can someone who is recently infected (2 years or less) develope neuropathy but still have normal or near normal cd4 counts and low viral load? In other words, I have been told that in treatment naive patients, hiv can still cause neuropathy but is not due to the status of viral load or cd4 counts. I am told some strains of the virus attack the nerves more than others-- is this true?

HIV does have a tendency to go to some type of nerve cells such as in the brain. Peripheral sensory neuropathy when due to HIV is usually seen with lower CD4 counts though occasionally some patients seem to have more of a problem with that condition (if that is the case then the neuropathy often improves with antiretroviral therapy). I haven't seen alot of clinically useful information on what HIV subtypes are more likely to cause peripheral nerve symptoms. KH