Question
My TB test was negative- why am being given treatment?
18 October 2012. Related: All topics.
I have been on ARVs for four months.
I tested negative for TB but was given TB treatment rifafour because I was showing some symptoms of TB.
After taking ARVs my CD4 increased from 367 to 699.
I’ve only been on TB meds for one week. Is it risky taking TB meds even though you haven’t been diagnosed with TB?
Answer
Diagnosing either active or latent TB is not always straight-forward in HIV positive people.
There is no simple blood test for active TB. Pulmonary TB will show on a chest X-ray. When TB is active, it can usually be grown in the lab from a sample of spit or blood. These tests are accurate if the result is positive, but not if the result is negative as infection can be missed. So even though your test result was negative if you are showing signs of TB infection your doctor is right to give you treatment.
It’s not dangerous to use TB treatment without a positive test result. In a household where one person is diagnosed the whole family may be given TB treatment to prevent infection, even if they haven’t been tested positive.
Some HIV medicines interact with TB meds. Can you tell me which ARVs you are taking?
Please follow this link for more information about HIV and TB.
Hello Philiswa and thanks for getting in touch.
It’s great you are on ARVs – this means your immune system is robust.
Well done for that.
An Xray is a great first step to exclude certain infections, however there are other conditions and infections that could be causing your cough and will not show in an Xray.
Please raise this with a general practitioner (GP) who can investigate this properly.
I’m using ARVs since 2016 ,this year I start coughing non stop I did check TB 4 months back and do chest XRay bt the result shows negative bt I still coughing , what must I do
Hi Aisha, I am sorry to hear how you have been recently. Do you have a good support network around you e.g., friends, family, doctors etc…?
Do you know what your current CD4 count and viral load is? How have you been finding TLD? Most commonly people find that they gain weight when starting due to an increased appetite caused by dolutegravir. Over what time period have you noticed this weight change from 66kg to 45kg?
What have your doctors recommended to try and regain weight? and when you started taking megestrol acetate did you talk to your doctors before starting? Have you been in hospital while all of this has been ongoing? and how are you currently eating and drinking?
I was tested hiv positive about 11 years ago I only started taking meds one year ago when I got symptoms resembling tb but the test results for tb has always been negative,first I got swollen on my left side of the neck,took tb meds until I was healed then and 4 months started coughing non stop,I got fluid on my lungs which were infected with some bacteria that no doctor knows what caused it,it tested negative for all tests of tb but I am taking the meds again now,I had surgery to remove the fluid,I am still coughing and vomiting, I have lost so much weight from 66kg to 45kg,I have been trying to gain weight even bought megestrol acetate but in vain,what could be wrong?my arv is tld
Hi Gloria, what Tb prevention has your doctor recommended? and are you HIV positive?
In cases where someone is HIV positive and live in an area with high Tb prevalence, even testing negative it is recommended to be on preventative treatment. This is regardless of your CD4 count and/or being on treatment for HIV.
Depending on the results of your Tb testing and where you live, Tb prevention can be given for as little as one month to up to 36 months in high risk patients.
Can I continue with twelve months TB treatment ( Prevention pills) while the results came back stating negative.?
Hi Ernest,
I’m sorry to hear about you diagnosis. However, this Q&A site is for people who are HIV positive. Are you HIV positive too?
Treating HIV and TB together can be complex. So it’s important that you talk to your doctor about your treatment.
Are you taking HIV treatment (ART)? What meds are you taking, and do you have access to CD4 and viral load results?
Hello
I don’t whether to say I’m a TB patient or what,
What happened is I did a test of a spit where they took my sample to a lab, OK after sometime they came back saying zero chances of TB, but before I tested I went for an x-ray and it shows that I have TB.
Can you say I have TB?
A lot of TB symptoms I don’t experience.
Hi Nokuínga,
I’m sorry but we are not doctors at i-Base.
But we do give HIV treatment information to people who are HIV positive. Sometimes this is about HIV and TB. Treating HIV and TB can be complex. And so it’s important that you talk to your doctor about your lung and shoulder pain.
Are you HIV positive too? What HIV meds are you taking? Please let us know.
I have been discharged from pulmonary Tb treatment but lung pain and right shoulder pain is back. Is it normal?