Hello I was diagnosed with Aids in November of '02. I am on combivir, kaletra, and bactrim. My cd4 count is 47, yet my viral load is undetectable. I cannot sleep. When I do manage to fall asleep, I have horrific nightmares and vivid dreams. My short-term memory is extremely bad and getting worse. Could these symptoms be caused by the drug combination, or could it be the beginnings of Aids-related dementia? My specialist is not very forthcoming in answering questions for me. Thank you.

Insomnia is a common symptom in people with HIV infection. The cause is not always clear. A commonly used treatment for insomnia is trazodone 50 mg at bedtime. This drug has the benefit of not leading to dependence.

Noe of the medications you have mentioned are known for causing nightmares or vivid dreams.

As for your memory problems, the cause is not clear. The subjective feeling that one's memory is getting worse does not always result in objective findings of memory deficits on testing. With an undetectable viral load, you are at low risk for HIV-associated dementia, but the CD4 cell count of 47 probably does put you at some risk. Other factors that would increase your risk are substance abuse and anemia.

The best way to answer your question is to have some objective screening test or neuropsychological evaluation of your memory and other cognitive functions.