All or Nothing

[Jeffreyj]

Last week, I was one med short of my 3 med cocktail.

I was not sure what to do, so I took two of the meds.

My DR says it is better to not take any meds at all. I did not know this, so I thought I would pass this info on to everyone. If you have heard different, please advise.
Thanks...

[minismom]

Did he tell you why?  I'm just curious because this is the opposite of what I would think.  I'd be like you and take what I had.

Mum

[sdcabincrew74]

My doctor told me the same thing.  All or nothing and never do the every other day thing to spread out your supply if you are running low. 

[Life]

My doc told me the same thing Jeff...  All or nothing..

Eric

[aztecan]

Hey Gang,

The reason it should be all or none is the meds actually counter one another, so that a virus that gets by one of the meds is caught by the others.

That is why mono and duo therapy failed back in the early and mid 90s.

By not taking one of the meds, you are actually opening the door for mutated viruses to develop that the meds can no longer control.

The same holds true with "spacing out" the meds to make them last longer. Wrong! You must have a certain concentration of the medication in your system for it to be effective. The pills (capsules, whatever) are designed to provide that level in the bloodstream for a specified period of time.

It would be like trying to drive your car with an empty tank to make the gas last longer. It just doesn't work.

Take the meds as prescribed and on time. If you run out of one of them, don't take any of them, with the exception of Sustiva, which lasts longer in the bloodstream than most of the meds it is combined with.

Better yet, get a pill box in which you can set out a week's worth of meds. That way, when you run low, you will know in advance and then can have them refilled, negating the need to skip meds for any reason.

It works for me. I would forget my head if it weren't attached.

HUGS,

Mark

[allanq]

Since Sustiva stays in the system so long, if your regimen includes Sustiva, even stopping all the meds at once is going to be a problem. It looks like doing that could cause you to become resistant to Sustiva.

This seems to mean that if you're taking Sustiva, you need to be extra special careful to make sure that you don't run out of any of your meds.

Allan

[Queen Tokelove]

I am not a stickler for taking my meds at the same time every night but I take them. Maybe with a difference of an hour or 2 every night. I just can't seem to take them at the same time, I don't know why. I have never missed taking any of my hiv meds. My doc drilled it in my head that I can't. I do get a bit lax with my diabetic pills sometimes...

[minismom]

Thanks, Mark, that really does make sense now that you've explained it.  I have a spin-off questions along the same line: is it ok to take a reduced amount of a med?  Here was our situation: Mini was prescribed 300mg of susteva 2x/day. She takes a 200mg pill and a 100mg pill.  The pharmacy was having trouble finding her 100mg pill for a few days.  We continued to give her the 200mg pill until we got in her 100mg pill and then gave her the full 300mg.  Should we have not given her the 200mg and waited until the 100mg pill came in and we could give her the full dose?

mum

[Jeffreyj]

Queen, I'm like you. I'm more often off 2-3 hours at least 3 times a week. It's almost impossible for me to take them every twelve hours. But , hey, I'm still here(Though I know that's being bad. I just sleep 14 hours at times. Must be the culmination of years of mono and god knows what other kind of therapies I've had in the past 24 years.

Mark thanks for that nice explanation. You should be a DR...have you looked into that?


Mum- Sorry my DR did not explain why...I rarely ask him for the science of it all-its like the more I know, the more I worry. I know that's maybe a bit weird, but I fell I need to work on the emotional part of HIV. I leave the science to the experts._ Good question about the partial dosing. Maybe Mark can answer that....good luck with that.

Stay strong everyone.

[Queen Tokelove]

That is a good question though---- Does not taking meds at the same time cause mutations or resistance? Anyone?

[minismom]

This was my biggest concern about mini and her meds.  Her PID told us that it was absolutly imparative that once we decided on a med schedule that we had to stick to it.  She said that any significant variation in time could allow her virus to mutate and become resistant to the medication.That's why we were so paranoid all the time.  But, I've read posts from folks here that have taken a full holiday from meds then went back on them and they were still effective.  So, truly, i have no idea.  Good question, tho.

Mum