Stribild as PeP

[PePQuestion]

Earlier this week I stupidly had unprotected vaginal sex with a csw.  After the incident there was a small amount of blood on the head of my penis.  I am unaware of her status.

I thought the best thing to do would be to go to a Dr. and see if they recommended PeP.  I just moved here, so I dont have a GP yet.  20 hours after the incident I went to see a Doctor.  The Doctor I saw did not seem very knowledgeable about HIV.  She did not know if PeP was warranted, but luckily there was an HIV specialist in the same office.  She discussed my situation with him and his recommendation was that I start PeP immediately.

The specialist told my Doctor to prescribe Stribild for 30 days.  I know Stribild is a new drug, and I was not sure if it had been approved as a PeP treatment.  I asked her why this particular drug was prescribed, and she basically didnt have any knowledge on HAART.  All she said was 'we used to prescribe AZT, but these new drugs are much more effective.'  Lol.  Thanks for the insight!!!

After doing some reading, I see that Truvada+Kaletra (or Truvada alone) is a commonly prescribed PeP regimine.  I know that Truvada is part of the Stribild combo, but Im not sure why this was the specialists choice?

I saw that there is an ongoing clinical trial with regards to Stribild as PeP, which would mean that it is not yet approved for such purposes?  I had some kidney and liver function tests to see if it was safe for me to take the medication, and they came back normal.

My questions for you guys are:  Will Stribild even be an effective PeP treatment?  I dont want to take HAART unless it will be useful in my situation.  Due to the ongoing Clinical Trial, it appears the effectiveness is not yet known?  Also, he prescribed 30 days.  Isnt the standard regimine always 28 days?

I took the first dose 25 hours post exposure.  I just took my second dose.  The side effects are moderate so far.  I have a headache, a great deal of fatigue, and loose stools.  I  just generally feel like I have an awful hangover, but Im assuming it gets better.  I can handle the side effects, but I just want to make sure there is value in continuing treatment.  What would people here
recommend?

[Jeff G]

The drug  Stribild is more than enough medicine for a pep regimen . The standard treatment is a 3 drug combo and Stribild has four very effective medications one being a booster .

One big question in the Stribild trail was tolerability , there is no doubt the drug is effective but they also look at the side effect profiles to make sure the best drugs are prescribed with the lowest side effects to insure you adhere to the treatment .

There is every reason to believe you are going to come out of this OK and HIV negative in the end .