Freakin Out

[morethanpoz28]

I have messed up.   On Thursday, June 19 I completely forgot to take my meds.  The next evening (6/20)  I took my meds at the "normal" time.   I had not missed prior to that time.  I told my shrink who works at the clinic I attend and she reassured that sometimes things happen.  Then last night, June 28 I fell asleep and forgot again except when I woke up at 5:30 in the morning I took the meds (so I was 10 hours later than usual).  I plan to take them tonight (June 29) but maybe a little later than usual (e.g., midnight) since I messed up yesterday.  I am totally freaking out.  I am not being lackadaisical, I think I am just getting too used to my diagnosis if that makes sense.  At any rate, what might this mean regarding resistance?  I am going in for my blood work in 3 weeks.  Will that be enough time to determine whether I have developed resistance? I WILL NOT be missing or being super-late with any more doses.  I sent an e-mail to my doc but of course this is Sunday and do not expect a response.  I am so nervous.   

Modified to add the following information:

I have been on Prezista/Norvir and Truvada for the past six months.  I started out on Atripla and couldn't take the Sustiva, then switched to Reyataz/Nrovir & Truvada but had too many people commenting on the "yellow eyes" and switched to my current regimen in January.  I have been undetectable for almost a year.

[Ann]

MTP,

Calm down - you're unlikely to develop resistance that quickly.

You might want to invest in a device with an alarm - mobile phone, wristwatch, etc. While these two incidents are unlikely to cause grief, missing doses continually will.

Good luck.

Ann

[J.R.E.]

Hello,

It's easy to get "freaked out" , when we forget to take our meds, at times. We get caught up in something else, or we sleep through it, and forget to take them. I've done that before. I'm sure things will be alright. You need to find a system, to help remind you, to take those meds on time. Try not to worry about it. Just stick to your med schedule, from now on. I've got two different alarm clocks, that I set for the two times a day, when I need to ( 8:00 Am -and 8:00 pm)

I was going to ask you what meds you were on, but I see you edited your post.


Take care---Ray

[morethanpoz28]

Ann & J.R. E.,

Thank you for such quick replies.  It's funny, the more I adjust to the diagnosis (it's been about 18 months), the more likely I am to be my "old absent-minded self."  But this has jerked me out of complacency!  I think I will use my cell phone as an alarm to remind me. 

An additional question, should I take the meds tonite at my usual time or should I take them later to account for the fact I took this this morning? Any thoughts?  Why do these things happen on weekends?   

Cheers to all

[BT65]

More, take your meds at your usual time.  I agree with Ann and Ray-get something with an alarm in it to remind you.

[aztecan]

Yep, take them at the usual time

It is unlikely you would develop resistance from this one mishap.

I have a watch with an alarm on it that I have used since I started Crixivan in 1996.

It saved my butt more than once.

HUGS,

Mark

[Peter Staley]

morethanpoz28 -- you should check out this cool, and FREE! new reminder service that AIDSmeds just did a story on:

Tibotec Launches Medication Reminder Service
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hiv_adherence_reminder_1667_14771.shtml

Peter Staley
Founder
AIDSmeds.com

[ARMANDO]

i plan to go on a mini vacation for about a week,is it possible that i could develop resistance to my meds if refrain from taking them for this period?i'm just concerned about the storage problem with my norvir,truvada and lexiva.

[Peter Staley]

Armando -- you don't need to keep your Norvir refrigerated unless it's a trip longer than 30 days (it takes 30 days for Norvir to start going bad at room temperature).  The drugs you are on should have no "storage issues."

Peter

[morethanpoz28]

Thanks to all who replied.  I completely panicked when I woke up and realized I forgot to take my meds for the 2nd time.  Now I feel a little stupid but oh well! 

Bettytacy,

I set up my alarm on my cell phone and so far so good!

Mark,

Thanks for the hugs, I can always use them...and right back at you! 

Peter,

I will check out the article you mentioned!

Armando,

I am on Norvir, Prezista, and Truvada and took them on a trip to the Dominican Republic.  Actually, I packed the Norvir in a waterproofcase with a freezer pack and it worked out ok.  Hope you have a great trip!

Cheers!

Lisa (who's freakin out  a little less now!)

[Steinway]

More Than,
    I'm glad your a little bit calmer now.  It's frustrating at first to know if this sort of thing messes your body up.  I had been taking Sustiva at night and Truvada during the day.  Then my doctor told me it would be okay to take them both at night.  I'll have to admit that there were times when I would forget, or put off taking Truvada until much later in the day.  So my time frame would be off from time to time.  Now taking them at night it's easier, but I don't always go to sleep at the same time every night.  I am about to start taking Atripla instead of the two.  I took one dose and it made me sort of naseaus so I'm a little nervous.  I'm going to wait until this months supply of the other two runs out before I take Atripla on a daily bases so we'll see.   But, back to you,  I've always read that you want to take your doses on a regular schedule and that if you don't you will run the risk of building a resistance.   My thoughts are that you would have to go for a few days without taking your meds and then possibly have a resistance.   One things that may ease your worries is that if for some reason you would build a resistance, there is a posibility that you would be able to take a different set of pills that would still help you.  There are several pills to take now.  I am guessing that if we took a pole that we would find that many people follow a different regime.  Is one better than another?  Who is to say.  Our bodies are all different and our strains are all different too.  What is good to do is find what will work for you.  Me taking Sustiva and Truvada has taken me out of the Aids zone and put me back in a very healthy count.   I am up to 580 and undetectable.  I was below 180 at one point with 15,000.  So you can see that I'm a little nervous about making a switch even though Atripla is still the same chemical.   But, no matter what, we have options and your doctor will make sure that you are taking what will help you.  If any of us builds up a resistence, there are other options.  We sometimes have to go through a detox therapy before we start something new, but those options are there and should ease your heart and mind.
   Good luck and please let us know how you are doing. 
Steinway