Undetectable Viral Load

When a person is diagnosed with HIV they can discuss with their doctor when the right time to start treatment is for them. For many folks this is as simple as taking a highly effective anti-HIV pill which stops the HIV in their body from making copies of itself.

Eventually, enough HIV is stopped that the ‘viral load’ -the amount of HIV in their body – drops below 200 copies/mL

At this level, HIV remains in the body but cannot be passed on to the person they’re fucking.

It’s all there in the name. Undetectable =Untransmittable. this means HIV cannot be transmitted to someones sexual partners if they have a sustained undetectable viral load.

Scientists have been banging on about Undetectable for over a decade. As the world catches up, UVL is being recognised as the most effective way to prevent HIV transmission.

An important part of becoming Undetectable is to get a regular  HIV test. Only once a person is diagnosed as living with HIV can they start on powerful and effective treatment.

Once on treatment, loads of people reach Undetectable status within 3-6 months. How long this takes depends on the person and their body, and the medication they take after talking with an HIV specialist doctor. Whether it happens fast or a bit slower does not mean that a person is any less ‘undetectable’ once they reach that stage.

The decision on when to start treatment is a decision to be made by the person living with HIV with advice from their doctor. It’s important to keep taking your medication regularly to give your body the best tools to tackle HIV.

The earlier treatment is started may have great health benefits like longer life expectancy, and preventing other illnesses – as well as preventing the virus from being passed on.

Having an undetectable viral load is not a cure for HIV. If a person stops treatment, their viral load is likely to rise up agian and eventually become detectable – and able to be passed on.

Research has been underway for 35 years to find a cure, vaccine, and other ways to prevent HIV transmission. Until then, we have amazing tools like UVL, PrEP, PEP, and condoms to prevent HIV transmission.

Just like PrEP, using UVL as a way to prevent HIV transmission is incredibly powerful, but it only prevents HIV. Condoms and UVL play well together. Condoms will provide some protection against some STIs, but not all of them and not all the time.

We don’t suck someone off with a condom on religiously, do we?

Testing is an important part of a undetectable persons toolkit to pick up on any STIs that come your way, and treat them sooner rather than later.

If a person living with HIV gets an STI this doesn’t impact their ability to stay undetectable.

Some drugs we use to treat HIV may not be compatible with other medications or drugs. Discuss what other drugs (prescription or recreational) you might be taking with your doctor to make sure you’ve got the best options available.

Even on the best combination there may be a few things to steer clear of, so make sure you’re aware of any possible drug interactions between your treatment meds and other substances.

One way to do that is to check out an HIV drug interaction checker, and to chat with your doctor.