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Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: schnitzer on November 28, 2006, 12:05:46 am

Title: Once a day meds, do I have to take them exactly every 24 hours?
Post by: schnitzer on November 28, 2006, 12:05:46 am
I'm on Kaletra / Truvada Once a day regimen.

My dosage is Once a day (4 Kaletra / 1 Truvada)

Do I have to take them exactly every 24hrs to be effective or
is it quite forgiving if one day I take it 1hr early or the next day i take it 3hrs late. ?

How long is too early? and How long is too late to be considered a missed dose?
How many hours late can I take it from the original dose?

Thx
Title: Re: Once a day meds, do I have to take them exactly every 24 hours?
Post by: AtomicA on November 28, 2006, 01:50:10 am
I'm not on the same combo as you (Kivexa and Sustiva) but my doctor told me I had a 4 hour window with those drugs (well, longer theoretically with the sustiva as it stays in your blood for up to 3 days, but who wants to mess with that). He said ideally you should take your once daily drugs within a couple hours of the time you took them on the day before but you could go up to 4 hours either way if need be. He said that in he extreme case, 6 hours was on the outside of what you should do but that you should still take them but any longer than 6 hours you should miss the dose and take it at your normal time the next day. I don't know if that will be exactly the same for your drugs but there is usually at least a couple hour window with most drugs. If you're concerned that you have some evening plans that will interfere with your ability to take them, I usually take mine a couple of hours later the night before so that if the party/play/movie/night out at a hot bar go later than you were expecting you're still only a couple of hours past your last nights dose. I know it's not the best solution, but we still need to have lives right?
Title: Re: Once a day meds, do I have to take them exactly every 24 hours?
Post by: newt on November 28, 2006, 02:50:55 pm
Protease inhibitors (PIs) like Kaletra are more time sensitive. 

Ideally, on Kaletra once a day you want to take the next does between no more than 14 hours after the last dose. So that's +2 hours leeway. How long drugs stay in the body exactly is kinda individual, and many people will do well with an occasional longer gap, but bear in mind that Kaletra was designed for 2 x day dosing so +4 hours is stretching it a bit  . . .  The only genuine 1 x day PI around at present is Reyataz, though Kaletra and Lexiva are okay for most people 1 x day if you have never taken PIs before. 

With the Truvada, 4 hours late ain't gonna make any difference cos each of the drugs it contains (Viread and FTC) hangs around a long time.

I know the advice is often take your combo in the morning with brekkie, or a night with your supper, but this don't work for me - the only time I can be sure I'm awake / free & therefore consistent in my dosing is lunchtime, so I take my meds then.

- matt
Title: Re: Once a day meds, do I have to take them exactly every 24 hours?
Post by: blondbeauty on November 28, 2006, 04:56:30 pm
Thank you Matt. The other day I made a mistake in Mexico and took my Truvada one hour late and the day before I took my Sustiva drenched in gin so I was a bit worried. If you say taking Truvada 4 hours late is acceptable I believe you. I believe ;) all you say...
Title: Re: Once a day meds, do I have to take them exactly every 24 hours?
Post by: AtomicA on November 28, 2006, 06:43:23 pm
Eek, Matt now I'm nervous. Does that mean that the couple hour variation a night on med times for the Kivexa I take is bad? I'm pretty sure that the sustiva is ok because it stays in you for a long time but I always just take them together. Getting two degrees at once means that some nights I have to be up to ridiculous hours studying and I can't be all looped on the sustiva when I do that, but would it be a good idea to set my alarm and take the Kivexa (3TC, Abacavir) at exactly the same time every day? I told my pharmacist how I normally play it and he got a funny look on his face but didn't say anything... now I'm worried
Title: Re: Once a day meds, do I have to take them exactly every 24 hours?
Post by: newt on November 28, 2006, 07:00:27 pm
On Kivexa, yes, you wanna be quite strict, like +2 hours.  Some people have not done well on this 2 nuke combined pill 1 x day.  The 3TC is okay, but abacavir really stretches itself to be taken 1 x day for some folks, so I would stick to a fairly tight time frame (as pot on as possble, perhaps +2 hours)

 - matt

PS - it worries me a bit that people believe what  say. Yes, I am usually right  ::) n am bloody well informed I guess, but people should check / get other views / ask for a reference etc, scepticism n 2nd opinions is good - I can be tired n make mistakes :) forget stuff   ??? type wrong ... that said, cheers mr  ;D glad to be of service