Question
How can I improve my CD4 count when I am already on treatment?
2 March 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
How to improve my CD4 count of 210? Is it dangerous at this stage? I was stressed and it has never been so low. I take daily Truvada (tenofovir and FTC) and Viramune (nevirapine). How can I improve it? Will more sleep help? I eat healty foods.
Thank you.
Answer
Thank you for your question.
I am sorry to hear that you are stressed at the moment and that it is affecting your CD4 count. A CD4 count of 210 isn’t bad at all and is nothing to worry about.
How long have you been on medication? If you have recently started then it is possible that as you continue taking your meds your CD4 count will increase. Trying to reduce your stress levels or learning to manage your stress better could also help.
Other things that can help to increase CD4 counts include the same things that are advised for general health. Try to eat a balanced diet, sleep well, exercise, stop smoking, and only use alcohol or recreational drugs in moderation.
It is also possible that your CD4 count is just fluctuating and that it will naturally go back up on its own. Either way it is nothing to worry about. Once you have started treatment the most important thing to monitor is your viral load. As long as that remains undetectable your treatment is working.
Hello Dimpho and thanks for getting in touch.
It sounds like your medication is working very well for you and soon you will be undetectable.
Well done for that and congratulations for taking your medication every day.
Please don’t worry about purbac and fluconazole.
Your doctor was right to prescribe those for you.
We prescribe them in the UK too, especially to people who are diagnosed with a low CD4 count.
They will help you and hopefully you will feel better soon.
Please continue to take your medication as your doctor told you and feel free to stay in touch if you feel we can help.
Here is some more information for people who just found out they are living with HIV :
https://i-base.info/just-found-out/#:~:text=It%20can%20be%20difficult%20to,You%20can%20also%20connect%20online.
I was diagnosed in the 20 of march this year. It took me sometime until I got tested but now I am on medication. I am still experiencing throat pain but the pain is not the same as when I started the medication. My viral load is 503. I am worried because my doctor gave me antibiotics purbac and fluconazole which I am using now
Hi Bellah, what is the number of your viral load. Just saying ‘high’ makes it difficult to comment. Also, are you taking HIV treatment? If yes, do you have the name? If you are not on ART, then it is important to start. If you are on ART, it sounds like your doctor might need to change your meds.
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