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Poll

Your Bactrim prescription doseage (used as a prophylaxis)

1 Bactrim DS per day
5 (38.5%)
1 Septra DS per day
1 (7.7%)
Bactrim DS 3X a week
6 (46.2%)
Septra DS 3X a week
0 (0%)
a different schedule
1 (7.7%)

Total Members Voted: 13

Author Topic: 1 a day VS 3x a week  (Read 9451 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline leatherman

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1 a day VS 3x a week
« on: December 30, 2007, 11:49:07 am »
For this poll, please indicate the doseage of Bactrim/Septra that you take if you have been prescribed this med as a prophylaxis

In another thread recently I was involved in a lively discussion about Bactrim being used as a prophylaxis against PCP. I learned that Bactrim could be taken only three times a week instead of daily. (this report from 1991 http://www.aegis.com/pubs/atn/1991/ATN12303.html demonstrated this). Someone even pointed out that the POZ site shows this same information:
https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/pneumocystis-pneumonia-pcp
Quote
TMP-SMX (Bactrim™, Septra®)...Initially, one double-strength tablet of TMP-SMX every day in patients with less than 200 T-cells was the recommended dose. Today, many health-care providers recommend that it be taken three times a week instead. It's just as effective.

I was initially prescribed bactrim as a daily dose in 1998 (7 yrs after that report). I learned that others here have been prescribed Bactrim as a daily med even more recently (within the last 2-3 yrs).

Since doctors were/are obviously still prescribing Bactrim DS daily many years after this report, I did some more research to compare these different dosages. If you google "Bactrim recommended dosage" or "Bactrim DS daily" you'll see that there are many references (44,000) to the daily double strength dosage as the basic prescription rather than the three times a week regimen. However, proving that the internet is an "iffy" resource at times, googling "bactrim three times a week" unfortunately gives confusing results (15,700) as that is also a guideline for a pediatric dose of Bactrim, as shown here http://www.drugs.com/cons/bactrim.html:

Quote
For the prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP):
Adults and teenagers—800 mg of sulfamethoxazole and 160 mg of trimethoprim once a day.
Infants and children 4 weeks of age and older—Dose is based on body size and must be determined by your doctor. There are several dosing regimens available that your doctor may choose from. One dosing regimen is 375 mg of sulfamethoxazole and 75 mg of trimethoprim per square meter of body surface two times a day, three times a week on consecutive days (e.g., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday).

So I was curious as to how many people were still being prescribed bactrim once a day VS 3 times a week. I separated the poll into Bactrim and Septra, as it was pointed out that this might be a difference in European and American doseage guidelines. I would also be interested in hearing firsthand reports on how a doseage of 3x a week worked for other people here. Or didn't work. Or whether there was a difference or not. (If no one on either doseage has been back in the hospital it'll be hard to prove which "works" better. LOL)

I mean if I only need this med 3 times instead of 7 times a week, that means I've been taking too much and spending too much.

4 extra pills a week X 52 weeks = 208 a year / 30 in a month = 6.9 months

That is nearly SEVEN months worth of meds that I did not need to buy or ingest. WOW!  :o Now multiply that by 10 years that I've been taking Bactrim = 70 divided by 12 months in a year = 5.8 yrs worth of meds I should have never even been prescribed!!  :o Needless to say, I plan to discuss this with my doctor on my next appointment. If your prescription is for a daily dose you may want to discuss this other dosing option with your doctor too.  ;)

thanks for your input!

mikie
(who skipped his Bactrim for the first time today!)
« Last Edit: May 08, 2019, 08:18:02 am by iana5252 »
leatherman (aka Michael)

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You were leaning in to speak to me
Acting like a mover shaker
Dancing to Madonna then you kissed me
And I think about it all the time
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Offline rolf1

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Re: 1 a day VS 3x a week
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2007, 10:53:51 pm »
hi,
i took bactrim (called metrim / co-trimoxazole) a while after my cd 4 went down to 240.
after it goes to 165 i started meds and my doc recommended that i should stop bactrim because it interferes with the aidsmeds (viread, lamivir, stocrin). there was also a topic about this here in the forum, but i don't remember where. i don't have my new numbers yet, next doc appointment is in march. but i am still worried with my low cd that the risk of contraction of pcp is very high.
when i took them, the aids resaerch center (not the doc) recommended to take 2x tabs in the morning every day. i don't know the exact amount as it isn't showed on the package i got.

Offline allanq

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Re: 1 a day VS 3x a week
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2007, 10:59:51 pm »
For the past 13 years I have been taking one-half of a DS (double-strength) Batrim once a day. I was told that I could do one DS three times a week or just split each tablet in two and take a half a tablet every day. That seemed easier to me than trying to remember a three-times-a-week schedule. The DS tablets split in half very easily.

Allan

Offline vokz

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  • efavirenz junkie
Re: 1 a day VS 3x a week
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2008, 07:14:21 am »
For the sake of clarity, Mikie is talking about co-trimoxazole, which is also known as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and sold around the world as Septrin, Bactrim, Septra, SXT, TMP-SMX, TMP-sulfa and Sulfatrim (to name but a few).

It comes in two strengths:

  • 480mg (single strength, SS - which contains 80mg of trimethoprim and 400mg of sulfamethoxazole)
  • 960mg (double strength, DS - which contains 160mg trimethoprim and 800mg of sulfamethoxazole)

The three dosing schedules that you could be on:

  • 480mg (SS) daily
  • 960mg (DS) three times a week
  • 960mg (DS) daily

You may also be interested in this section of the PCP fact sheet over at The Body:

Quote
Bactrim or Septra (TMP/SMX) is the most effective drug against PCP. It is also inexpensive, costing only about $10 per month. It is taken in pill form, not more than one pill daily. Cutting back from one pill a day to three pills a week reduces the allergy problems of Bactrim and Septra and seems to work just as well.

One important factor to keep in mind is that if your CD4 is below 100, then you may also be taking this drug as a prophylaxis against toxoplasmosis. The dose as a toxoplasmosis prophylaxis is 960mg (DS) daily .. so don't play with that.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2008, 07:18:21 am by vokz »

Offline SouthSam7

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Re: 1 a day VS 3x a week
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2008, 11:22:32 pm »
I took Bactrim Monday, Wednesday and Friday for about 6 or 8 months when I was first diagnosed and had a low cd4 count. 

It was easy to remember and I use a pill holder anyway so it was never a problem.

Offline Cerrid

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Re: 1 a day VS 3x a week
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2008, 12:52:38 pm »
I took Bactrim Monday, Wednesday and Friday for about 6 or 8 months when I was first diagnosed and had a low cd4 count. 

It was easy to remember and I use a pill holder anyway so it was never a problem.

Same for me. The 3x per week DS dosage is the recommended prophylactic dosage in Germany as well, as long as CD4 count is below 200. I'm on this dosage for over a year now. My CD4 count is now well over 200, but my doc wants to wait for the number to stay above 200 for three times in a row, so I have a few more months to go. Probiotic joghurt helps me to overcome the side effect of occasional diarrhea which I contribute to Bactrim.
"Boredom is always counterrevolutionary. Always." (Guy Debord)

Offline David_CA

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  • Posts: 3,246
  • Joined: March 2006
Re: 1 a day VS 3x a week
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2008, 04:14:29 pm »
I took Bactrim daily 'til my last ID appointment in November.  It didn't bother me, 'cept for a bit of sun sensitivity.  It was prescribed due to my having PCP at a relatively high CD4 count. 

David
Black Friday 03-03-2006
03-23-06 CD4 359 @27.4% VL 75,938
06-01-06 CD4 462 @24.3% VL > 100,000
08-15-06 CD4 388 @22.8% VL >  "
10-21-06 CD4 285 @21.9% VL >  "
  Atripla started 12-01-2006
01-08-07 CD4 429 @26.8% VL 1872!
05-08-07 CD4 478 @28.1% VL 740
08-03-07 CD4 509 @31.8% VL 370
11-06-07 CD4 570 @30.0% VL 140
02-21-08 CD4 648 @32.4% VL 600
05-19-08 CD4 695 @33.1% VL < 48 undetectable!
08-21-08 CD4 725 @34.5%
11-11-08 CD4 672 @39.5%
02-11-09 CD4 773 @36.8%
05-11-09 CD4 615 @36.2%
08-19-09 CD4 770 @38.5%
11-19-09 CD4 944 @33.7%
02-17-10 CD4 678 @39.9%  
06-03-10 CD4 768 @34.9%
09-21-10 CD4 685 @40.3%
01-10-11 CD4 908 @36.3%
05-23-11 CD4 846 @36.8% VL 80
02-13-12 CD4 911 @41.4% VL<20
You must be the change you want to see in the world.  Mahatma Gandhi

 


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