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Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: ALH300 on July 29, 2008, 01:44:04 pm

Title: New numbers.....
Post by: ALH300 on July 29, 2008, 01:44:04 pm
Just got my results back:
CD4 361 CD% 16.4 VL 12,830

So now I am just in limbo...wait another 3 months and see what happens...The doc said as long as I feel OK there is no need for meds. But I wonder just exactly how long my body can tame this before the bottom falls out and just how much my immune system has been damaged.

BTW....My how time flies...its been over a year since my diagnoses and a year since I found this website....I don't think I would be this sane without this website and its members...although I can't really say any of us are really that sane....lol

Thanks for listening!
Title: Re: New numbers.....
Post by: thunter34 on July 29, 2008, 01:50:01 pm
Congrats on the new numbers and still hanging in there!  You look like you still have some wiggle room before meds to me.  You can keep an eye on any downward trends.
Title: Re: New numbers.....
Post by: Iggy on July 29, 2008, 03:45:49 pm
Just got my results back:
CD4 361 CD% 16.4 VL 12,830

So now I am just in limbo...wait another 3 months and see what happens...The doc said as long as I feel OK there is no need for meds. But I wonder just exactly how long my body can tame this before the bottom falls out and just how much my immune system has been damaged.

To answer your question:  I dunno, Shaggy!

The fact is that every body reacts differently.

In my own case.  My Cd4's were below 300 and my VL hit about 100K around Feb/March (I believe...I swear I am losing memory capacity) though here I am at almost August and still doing ok...minus the memory stuff...and perhaps going on meds Tomorrow for the clinical trial....maybe my point isn't so good   :-X

Naw - scratch that...I think you will be fine and your numbers are not scary - just at a point that you need to face the reality that it may be time to start thinking about meds.
Title: Re: New numbers.....
Post by: OutOfDarkness on July 29, 2008, 06:06:42 pm
Your numbers look good, I agree with Iggy you might want to start thinking about them and reading about them.  While 300's for cd4 is ok it's not really that great either, your viral load is pretty low though.  When my cd4 got to this point I was pretty nervous and started meds.  My viral load was higher though.  But I think the risk of getting an opportunistic infection (OI) is higher as your cd4 gets lower, if I am not mistaken.  And it is that number that docs pay attention to if you start to show symptoms of getting sick with something. 

I started on Sustiva and Truvada, and that's all I have taken for the last couple oh, wait it's been 3 years, I think.  But anyway, my counts are really good ;D.  I don't think you should have to wait to get sick to start meds is what I am trying to get at.  So maybe you could start thinking about it.  Good luck!
Title: Re: New numbers.....
Post by: Alain on July 29, 2008, 08:37:11 pm
Good show on the numbers and kind of consistent but like others have mentioned we are all different.

I would see my doctor sooner then the 3 months appointment.

Your viral load is low but the % of your CD4 is starting to show that your immune system is getting weaker.

Of course starting meds is such a personal choice to make, but me I wouldn't wait much longer.

Take care,

Alain