When Should You Be Tested?

You and your doctor should determine the schedule that works best for you. In general, you should have a viral load test when you are first diagnosed and every three to six months when you are not on HIV therapy.

Consider having a viral load test before starting treatment and another test two to eight weeks later. If the regimen is working to suppress HIV reproduction, your viral load should drop by 90% within two months and be undetectable within six months of starting treatment. Once viral load goes to undetectable, viral load is usually measured every 3 to 6 months.

If these levels are not achieved after starting treatment, or if your viral load has recently become detectable on stable therapy and keeps increasing, it can signal that your regimen isn’t controlling HIV as well as it should. You and your doctor should consider all possible reasons (problems with drug absorption, adherence, or drug resistance) and take steps to correct the problem, including additional testing and considering changing drug treatments.