Why do some peoples numbers....

[dingowarrior]

Jump so quickly, and others like myself take a very long time?
I've read folks numbers here jumping by the hundreds within a few months, while my cd4 ,though climbing creeps up by 20 or 30.

[vokz]

As long as your count starts to go up, then how high it goes (and how quickly it does it), is not something you really need to worry about.

In fact, if you started treatment at a fairly low CD4 count (under 200), then settle for a gentle and entirely healthy rise of 20 or 30 per month; because rapid rises from a low start can be linked to various complications that aren’t as common when you have a gentle rise, like yours.

It is hard to predict how fast your CD4 count will recover (or how far it will rise) because we very rarely have the luxury of knowing what a ‘normal’ CD4 count would be for us (it could be 400 for me, but 1400 for you .. and it is only 300 for my HIV-negative doctor), so the more potential there is for it to rise, the faster it may rise.

Similarly, if your viral load is suppressed very quickly, then that sometimes triggers a sudden jump .. or other health issues being resolved could have a similar effect.

In addition to that, there are all the usual variables (like time of day, how much exercise you have had, how stressed you are etc.) that can have what may seem like relatively large, but unpredictable, effects on your CD4 counts.

It really is just one of those quite unpredictable variables that does not seem to be an indicator of how well you are responding to treatment; but rest assured that your CD4 response is quite normal and healthy.

[leatherman]

creeping by 20 or 30 is fine. That's progress at least. 

In the last 12 yrs, my cd4s have only gone over 300 twice. the first time was 7 yrs ago up to a whopping 375. the second time was nearly a year ago when they just barely made the mark at 311.

They've been as low as 4 and 6; both times I had sky high viral loads and was in the hospital with pneumonia. (any time I've been especially sick seems to be related more to a high viral load than my cd4 count) I'm happy to report that I haven't been that sick (or in the hospital) in 10 yrs come this March.  And for the last 3 yrs, mine have stayed over 200 and I've been healthier than I ever was in the last 15 yrs.

Totalling all my test results up, I average at 155. Needless to say, I'm happy to have them go up by 5 or 10. 

mikie
(who's last results went from 248 to 255    but was happier that the VL went from 2740 down to 375)

[dingowarrior]

As long as your count starts to go up, then how high it goes (and how quickly it does it), is not something you really need to worry about.

In fact, if you started treatment at a fairly low CD4 count (under 200), then settle for a gentle and entirely healthy rise of 20 or 30 per month; because rapid rises from a low start can be linked to various complications that aren’t as common when you have a gentle rise, like yours.

It is hard to predict how fast your CD4 count will recover (or how far it will rise) because we very rarely have the luxury of knowing what a ‘normal’ CD4 count would be for us (it could be 400 for me, but 1400 for you .. and it is only 300 for my HIV-negative doctor), so the more potential there is for it to rise, the faster it may rise.

Similarly, if your viral load is suppressed very quickly, then that sometimes triggers a sudden jump .. or other health issues being resolved could have a similar effect.

In addition to that, there are all the usual variables (like time of day, how much exercise you have had, how stressed you are etc.) that can have what may seem like relatively large, but unpredictable, effects on your CD4 counts.

It really is just one of those quite unpredictable variables that does not seem to be an indicator of how well you are responding to treatment; but rest assured that your CD4 response is quite normal and healthy.

Thanks,thats reassurring.