Hello,

I have started medication in February of this year and with good success - no major side effects and viral load undetectable after just one month. I am using Truvada (once a day in the a.m.) and Isentress (2 x a day, one in the a.m. and once in the p.m.). As I take one Isentress at night sometimes it is later than planned and I am worried about forgetting. Given that the viral load is now undetectable, and to improve adherence in the future, do you think it is safe/ok to take all pills at once - that is take Truvada plus 2 x Isentress in the a.m.? thank you J

Hi J and thanks for posting.

Sounds like you're doing very well on your current regimen. You correctly point out that adherence is an important aspect to the success of your health program.

Raltegravir is recommended as a twice-daily medication; in the QDMRK study, those people who were randomized to take once-daily were slightly more likely to have treatment failure than those who took the medication twice daily. Now, it might be a different scenario if one was already suppressed on twice-daily and was to consider switching to once-daily; it's just that the data to support this isn't there.

So for now, what I recommend to my many patients on raltegravir regimens is to take the medication twice daily, but if you miss a dose to simply catch up by taking the two pills together.

BY