I have been Positive since 1989 and just recently had to begin on Medication this year 2008 because my Cd4 had drop a little under 200 for the first time since diag. I take Kaletra and Truvada since than I have gained alot of weight can you tell me why or is these 2 drugs the cause. My body has never retained fluid like this and belly became fat even eating better.

There are two main explanations for weight gain after starting medications for HIV infection.

The first is a "return to health" phenomenon. Some people with CD4+ lymphocyte counts around 200 may have a low-grade opportunistic infection that can produce loss of appetite and lead to a lower weight than usual. If so, starting medications will improve energy, get rid of the opportunistic infection, and lead to weight gain as well.

The other reason that some people gain weight is related to side effects of medications. Protease inhibitors, in particular, seem to linked with increase belly fat and weight gain. If this is a trivial problem for you then nothing needs to be changed. But if it is more of a problem then a switch of the protease inhibitor (Kaletra) to a NNRTI (Sustiva,Viramune) or Integrase inhibitor (Isentress) may be useful.

Thanks for posting and best of luck!