Switching to Stribild for the convenience of a one a day

[keven]

I asked my Dr. what he thought about switching from Isentress + Epzicom to Stribild.   He asked me why I wanted to switch and I told him simply for convenience.  My current regimen is one pill in the morning and two pills at night vs. one pill per day and really it is not that big an issue taking three pills per day.

He suggested that unless I really have an issue with compliance, which I do not, he would recommend not switching to Stribild since it has two drugs that can be hard on the kidneys and my current regimen does not have this issue.

My Dr. has been working with HIV for many years and I consider him to be knowledgeable about HIV care.

Is the kidney issue with Stribild really an issue?  Being new to the market, is the data in on this?  I would appreciate any thoughts you may have.

Thanks:)

[buginme2]

Your current meds are Epzicom and Isentress.  Why are you on Epzicom and not Truvada?  Was it because of Kidney issues or resistance?  If there is a particular reason that you are not on Truvada then Stribild isn't for you because it contains Truvada.

Regarding Stribild and the kidney issue.   Yes it is an issue.  How big of an issue it is is still a question.  Because Stribild is so new there isn't a lot of data.  All we know Is that it does affect your kidneys because it causes certain kidney tests to be elevated.  Combine that with Truvadas effect on your kidneys and its a double whammy.  Some doctors are hesitant in prescribing it because there are still some unanswered questions (including mine). 

There are other one pill combos such as Complera and Atripla. 

There are also other combos that you just take once per day (although more than one pill). 

[Reishi]

A month ago, I was treatment naïve and had virtually no knowledge of HIV meds.  The only one I was familiar with is Atripla.  Since I had no preference one way or the other, I decided to go with Stribild because I wanted a one-a-day and that was the only one available to me.  The other kinds were not an option due to resistance.

I hope I made the right choice.  I intend to stay on this regimen as long as it doesn't cause any major problems.  In addition to kidney issues, it should also be noted that Stribild contains cobicistat, which suppresses a liver enzyme, so it may affect your digestion.

My thinking is:  "If it isn't broken, why fix it?"   If your current regimen is working fine and your numbers are good, you might as well stick to it.  Just my 2 cents.