Viread, Epivir, and Sustiva- what are your thoughts as the starting point for this thearpy? If I am religious and never miss a dose how many years can I look forward to being on this.... if we now measure life expectancy in decades what is the lieklyhood of being on these for 20years +

Your loyal reader doctors- thanks for your opinions and help they are beacons in the night for all of us.

Thanks for your question and nice comments.

The combination of tenofovir (Viread), 3TC (Epivir) and efavirenz (Sustiva, Stocrin) is a very popular and potent combination for first-line treatment of HIV. Indeed, recent results from the large, long-term Gilead 903 clinical trial provide exellent support for the combo and are part of the basis of the inclusion of tenofovir/3TC/efavirenz as a highly recommended regimen from the US Department of Health and Human Services guidelines.

Yes, provided that you don't have preexisting drug resistance and you can take the regimen religiously, I would expect excellent long-term durability of the regimen and survival. I certainly tell my first-time regimen patients that I expect decades of survival, if all goes according to plans.

Thanks for reading, good health to you. BY