first off, i'm on sustiva/combivir. my t-cells are 300, vl 300. my total cholesterol was 242, bad 136, six months ago. my dr. was concerned it could be the medication. i lowered my sat. fat intake, exercised, and ate cherrios 1x a day. my total cholesterol is now 182, bad 100. i'm not a dr., but i don't think the meds were affecting my numbers, right?

Depends somewhat on what your lipid levels were before you started the drugs (useful to pin down the contribution of the drugs). Bad cholesterol (LDL) of 100 isn't too bad a level particularly if you are active, don't smoke, have no family history of heart disease, and don't have high blood pressure or diabetes. The good cholesterol (HDL) is often somewhat low in HIV (exercise, some low alcohol use can raise that). Sustiva can raise the lipid values but usually just to a modest degree. KH