Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 19, 2024, 02:05:59 am

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772784
  • Total Topics: 66296
  • Online Today: 267
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 233
Total: 234

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: My husbands low CD4 count  (Read 6442 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Danigirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 14
My husbands low CD4 count
« on: April 19, 2013, 09:56:55 pm »
Hello my husband was diagnoised positive in late January of this year. He started treatment in the second week of February.   Initially his VL was over 150k with CD4 count of 28. He has been on Isentress and Kaletra which I know is not the normal choice of combination but he had a reaction to atripla.  He got his new labs today and his VL dropped to 190 which is great! However, the CD4 is only 48 :(

My question is..has any one here started out with a low cd4 count, such as my husbands, and rebounded well? If so, how long did it take? Is there anything we can do on our own to help it improve?

My husband is excited about the viral load news which is great because he has not been very optimistic since his diagnosis (and I want to keep it that way) but honestly, I'm alittle scared about the CD4 count being so low.

Offline Jeff G

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 17,064
  • How am I doing Beren ?
Re: My husbands low CD4 count
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2013, 10:11:01 pm »
Welcome to the forum Dani . There  are many of us here that have come back to excellent health with almost identical lab numbers , myself included .

Viral loads fall quickly and CD4 counts take longer , sometime much longer . I would say your husband is very much on the right track and you have every right to be optimistic that he is gong to do very well on treatment . It took me years to get my cd4 count above 400 ish , so just hang in there and let those drugs do the work and he will get better .
HIV 101 - Basics
HIV 101
You can read more about Transmission and Risks here:
HIV Transmission and Risks
You can read more about Testing here:
HIV Testing
You can read more about Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) here:
HIV TasP
You can read more about HIV prevention here:
HIV prevention
You can read more about PEP and PrEP here
PEP and PrEP

Offline Danigirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 14
Re: My husbands low CD4 count
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2013, 01:19:53 pm »
Thanks Jeff :) I suppose I should just relax a bit. After all, it has only been a little over 6 weeks since he has been on treatment.  I look forward to the CD4 getting better. In the meantime he is on antibiotics and we are trying our best to eat healthy and get some exercise in!

Thanks again for your response ;)

Offline Andy Velez

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 34,126
Re: My husbands low CD4 count
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2013, 11:04:51 am »
Dani, I've seen many who have rebounded from low CD numbers including quite a few significantly lower than your husband's current number. Your concern is understandable but when the meds work they really do the job. So you two have to be patient. As you yourself have noted, 6 weeks is a very short time. His vl dropping is a good sign that things are heading in the right direction.

Keep us posted.

Cheers. 
Andy Velez

Offline frdfandc

  • Member
  • Posts: 10
Re: My husbands low CD4 count
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2013, 11:53:09 pm »
I started out with a very high VL load and a very low CD4 count - IIRC it was 8. I started Atripla immediately after being diagnosed. That was March of 2011.

After 6 weeks, my CD4's were 28. It took approx 1 full year to get my CD4's above 200 and another 6 months for the Doctor to take me off of Bactrim. The past year my CD4's have been between 210 and 230 at two different appointments. The last reading was 208, IIRC, because I was getting over a bad head cold/flu like symptoms.

Ultimately the Doctor is only concerned about keeping the CD4 levels over 200 and my VL undetectable as to prevent opportunistic infections from occurring. So for the past 18 months, it has been pretty much the "no news is good news" type of thing.

CD4 levels will vary from person to person. A friend of mine was diagnosed before I was and started Atripla almost 1 year after I did and his CD4's have not dropped below 400.

As mentioned before VL dropping is a very good sign. Have patience and good luck. Things will get better.

Offline Danigirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 14
Re: My husbands low CD4 count
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2013, 10:45:46 pm »
Thank you Andy and "Frdfandc" :) I really appreciate your responses.  I am so eager to see what my husbands numbers look like when he gets his labs done next week.  I have been trying to be optimistic and realize that I have to just be patient .  It really helps to know that we are not alone and there are success stories out there. 

I will keep you guys posted!  Take care :)

Offline Andy Velez

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 34,126
Re: My husbands low CD4 count
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2013, 10:17:26 am »
Dani, we'll be looking forward to updates from you.

Cheers.
Andy Velez

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.