New ... with high CD4 counts

[StayPositive]

Hey,

My name is Wendy, I'm a 35 year old girl (who wants to be all grownup, right?) living in Belgium and I got my hiv diagnoses 31 may 2013.
I'm not so recently diagnosed with HIV, but i still consider myself as a newbie because to me, it feels like day 0 was just yesterday.

First of all, congrats with this magnificent site!
I have been reading for a few nights now and it's amazing ...

I stumbled on this site in my search for an answer even my doctor can not give to me.
Let's hope that all of your combined wisdom en maybe just common sense can do the trick :-)

At the time of my diagnoses my CD4 count was 1680 en i had a VL of 7.500.  Three months later my CD4 count was 1820 and my VL was 11.500 ...
How is this possible? I mean I'm not on any medication, and i was told that in that stage of infection my CD4's should have decreased instead of increased ... (my Doctor presumed that i got infected medio march 2013).

Apparently my body does something but the doctor doesn't know what ... and i want to know it.

So, has anyone here some explanation on what can cause this?

Wendy

[medstudent]

Hi Wendy,

My consultant discussed something similar with me. He told me that a persons CD4 count can vary naturally from day to day, even without HIV. He said the figure they are more concerned with is the percentage of CD4 cells in the sample, and that this will tend to decrease in a person with HIV over time. Although the disease progresses at different speeds in different people

I am not sure if this will apply to your situation, but perhaps its worth asking your physician

All the best,

Mike

[Andy Velez]

Wendy, I am glad you have found your way here. And that you are now aware of your HIV status. Having that knowledge puts you in a position to insure that you are doing your best to stay healthy. That includes developing a good working partnership with your doctor to keep you healthy. That includes having regular appointments and making sure your numbers being monitored.

Make sure you are talking with your doc about any questions you may have. In fact I always suggest keeping a little notebook handy to jot down things you think about to ask the next time you have an appointment. That way you won't have to depend on your memory to cover everything you have in mind.

You're always welcome here to ask questions and to bring up anything you are concerned about.

[Joe K]

Hello Wendy,

The answer to your question is that your body is still adjusting to being poz.  You have been poz for 6 months and your immune system is working overtime and apparently, very well.  Each of us are unique in how we respond to being poz and your body seems to be handling the infection very well.  I urge you not to get caught up in the numbers, as they are just one indicator of your health.

The goal is managing our infection and you want to look at "trends" in your health over time.  There are some pozzies that can control their infection without medications, due to certain abilities that are still being discovered.  Some folks have gene deviations that render them almost immune to HIV infection.  My point is we are as varied as possible, but what matters is controlling our infection.

Your numbers are fantastic and if I had to guess, I would say your CD4 increase is a direct result of the tiny increase in your VL.  HIV is trying to replicate faster and your immune system is responding by increasing its defenses.  This is what we want to happen and the fact that you are able to do this, without medications is very good news indeed.

You are still new to all of this and asking questions is always welcome and expected.  If I can offer anything, it would be to encourage you to learn to read your body and to realize that "health" is a relative term and it comprises many factors.

Numbers are just one indicator and even with poor numbers, it does not mean your health is equally poor.  I have been poz for 30 years and for 20 of those years, I lived with a CD4 count, well below 300.  If I went solely by my numbers, I would have driven myself insane with worry.  By realizing that even when the counts were poor, did not mean I was in any danger, because I knew how my body should feel if I was in truly poor health.

You are doing great, so try to relax and welcome to the forums.

Joe