There is a health benefit to lowering viral load even as little as threefold. Local AIDS organizations have lists of area specialists. Discuss side effects, adherence, and drug interactions with your doctor before starting or changing a drug regimen. They differ slightly from recent International AIDS Society guidelines created only by doctors. If absorption appears normal and a person is adhering to the regimen, change in therapy is warranted.
Viral load increases threefold or more above the lowest measurement.
CD4 T-cell count continues to fall. Clinical symptoms of HIV disease develop or get worse. Ideally, a new regimen should include at least two new drugs that you've never taken before. If a person is clinically stable, has a detectable viral load, and possesses no good options for changing therapy, it may be best to delay changing therapy in the hope that better drugs will be available in the future. HIV Plus .