POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: Rafaelmagura on December 28, 2012, 10:26:12 am
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If I stop taking a altripla what will happend ?
Will my body crave it , is it addicting ?
I can't afford my hiv treatment anymore , does anyone have any remedies or such things
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While, HIV meds are not addicting, stopping HIV meds can allow the virus to mutate, causing resistance, so that those drugs are no longer effective against the virus. Stopping HIV meds means the virus will go unchecked in your body which will more than likely eventually end up with you quite sick with AIDS before dying.
If you are unable to afford your meds, you need to contact a local AIDS Service Org (http://directory.poz.com/), check out the website for your medication for a patient assistance program (http://www.atripla.com/hiv-med-cost.aspx) (this is a link to Atripla Patient Assist), or apply for your state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) (http://www.ct.gov/dss/cwp/view.asp?a=2353&q=305218#CADAP) (this is a link to Conn. ADAP).
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Rafael...I know I'm new here, but as someone who recently recovered from 4 opportunistic infections and an AIDS diagnosis, believe me...it's not something you want to go through. There's no remedies to stop HIV. I suggest you take leatherman's suggestions and try all available options before stopping treatment.
Any of the infections that you might encounter are a horrible way to go, and will be most likely painful (my lungs burned excruciatingly with every breath I took with PCP and Valley Fever). Not to mention the pain my body was going through in general...literally. My skin hurt, my bones hurt. With the CMV infection, I lost my vision in my left eye.
Not trying to scare you, but seriously...try any resources possible.
Do you have any family or friends who can help you with the Atripla bill until you get on a program like ADAP? I used the co-pay programs before I got on...and while they didn't completely cover the cost, it helped make it easier to pay for them. Also, you should have a case manager to help you get going on the ADAP process. Mine has been nothing short of amazing, and without her, there's so much paperwork and red tape that you'd have to jump through.
This may be a good place to start for case management: http://www.ctaidscoalition.org/pdf/assistance/agencies.pdf
It looks like the (ctaidscoalition.org) is a good site in general for resources in your state.
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Rafael...I know I'm new here, but as someone who recently recovered from 4 opportunistic infections and an AIDS diagnosis, believe me...it's not something you want to go through. There's no remedies to stop HIV. I suggest you take leatherman's suggestions and try all available options before stopping treatment.
Not trying to scare you, but seriously...try any resources possible.
I second that. You don't want to have a burning fever that doesn't even allow you to walk or open your eyes and start to lose weight like crazy and worry to death your family and your friends or get Toxoplasmosis and start to go insane, like an acquaintance of mine recently. He died btw.
HIV is not a joke, please do everything you can to not stop your meds.
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If you stop your medicine you will eventually die, HIV is nothing to be playing with.
I understand you cannot afford them any longer, but this does not mean all is lost. You need to seek out a local Aids Services organization and set up an appt with a case manager. They have a wealth of info and many tools to help you get back on your meds.
-Will
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Long time reader, new postor but here is my story. I had this issue two years ago - my state medical insurance was cut off because I was $15 over the income limit. I didn't have a case worked at the time because the state government had cut one million dollars from my local HIV/AIDS organization and they didn't have enough funding to survive. Also, the state I live in designates which counties various HIV organizations can serve so I couldn't go to the next closest one due to my address.
My infectious disease doctor was able to get me a month and ten days worth of meds (I take Norvir, Truvada and Prezista) which we hoped would be enough to cover me while my TDAP application was being processed. I ran through the meds and still no TDAP. So, after a consultation with my ID doc he told me to stop my meds cold turkey - do not taper or try to stretch the doses out. I was off my meds for six weeks. I was scared of the virus mutating but he explained that the virus does a "comparison" to see what some cells have that others don't. By stopping cold turkey all my cells appeared the same to the virus. Once my TDAP came through I started up again on the same meds and at my last blood draw (Nov 2012) my viral load was 59 and everything else was fine.
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Note: Some combos are stopped "cold turkey". Others, the advice is different to take into consideration half-lives. Best to ask a specialist opinion.
The question might be moot if the combo is Atripla and the person taking it hasn't easy access to doctors and drugs. But I seem to remember something about sustiva having a long half life and so ideally there were a few days of the "Truvada" components without the sustiva. So don't know what atripla takers do in this case.
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Hello Rafael,
Your profile indicates you are located in Connecticut -- if that is still so, this link may offer you helpful information.
http://www.211ct.org/informationlibrary/Documents/Conn_AIDS_Drug_Assistance_Program.asp
Em