Taking Your HIV Meds Every Day
Achieving and maintaining a low viral load requires maintaining a certain level of HIV drugs in the body. Poor treatment adherence — missing doses or failing to take medications as prescribed — can lower the level of anti-HIV drugs to the point that the virus resumes rapid multiplication. Poor adherence to therapy may also allow HIV to develop resistance to anti-HIV medications. When this happens, viral load can go up and CD4 cell counts can go down, signaling treatment failure.
Tips to Help You Remember to Take Your Meds
Schedule time in your daily planner to take your HIV medications
Tie your daily doses to daily rituals, like that first cup of coffee in the morning
Keep a daily journal including when you took your meds
Designate a "treatment buddy" to remind you to take your meds
Store your meds in places where you're most likely to take them, for example, morning doses by the coffee pot, evening doses by the TV
Don't forget to reward yourself for sticking to your treatment
regimen
Successfully adhering to your treatment regimen by taking the correct dose of each of your anti-HIV drugs every day is the most important thing you can do to help control HIV and prevent treatment failure. If you have trouble taking or remembering any of your anti-HIV drugs, talk to your healthcare provider right away.
Next: Find information and educational resources about HIV and HIV treatment
Patients should read the Patient Information, including "What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA?". It is important that you discuss your treatment options and any questions that you may have with your healthcare provider.
Please read the Full Prescribing Information for TRUVADA, EMTRIVA, and VIREAD, including Boxed WARNINGS.
Please read the Full Prescribing Information for TRUVADA, ATRIPLA, EMTRIVA, and VIREAD, including Boxed WARNINGS.
*Synovate Healthcare Data; U.S. HIV Monitor, Q3, 2009.