Living With HIV / Re: Viral Blip. Mental spiral.
« Last post by Jim Allen on Today at 05:41:05 am »I've experienced a viral blip for the second time in four months; it was 32 in April, and now it's 104. I've been extremely diligent with my medication, but I can't help obsessing over my lab results. I'm aiming to switch from Biktarvy to either Dovato or Cabenuva, but it feels like a distant goal. When I was diagnosed in April 2022, my initial viral load was 80,000 and my CD4 count was just 22. Since then, my CD4 count has only slowly climbed above 200, and now with two consecutive blips, I'm feeling hopeless.
Hiya,
Firstly, I'm sorry to hear that you feel stressed by this, what did your healthcare provider say? Are you still taking any supplements? If so prehaps keep off them for 30 days before your next VL test and see what happens.
now I think something you and a lot of us might want to take on board is that nobody here has a VL of zero. Despite what some lab reports or doctors might say, the VL is always there just sometimes below the lab threshold to detect in the small specimen taken but HIV treatment is not about being "undetectable" for the labs tests.
You started treatment in April 2022, VL has been 97,000, 203, 60, 22 and 104. You have a suppressed viral load and your treatment is working great, I would be pleased with these results if they were mine, as the goal is met, job done!
Personally, only if I had continuous VL results over 200 I would consider it an important indicator. However, low-level stuff or the odd spike is mostly insignificant.
The reason being detectable in lab results, can happen for all kinds of reasons, not to mention the threshold of labs keeps getting lower and lower without much point from a clinical sense, anyhow, detected viral load can also include defective copies being released from the HIV reservoir that are incorrectly counted. I suspect microblips are more common in the first few years of treatment but that is just my anecdotal observation.
Sorry, this reply has gotten so long, anyhow, could switching HIV treatment help you beat the lab tests? Prehaps, something to discuss with your healthcare provider. Would going from a consistent VL between 22 - 200 to below 20 copies make any difference to your life or health? No *
*
Prof. Fiona Lyons (HIV in 2024)
https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=77637
Low level VL linked to defective copies released from viral reservoir
https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=77301
Reporting VL below 200 - “harmful medical practice”
https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=77575
"What’s All This Fuss I Hear About Viral “Blips”?
Blips
http://i-base.info/guides/changing/viral-load-blips
Viral Blips Don't Raise the Risk of HIV Treatment Failure
https://www.poz.com/article/viral-blips-raise-risk-hiv-treatment-failure
http://www.aidsmap.com/Spanish-study-gives-reassurance-small-HIV-blips-do-not-predict-treatment-failure/page/3085173/
What’s All This Fuss I Hear About Viral “Blips”?
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/70/12/2710/5573119
Q&A on persistent low-level viremia.
https://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/hiv-aids/news/online/%7B8373ca63-674d-4015-ac35-f4da653c7415%7D/qa-understanding-persistent-low-level-viremia-in-people-with-hiv