Truvada, Reyataz and Norvir

[Blond37]

Hello,
I know you are all gonna say blah bl;ah bl;ah ask your docotr but I dont want to. I'm asking HERE. How and when do I take these meds? with food? without?  also i have adhd and forget to take my meds.

[Ihavehope]

Hey Stoopid

So u wont get discourged in posting on this website try posting a thread on Living with HIV where there are more people. Very rarely will you get a response on the treatment section even though it is the appropriate forum to post for your type of ques.

AL

[newt]

Hey hello

I am also on this combo

You take them once a day, with some food, a bit of food with some fat in, a glass of milk or snack bar will do even. 

 It's best to take them roughly the same time each day. The time of day is not iimportant though.

In tems of remembering, two tips:

1. Get a box and put a week's supply in it. You can get special boxes that divides the doses up by days, so it's easy to see if you've taken your dose or not.

2. Set a daily alarm on your phone or watch. My watch saves me forgetting many days to take them at the right time.

- matt

[Blond37]

hey matt-
thanks for your reply. nice to meet someone else on this combo!
i have adhd so even though i do the two things yo already said i still forget. when the alarm goes off in the time it akes for me to get the meds out i forgot what i'm doing. also i have a pill box for a week-with the days of the week right nxt to my cereal and still forget! 

[newt]

Oh that is a bummer

But, it's a good combo for lateness, you's prob gonna be alright as long as you take it sometime each day. For one, the two drugs in Truvada have such long half-lives an extra 8-16 hrs isn't gonna make any difference.  For two, boosted Reyataz has a therapeutic dose period of at least 28 hrs for 90-95% of people, and *considerably* longer for most. So as long as you remember sometime each day it's prob okay.

The alternative I guess is to get someone to give them to you. My ex has a wonderful new boyf (nice bloke) who puts them in his shoe each morning so he never forgets.  Lucky ex eh? Or switch to the orange bomb Sustiva (super long half life, v good if you get no side effects or if you like living on acid).

- matt

[Blond37]

hey there-thanks for the replies

[penguin]

Yes, have been on these meds, & yes, they are fairly easy side effect wise etc.

My brother has adhd, along with other stuff, and had a lot of problems with adherence to (adhd) meds. His top tips:

- make sure all drs/nurses you see are aware of this issue, and keep in regular contact - including monitoring prescription refills etc

- having clear, easy to understand info about the meds, how they work, why it is important to take them regularly

- reminder posters/signs in easily visible places - ie refrigerator door, front door, wardrobe, car dashboard

- spare doses of meds, in car, at friend's house etc

- pop up reminders on computer -  he has a very cool little animated thing which appears with a reminder every time he turns on the pc

- daily phone calls or texts from friends/dutiful sibling  - he tried the cell phone alarm, but couldn’t always remember what it was supposed to remind him of

As matt says, this combo is quite forgiving with timing, so as long as you can get it in sometime during each day, you should be ok…

kate

[Coffeechick88]

I am also on that combo.  Just take it with a bit of food.  You don't have to eat a gourmet 7 course meal--just a little bit is fine.  One thing about forgetting.  I don't have ADHD and I have one of those pill containers and I STILL forget!!!  I have no excuse.  Anyway, one thing I do is put the pills by my toothbrush.  I brush every morning and I would bet you brush your teeth as well.  The sink is right there, so I can just pop those pills into my mouth with water.  I usually make myself have at least a yogurt in the morning, so my food issue is solved as well.  That has worked for me.  I have been horrible always about taking pills.  Of course, now that I work third shift on the weekends, it is much more challenging then, but I somehow manage.

[Robert]

Like Newt and the others say, it's a forgiving combo and it's an easy one. I'm on the same one and take it in the morning also, before breakfast.  I keep my pillbox next to the toaster on the kitchen counter.  When I first started I forgot all the time.  My brother would call me up and ask me if I had taken my pills.  I could never remember so then he would tell me to go look at the pill box and if there were pills in it for today's allotment, then obviously I had forgotton.  So you see, I had to get him to remind me just to look in the pill box.  Eventually, it worked itself out.

good luck...robert

[egello]

when is the best time of the day to take this combo in terms of being able to manage the sideeffects

[newt]

Personally (for this is mine), not to late in the day.  I find the tenofovir (I am guessing, but it's likely) in Truvada keeps me awake at night. - matt

[egello]

i have to start taking the medication, but i am sooo nervous about it,,,, i was suppose to start yesterday, but I am trying to delay it as much as I can.

[bravebuddharich]

All I want to add is that this combo has worked wonders for me! I went from a cd4 count of 53 a year ago, to 430 a few weeks ago; and 30,000+ viral load, to undetectable.

I keep my two pills, reyataz and norvir in one of those small pill containers with the days of the week on it; the Norvir is in my refrigerator. I've only missed a few times here and there - especially if I'm not at home in the morning, since spending the night is always unexpected!

I find this the easiest of all the regimens I've tried, and the most effective, too. Good luck with it!!

[alberche]

Hiya egello and StoopidNYC!!!

I am also in this combo, I find it easy to take and have had no remarcable side effects at the moment, 6 months after being started on it. Well... just one remarcable... I am afraid I could not match Kyoto Protocol for clean athmosphere... a little bit more of gaz than normal... but this could be even funny sometimes.

No body changes, normal blood tests, no abnormal sleeping, no tyredness, no yellowing...

I take it at night, with dinner, 2 hours before going to bed. If I am out, working, traveling or simply going out with friends, I take it with a snack, an ice cream, a fruit salad or something light and easy to eat.

I always put my pill cage beside my mobile phone, my agenda or my shoes in order I don't forget to take it with me when going out.

A thing that is also useful for me to control if I missed a day or have taken incorrectly my pills is to keep Atazanavir aluminium blisters inside the box. I mean, I break the compartiment and take the pills, but when 3 days have passed and one blister (containing 6 pills, 2 per day) is over, I still keep it inside the box. So I can make an account of pills taken. This have helped me when I'm simply not sure or I forget if I actually took or not the pills in one particular day. Fortunately, until now, I've been doing it well.

As per regards of the hour, I try not to move more than a quarter of hour before or after my theorethical pill time. For me this is 21:15 hrs, so I try always to take them between 21:00 and 21:30 hours.

I choosed this time because it was the most comfortable for me. During the day I work a lot, and have to pay attention to many issues at the same time, so this is very easy I forget or pass my pill time due to I am too concentrated working.

When I come back home, I chill out and relax. So I associate my pills with the moment of being at home, taking a good home-made dinner (a pizza also is good sometimes)  and watching a good movie or listening to music or just simply checking out my agenda for the next day. In addition, being at home, you avoid to explain each time to everyone why you take pills...

Hughs!!!