My girl friend has been positive for 9 years now. she took medication after 3 years of testing positive but only for a year and stopped completely. she is very healthy and her CD4 has been 500 to 700 going strong. is she ok? will she need medication if her CD4 continues going strong? is it possible to live for another 10 years without any medicines? can we have a baby without her taking medication? will the baby have a chance of getting infected? she exercises and has a good diet, most of the times fruits and vegetables and is very positive about her status.

It sounds as if she is doing very well without therapy at this point . How long this will prove to be the case is not easy to predict, but she should definitely continue to receive regular care and follow-up.

While she does not qualify for therapy at this point, she should strongly consider antiretroviral therapy if she is planning to get pregnant to minimize the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby. Many experts would recommend that she start therapy before she gets pregnant in order to be sure that she is tolerating the regimen well and that she is having a good response. Recommended therapy will depend on many factors, including her past therapy, whether she has any resistant viruses, etc. I would urge her to review the guidelines on the use of antiretrovirals during pregnancy, available in the treatment section of this web site and discuss her alternatives with her provider.