Long term travel abroad and adjusting the time of when I take meds...help?

[travelbug85]

Heya everyone. I'm about to leave for a long term trip (8-9 months) and am wondering how to adjust the time when I take my pill. I've been on Atripla since October of last year and my viral load has been undetectable since shortly after...

I've taken the pill every night at 10:30 pm without fail since starting it in October 2011. I live in Seattle (Pacific TZ) and even when I go to Mountain, Central, or Eastern within North America I adjust the time I take my med to the local time. For example, if I'm in Montana on Mountain Time I take my pill at 11:30pm local time because that's 10:30pm in Seattle. So on and so forth all the way to Mexico City, Florida, etc...

So here's my question- when do I take my meds in India?! When it's 10:30pm Pacific time it's 11:00am in India (whole country's on the same time zone). I'd be totally cool taking it at this hour due to the fact that I've never really had any adverse reactions or side effects.

I've heard of people "staggering" the time they take their meds when they travel in order to get back to their normal/"home" time. This slightly freaks me out since I've been so ocd about taking it on time, every day, without fail or more than an hour deviation.

Also, I have a supply of Atripla (generic) to get me through the first 3 months of my trip, but am wondering how difficult it is to obtain in India. The supply I have right not is Viraday which is made by Cipla IN India, but is there some special channel you have to go through to get it? Or is it over the counter? I have a written and printed prescription for it from my doc here just in case. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton

[emeraldize]

Excuse brevity. Traveling. If India is your sole destination and your numbers good just wait until you are at your destination and take your next " on time dose" at 10:30pm India time. This was advised to me by ID doc.

[Ann]

Hi Travelbug, welcome to the forums.

The most important thing is that you take your meds every day. The best thing to do is to continue taking your Atripla at the same time - 10:30PM - regardless of where you are in the world.

In other words, keep taking it at 10:30PM local time.

Atripla is very forgiving in this regard and once you're undetectable (as you are) you have leeway of several hours either way, so don't sweat the time zone changes as you move around the world. 

It's more important that you keep to your usual routine, instead of constantly looking at your watch and trying to figure out what time it is back home so you can take your meds at the time you would have taken them at home.

Good luck on your travels and as long as you keep taking your Atripla every day, you'll be just fine and no, you won't be risking resistance. Keep to your usual routine and all will be well.

Oh, by the way, I'm not sure how you'd get your script filled in India, but we do have members who hail from there... calling Spacebarsux to the courtesy phone!

Ann

[spacebarsux]

Also, I have a supply of Atripla (generic) to get me through the first 3 months of my trip, but am wondering how difficult it is to obtain in India. The supply I have right not is Viraday which is made by Cipla IN India, but is there some special channel you have to go through to get it? Or is it over the counter? I have a written and printed prescription for it from my doc here just in case. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton

I'm sorry for the delayed response! I just saw this thread. 

As long as you have a doctor's prescription, it should be no problem purchasing Viraday at the big chemist stores/pharmacies in any large city in India.

[travelbug85]

Hey everyone thanks so much for all the replies! As I said I was a bit nervous about adjusting to the time change, but just took everyone's advice and started taking it at 10:30pm local time. And of course never went 24 hours without taking it while in transit (long layover!!!).

As far as obtaining Viraday in India, holy crap it was just like buying a dosa or thali... walked into a pharmacy, told them how many bottles I wanted, paid 3900 rupees for a 30 day supply, and that was that. Under $80 USD for 30 tabs. Amazing! Have enough to get me through until mid March as of now, but will be in Thailand then and heard that the Red Cross Anonymous clinic is the place to go to re-up. Probably more expensive (but certainly not by much, right?), but still much better than buying it in the States or via an online Canadian pharmacy (where the product is still shipped from India!).

Again, thanks so much and sorry about late reply/update. Been enjoying the sunshine and warm weather