Body Health Resources Foundation

STEP 6: Choosing the Right HIV Treatment

Part of HIV and Me: An African American's Guide to Living With HIV

April 2009

Doctors have not yet discovered a single combination of HIV medications that's best for everyone. Each combination has its advantages and disadvantages. The U.S. government issues regularly updated HIV treatment guidelines for health care professionals. As of November 2008, the guidelines made the following HIV treatment recommendations for people who are starting on their first HIV treatment combination:

Atripla (this is a combination pill of Sustiva plus Truvada)
Kaletra (once- or twice-daily) plus Truvada
Lexiva (twice-daily) and Norvir plus Truvada
Prezista and Norvir plus Truvada
Reyataz and Norvir plus Truvada
Sustiva plus Truvada

Each of these treatment combinations include at least one drug from two different types, or "classes" of HIV medications. Each class of medication stops HIV from making copies of itself at a different moment in its reproductive cycle. The following are the six classes of HIV medications:

NRTIs (nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors)
NNRTIs (non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors)
PIs (protease inhibitors)
Fusion inhibitors
Integrase inhibitors
CCR5 inhibitors

You and your provider will consider many issues before deciding on a treatment combination, including:

Your lifestyle
Which treatment regimen preserves your future treatment options
How powerful a combination it is
What side effects it can cause
Other illnesses you may have (such as hepatitis C), as this can affect which HIV medications are best for you.

David Lee "I needed a good three years to actively process the diagnosis. Actively processing a diagnosis means finding a good therapist, joining a support group, or talking with family and friends. People should do whatever is comfortable for them, but not talking about it is not an option! If you don't talk to anyone about it, you'll suffer for it."

David Lee, age 44, diagnosed in 1995, case manager

To read more about David, click here.

To read more about HIV/AIDS treatment basics, click here.

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This article was provided by Body Health Resources Foundation. It is a part of the publication HIV and Me: An African American's Guide to Living With HIV.

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