Could you please tell me what a cmp test is my doctor ordered this test and according to the results :- NA is low at 125. K is high at 5.7. cl is low at 90. TP is high at 8.1. I recently had Lactic Acidosis brought on by my Doctor say's by the Combivir I was on since stopping the Combivir the Lactic acid has gone to normal but my t-cells have gone down from 558 to 283 would this be due to the Lactic acidosis or the change in meds I am on Sustiva & have been from the beginning in April 2000 & he gave me Kaletra when he stopped the combivir.I am a very worried 50 year old male so I would appreciate some help & or advice.My Doctor say's he is not too worried about the drop in t-cells they took three and a 1/2 months to go down, my viral load has risen slightly from 68 to 105.

A "cmp" is a "comprehensive metabolic profile" and is used to evaluate your kidney function, liver enzymes and function and electrolytes (like Na (sodium), K (potassium), Cl (chloride) and others). You don't mention the lactic acid level that resulted in your doctor stopping your nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) therapy (the Combivir), but in general hyperlactatemia (an elevated lactic acid level) may or may not require interruption in NRTIs, depending upon the lactate level and/or the presence of symptoms associated with lactic acidosis. I share your concern regarding the significant fall in your CD4+ cell count over the past 3 and 1/2 months, even though your viral load remains relatively well suppressed. Your physician should evaluate this to determine whether another cause for the fall may be present, but if they fall further and a work-up fails to reveal any other explanation for the fall, your physician should re-evaluate your current treatment and consider restarting NRTIs, with careful monitoring of your lactic acid level and symptoms. Also, when Kaletra is combined with Sustiva the Kaletra dose should be increased to 4 capsules twice a day. BB