? about Viral Load and CD4

[worriedfriend]

My best friend has HIV and he recently found out his CD4 went up a little bit about 30 points, anyway, is it possible to have your CD4 go up and your viral load to also go up. He gets his results tomorrow and he's very nervous that his viral load will be high, but I was thinking if your CD4 went up which is a good thing then the viral load should go down.  Any input would be incredible and thanks to everyone who has given me so much advice and information in the past.

[Ann]

worried,

Numbers can bounce all over the place and yes, the VL can go up at the same time as the CD4 does. They can also decrease together, or one can go up while the other goes down.

It's a slightly different situation if a person is on meds. When on meds, ideally the CD4s will only go up and the VL will only go down. Differences from this can sometimes mean treatment failure - but it can also just be a blip. Only repeated tests will reveal what is going on in this situation.

I've been positive for ten years, but I'm not on meds. My numbers have bounced around all over the place. It can take some getting used to.

If you haven't already, you and your friend might like to read through the Blood Tests section of the Lessons. If you have further questions after your reading, feel free to come back here to ask.

Ann

[worriedfriend]

Ann thanks SO much for all your help. I must say asking a few ?'s on here I have had the great honor to chatting to some really nice people.  We're all in this together, gay straight, bi, positive, negative, were all in this fight together.  He gets his results probably today I hope his VL has gone down as he's very worried.