- taking antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy, even if you don’t need HIV treatment for your own health.
- considering the choice between a caesarean or vaginal delivery with your doctor.
- bottle feeding your baby, rather than breastfeeding.
Can you give birth naturally if you are HIV positive?
People living with HIV can give birth without passing on HIV to their baby
. Your options for conception will depend on your health and your partner’s HIV status. Your doctor will recommend you start anti-HIV treatment during your pregnancy, if you are not already taking it.
What do you do if you are HIV-positive and pregnant?
An HIV-positive mother can transmit HIV to her baby any time during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. If you are a woman with HIV and you are pregnant,
treatment with a combination of HIV medicines (called antiretroviral therapy or ART)
can prevent transmission of HIV to your baby and protect your health.
Can a HIV-positive mother have a healthy baby?
Yes
, it’s possible for an HIV-positive woman to give birth to a baby who does not have HIV. If you’re HIV-positive and are pregnant, you should consult a health care provider who knows about HIV disease. Without treatment, about 25 percent of babies born to women with HIV are also infected.
How long can you live with HIV from birth?
A child in South Africa who was born with HIV has been virtually free of the virus for nearly nine years now and didn’t take anti-HIV drugs for most of that time, according to a new report of the case.
Can you fall pregnant while on Arvs?
A Word From Verywell. If you are a woman with HIV and intend to get pregnant,
most antiretroviral drugs are considered safe during pregnancy
. If you are currently on treatment, you will likely be advised to continue if you become pregnant as long as you have an undetectable viral load.
Which Arvs are not safe during pregnancy?
Cobicistat-boosted ARV drugs (ATV, DRV, or EVG)
are not recommended for use in pregnancy. As noted above, EVG, DRV, ATV, and COBI levels have been found to be significantly lower during the third trimester than during the postpartum period.
What is the name of the new ARV pill?
Early results from people taking a new antiretroviral medication called
lenacapavir
are promising. The long-acting drug is still at the research stage, but if the developers are able to pair it effectively with other drugs that also only needs to be taken twice a year, it could revolutionise HIV treatment.
2-38 When can pregnant women be started on antiretroviral treatment? ARV treatment should be
started on the day of diagnosis
. If HIV is diagnosed early in pregnancy, the recommendation is to commence FDC only at 12 weeks if the mother is healthy and does not require ARV drugs for her own health.
How do I know if my ARVs are working?
Routine
Blood Testing
for Effective HIV Treatment
Your treatment regimen is considered effective if it’s able to control HIV to the point that the virus is virtually undetectable in your body. The virus is still present, but the viral load level is low enough that HIV is considered controlled.
Does ARVs make u gain weight?
Weight gain is a common side effect of
antiretroviral therapy (ART). On average, people put on about 4 pounds during the first 2 years of their treatment. Most of that gain happens in the first year.
What is the difference between hiv1 and hiv2?
HIV-1 is the most common type of HIV and accounts for 95% of all infections, whereas
HIV-2 is relatively uncommon and less infectious
. HIV-2 is mainly concentrated in West Africa and the surrounding countries. HIV-2 is less fatal and progresses more slowly than HIV-1.
How long do ARVs stay in the body?
There are other benefits to being undetectable besides your own health. Once your viral load has been undetectable for
six months
you are unable to pass HIV along through sex, as long as you continue to take your HIV treatments and remain undetectable.
What happens when you stop taking ARVs and start again?
ARVs are a
lifelong commitment
. If you stop taking them, you are likely to get sicker than before. During the period that you stop taking your medication, you give HIV a chance to become resistant to the ARV drug combination you are taking and that regimen may not work for you again.
What are the disadvantages of taking ARVs?
- hypersensitivity or allergic reactions, with symptoms such as fever, nausea, and vomiting.
- bleeding.
- bone loss.
- heart disease.
- high blood sugar and diabetes.
- lactic acidosis (high lactic acid levels in the blood)
- kidney, liver, or pancreas damage.
Can ARV cause your face to be dark?
This is a skin condition in which the skin reacts to exposure to the sun by turning darker in color. It’s most common in people of color, but anyone with HIV is susceptible to
photodermatitis
. If you’re taking medications to improve immune strength, you may have this reaction as a side effect.
Is it important to take ARVs at the same time everyday?
Taking your medication as prescribed is key to HIV treatment working. You should
try to take your pills at around the same time each day
. This page includes advice on dealing with missed doses. It’s also important to follow instructions about food and to check for drug-drug interactions.
Can you skip ARVs for a week?
Missing doses
increases the risk of developing
drug resistance, which would mean you would need to change treatment. The risk is probably lower if you stopped suddenly for two weeks and restarted, and higher if you try to spread your meds out to cover this period. But a lot of this is unfortunately down to luck.
Can I infect someone while on ARVs?
You can’t transmit HIV if you take ARVs correctly
and are virally suppressed. Zero risk of HIV transmission via condomless sex. That is what the world’s largest study among HIV-positive gay men, who are on effective antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, has found.
What is the best time of day to take ARVs?
“
Take twice a day
”means you take the first dose early in the day and the second dose about 12 hours later. So, if you take the first dose at 8 o’clock in the morning (8:00 a.m.), take the second dose at 8 o’clock in the evening (8:00 p.m.).
