FAQs About Starting HIV Treatment

From The Body's "Ask the Experts" Forums

August 29, 2011

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Starting Early | Treatment Guidelines | Deciding Whether to Start Meds | Pregnancy and Starting Treatment | Resistance

Starting Early

As an expert on HIV, if you were diagnosed today, would you start treatment right away no matter what?
What's considered starting "early" versus starting "late"?
I keep reading that the new drugs have few side effects. If I am going to be on treatment for many years anyway, why should I wait to start instead of beginning treatment immediately?
Could starting HIV treatment shortly after being infected protect my immune system from long-term damage?
My CD4 count is high (700) and my viral load isn't too bad (15,000), but I want to reduce my transmission risk as much as possible. My doctor keeps telling me that HIV meds are "not recommended" right now, but can he actually prohibit me from starting treatment?
I started treatment when my viral load was 80,000 and my CD4 count was about 900. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information in the medical literature about when to start HIV treatment. Did I start too early?
My viral load was greater than 10 million, while my CD4 count was 330, so my doctor started me on meds. Ten weeks after starting, my viral load is undetectable and my CD4 count is 500. I know this is all great news, but should I really have started treatment so quickly?

Treatment Guidelines

Deciding Whether to Start Meds

Pregnancy and Starting Treatment

Resistance

For frequently asked questions on other HIV/AIDS topics, click here.

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