women vs men

[Paulette]

Hey Ladies
it's most def been a while since i've been on.. doing fine as i hope all you ladies are as well..
I've been wondering why do they have an 110 pound lady on the same strength of hiv meds that they would put a 225 pound man on... this has been bothering me for sometime now... maybe this isn't the place to be posting this.... but if not Ann will take care of where this should be posted... thanks Ann in advance. I believe that us women need to stick together and demand more research when it comes to us..and it bothers me that i feel nothing is being done about this... maybe more women need to sign up for clinical trails.. who the hell knows.. but as any of you ladies ever thought about this before?
best wishes to all.
Paulette

[Ann]

Hi Paulette! Good to see you around again. How's it going?

I've wondered about this too. I know sometimes they use TDM (therapeutic drug monitoring) to find out what levels of meds are in one's system and sometimes the dosage is adjusted accordingly. It doesn't seem to be in routine use though. They did this with my partner as regards Sustiva and they dropped his dosage from 600mgs to 200mgs. He's tall (6'1") and thin (naturally thin) but I think he's pretty much average weight. I know he weighs a ton when he's passed out.

Has your doctor ever discussed TDM with you? It might be something to bring up at your next appointment if you feel like you're getting too much of your meds in your system.

I could move this to Living or Treatment if you wish - if you don't seem to be getting many replies here. Let me know what you think.

Ann

[karry]

Hi Paulette,
A friend also faced same issue and she had some side effects that led to hospitalisation. Her doc did TDM and they reduced the dosage and she is doing very well now.
K.