Question
My boyfriend still worries about HIV even though he is on ART?
3 April 2026. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Life expectancy, Living with HIV long-term, Side effects, Support.
Hi. My boyfriend was diagnosed with hiv 4 years ago. Since then, he has been on Biktarvy and undetectable with Cd4 over 650, last cd4 being 1000.
He is in very good health in general but recently he started worrying about other illnesses that might happen to him. He wonders if he has another illness one day, like cancer, or diabetes, will having HIV affect these things so much or being on treatment and undetectable will make him like any other negative person?
Or will having HIV, although undetectable, cause him other illnesses?
I am so sorry to take ur time but he is psychologically down nowadays thinking of these and i wanted to help him.
Thank you.
Answer
Hi there
Thanks for your question – and your boyfriend is lucky that you are there to support him.
Based on the information you included, he is doing really well on treatment. So his HIV meds will cover nearly all the worries he has about his long term health.
Having an undetectable viral load means that there is so little HIV left to cause medical complications and his immune system and CD4 count are much higher than the average for people who do not have HIV.
Other things he can do to help are similar to the general population now. So this includes not smoking, minimal alcohol, keeping mentally and physically active, with a balanced healthy diet etc
Some studies report slightly higher risks for some infections but this also relates to other lifestyle and genetic factors, and how likely he was HIV positive before starting treatment.
Being on effective treatment has the biggest impact on reducing risks though and he has already done this.
If your boyfriend still continues to worry, the maybe speaking to a counsellor might help. Sometimes people continue to worry because of the shock of becoming HIV positive, or for the impact this has for other people in his life. Perhaps he is finding ways to continue to blame himself for this, rather than being able to move on and enjoy life.
This is a shame given that HIV is unlikely to cause any health problems now.
Please also ask your boyfriend to talk to his doctor about this. There is a small chance that his moods might be affected as a side effect of treatment, and if so, then an alternative HIV combination might help.
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