VL "Blip"

[wyosunny]

Hello all, and Happy Holidays!
I'm now 13 months into treatment, and I guess doing pretty well, all things considered.  I did not, however, ever get comfortable with my doctor, and unfortunately, he is the only option I have here.  So, that said, I made the decision to make the 7 hour trek to Denver, and so far, I am loving the new care.  I love my doctor, who apparently has been frontline all over the world, pretty much since 1985.  She seems to really be on top of her science, and I think the relationship will work well.  Of course she started from scratch, and I had a few changes, that I guess I just need a little reassurance.  My last labs were VL UD, CD4 624. VL has been UD since Jan 2016.
Now, with new doc, new lab, and a bit of a cold:
HIV 1 Quantitative PCR   73 copies/mL   0 copies/mL
HIV RNA (log 10)   1.86 copies/mL   copies/mL

 Lymphocyte Absolute   1.60 10*9/L   10*9/L
CD4 Percent   45 %   25 - 62 %
CD4 Absolute   720 cells/uL   425 - 1860 cells/uL

I really think it's the VL throwing me.  Do "blips" really just happen?  Logically, everything I've read and heard from the new doc, says it's fine.  Just can't get the emotional/mental to go along.   Thanks folks!

[bocker3]

Yes -- blips do "just happen".  This is not anything to worry about -- and I'm guessing that your new doctor is not at all concerned either, right? 
I know it's easy for someone else to say, "no need to worry" and a bit harder for you to "not worry", but truly, if there was any concern, your doctor would be all over it.

So, try to relax and enjoy the holiday season!!

Mike

[Mightysure]

It could be the cold? New infections in your body can cause that latent reservoir to start up, but one test isn't necessarily an indication of anything bad.  These things do just happen unfortunately.  Added in the stress of finding a new doc, the long travel time, etc...I wouldn't be too worried about it right now. 

Keep in mind all of these tests are just snapshots of a small sample of what's going on overall in our bodies.  Your immune system and meds have probably already taken care of that blip. 

[wyosunny]

Thanks so very much.  Logical, but still a struggle!

[wyosunny]

Yes -- blips do "just happen".  This is not anything to worry about -- and I'm guessing that your new doctor is not at all concerned either, right? 
I know it's easy for someone else to say, "no need to worry" and a bit harder for you to "not worry", but truly, if there was any concern, your doctor would be all over it.

So, try to relax and enjoy the holiday season!!

Mike

Ues, she seemed morenthan fine.  CD's look awesome, VL very good, but wou)dnprefer yo see 0.  We'll retest when doing followup next month.  So I know, stop worrying!  Lol
Thanks again!

[harleymc]

A retest in a month will give clarity.

If in a month you learn this isn't a blip, then nothing much has been lost in the intervening time. Your medications can be changed.

If in a month this was shown to be a blip, then keeping you on the same medications is good. You wouldn't want to be changing things up for no good reason.

Just so you're not in a panic about how infectious you might be to a sexual partner. The long term studies into that all found no transmissions when viral load was below 200 copies.

[wyosunny]

Thank you! 

[Wade]

I have had several blips over the past 15-20 years can't remember how long I've been UD...lol . As Harley said your next labs will tell. You will be fine.

Happy Holidays to you too !

Wade

[wyosunny]

Thanks Wade!  And everyone else too!  Actualy feeling alot better, being able to draw on your wisdom and experience.  Thank you all, so very much.  Have a wonderful Holiday!

[den2542]

wyosunny I had two blips in my 6 year Atripla voyage. The first one was like 75 and then next one was 27. I guess <25 is the level and below that ur UD. so what I discovered in that time was that during the blips, I'd pop my Atripla pill later than what I should have like for example if I normally take it at about 6 pm, then naturally one should take it the next night at 6 pm. But so I was going to night school and popped it later in the night like say 9:30. It was in those times that I had the blips. So I had a good friend tell me to take the pills at the same time every day. So now voila, so far no blips. Now that everything is great they want to start me on Genvoya. So the blip is what I was told "just happens sometimes because of either something done or something ate or the time one took it. Each time I had the blip, I freaked. So now I respect my pills and thank them for the job they do each time before I take them.