I have been positive for 20+ years now. (holding my own without medications) About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and about 4 years ago was placed on a drug called Metformin. I went for awhile with no complications, and then my viral load started to increase, and my CD-4/8 levels started to drop. (they are now down to 70, and the viral load is up to 300,000) As a result, I am now starting Atripla and have discontinued the Diabetes treatment. The question is, did the diabetes medications cause this problem? Since my diet and exercise did not change.

Diabetes has been shown significantly influence the rate of progression of HIV infection nor has any of the HIV meds (including metformin). HIV+ patients over time often see a decrease in viral load and drop in CD4 counts in the absence of treatment si unlikely to be due to diabetes or the metformin. Patients with diabetes and HIV are often prescribed both HIV meds and diabetes meds so if your diabetes is flaring up I would also aggressively manage that condition. Atripla is usually well tolerated in diabetic patients. KH