remain healthy and her immune system will get stronger. The medicine will reduce the amount of virus in her blood to low levels, hopefully “undetectable”. This is the aim of taking treatment and also greatly reduces any risk of her passing on HIV. Our guide on starting treatment explains all of this in more detail.
Your mother will likely have her viral load and CD4 count monitored. The testing will be more frequent at first so they can check her response to treatment. Please see here for more information on CD4 and viral load tests.
Side effects are much less common with modern treatment and don’t last as long as with older treatments. Our guide on side effects has much more information.