Dear Doc.

I tested + nearly two years ago and have had strange results from day one(so much so that my doctor didnt think i had HIV even after the test was pos)

I have always had regular check ups and my last negative test was only 6 months prior to the positive one. The highest my v:load has been is 1000 copies (testing at two different hospitals both well known for their HIV care) and this has dropped over the last year to 600 300 and now undetectable. My CD4 has remained between 1230 900. Im not on any meds.

My docs have always said its due to my immune system doing such a good job at limiting the HIV replication. Whilst this is great, they never seem to tell me why or if its going to stop doing such a good job one day and if so when??

I know this is all good news but I would like to know why and how my body is doing this and what I can do to help the process. Also, how long do you think I have before I need meds?

Thanks

Ash.

You doctor is correct. You are one of the lucky few, that has an immune system that is able to contain viral replication and therefore not lose t cells. The exact answer for this is not known, but the subject of intense research. We suspect it has something to do with effective and efficient CD8 cell killing of HIV infected CD4 cells.