You and Your Meds: The Dance of a LifetimeSeptember 1, 2011
As the saying goes: It takes two to tango. If you're on HIV treatment, those antiretrovirals you take every day are your lifelong dance partner. With good preparation and coordination, you and your meds will dance together beautifully -- a partnership that will likely keep you healthy for the rest of your (long) life. But if you miss too many steps in the dance, your treatment can stumble -- and so can your long-term health. "Adherence" is the buzzword that many use to describe whether people take their HIV meds properly -- that is, on time and exactly as prescribed. Today's HIV medication regimens are more powerful than ever; so powerful that if you adhere to them, they can completely stop HIV from replicating in your body. But too many missed doses, or too many doses taken incorrectly, can allow HIV to develop resistance to your meds, reducing your future treatment options and potentially putting you at risk for HIV disease progression. There's no perfect answer to the question, "Exactly how many doses of my HIV meds can I afford to miss?" Some medications are more forgiving than others, and a lot depends on the quirks of your own body and immune system. One improperly taken dose is not likely to cause your entire treatment to fail -- but how much wiggle room do you really have? We just don't know. This is why health care workers are often in a tough position when it's time to talk about adherence: It's hard to know exactly how many antiretroviral doses you need to take properly in a given week (or month, or year) in order to ensure your HIV doesn't have a chance to develop drug resistance. So, many experts will simply urge you to always take your med doses on time and exactly as prescribed: After all, the only way to know for sure how much leeway you have is to miss one dose too many, and by then it might be too late to save your regimen. Nobody wants his or her HIV treatment to stop working. And it's easy for someone to tell you, "Just take all your meds, and you'll be fine." But the challenge of taking antiretroviral therapy every single day, and the obstacles that life throws in your way, can make adherence a lot tougher in real life than it might seem on paper. This is why we've created our Resource Center on Keeping Up With Your Meds: to help you get the information and advice you need to ensure that your dance with HIV treatment is as flawless as possible. Included in this center are:
So, whether you're taking a single once-daily pill or a cocktail of several antiretrovirals, keeping up with your HIV meds can sometimes feel overwhelming. Just remember that every dance begins with a single step. We hope this resource center provides a little something for everyone who's seeking to ensure that their own dance with HIV treatment glides beautifully along. Myles Helfand is the editorial director of TheBody.com and TheBodyPRO.com. Copyright © 2011 The HealthCentral Network, Inc. All rights reserved. ![]()
Comment by: Patrick
(Staten Island, NY)
Sun., Nov. 20, 2011 at 7:55 pm UTC Thank you for and easy to follow and understand simple article. Ive just passed a year of knowing and the feelings are still pretty raw at times. Lots of people take medications for other illnesses there entire lives so comparing it to that at times helps me to cope.
Comment by: LarryG
(Indianapolis, IN )
Wed., Sep. 7, 2011 at 2:06 pm UTC Scared myself to DEATH this morning as I was driving to work I realized I forgot to take my meds. (Its only been about 10 days so far) Luckily I have an extra dose of Truvada and Edurant that I keep in a pill bottle at my desk that I was able to take when I got in.
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