Question:

A few months ago I got tested and unfortunately I am HIV positive. I saw a specialist who gave me Atripla once a day medicine the lab revealed that I have 297,000 [HIV] copies in my system and my viral load was 230. After one month on the med I am at zero and my viral load is 390. I just hope to get rid of the virus. My primary concern is what can I take with the medicine to increase my viral load?

Answer provided by:

Octavio Vallejo, M.D., MPH
Faculty, UCLA Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center

Thanks for your question. Before I answer it, I would like to explain two basic concepts that you need to grasp in order to have success with your medications against HIV.
1) The virus (HIV) is measured in your blood and we refer to that as the VIRAL LOAD and the results are provided in thousand of copies of the virus per mL. For instance, in your case your started treatment when your viral load was 297,000 copies of the virus per mL of blood.
2)The other concept is your immune system. In HIV medicine the immune system function is measured through the CD4 cells count. These are the cells that HIV invades and destroys. Normally a person without HIV infection might have between 800 to 1600 CD4 cell per mm3 of blood. When the number of CD4 cells goes down below 200 we say that this person have AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Also, it is recommended that when the CD4 cells count goes below 350 cells it is necessary to start antiretroviral therapy. In your case, you started taking antiretroviral medication when your CD4 count was 230 and now you have 390, which is very good, that means that your immune system is getting stronger.

Now, your question was: what can you do for increasing the number of CD4 cells? Well, you can do a lot of things: control depression, control stress, get adequate rest, take care of your nutrition (eat well-balance diet), exercise, stop smoking, stop doing drugs, etc. In general, have a extremely healthy style of life. Everything that can help your body to be healthy, it will help to make your immune system stronger. Finally, I'd like to recommend you to go to an AIDS Service Organization or Community-based organization close to your home to learn more in detail the meaning of living with HIV or AIDS.You will learn more and more about how to take care yourself and to perceive this disease like another challenge in your life that will make you stronger and wiser.
Good luck!

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