Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 19, 2024, 01:48:31 am

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772784
  • Total Topics: 66296
  • Online Today: 267
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 215
Total: 216

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: Missing doses (Atripla)  (Read 17090 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline IAmHappy

  • Member
  • Posts: 13
Missing doses (Atripla)
« on: September 07, 2010, 09:29:05 am »
Hey guys, this is my 2nd thread here. I'm 21 and was diagnosed with full blown AIDS and ulcerative colitis (6 months before that) http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=33914

I started taking Atripla about 25 days ago and so far I haven't missed a single dose. I had some weird dreams and nausea when I first started taking it but now I'm fine.

I don't really intend on missing any of my doses but I think it's bound to happen at least once every few years or so? My question is: How bad is it to miss ONE dose? How many doses can you miss in a certain time interval and still be safe? Let's say I miss a dose every 2 years, would that be a bad thing? Also, I haven't been taking my pill exactly on time (30 mins time interval) but usually within 10 minutes of the previous day. I usually take my pill on 12:30 am every night, but sometimes I end up taking it on 12:45 am or 12:15. Is continually changing the time of taking the pill a bad thing?

Thanks

Offline IAmHappy

  • Member
  • Posts: 13
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2010, 09:30:32 am »
Sorry, I posted this in the wrong section of the forum.

Offline Nestor

  • Member
  • Posts: 430
  • What we love, we shall grow to resemble.
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2010, 09:42:56 am »
I don't really intend on missing any of my doses but I think it's bound to happen at least once every few years or so? My question is: How bad is it to miss ONE dose? How many doses can you miss in a certain time interval and still be safe? Let's say I miss a dose every 2 years, would that be a bad thing?
Thanks

Hi! 

Judging from this thread: http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=34109.0, there seems to be a number of people who miss doses more often than once every few years, and they do not appear to have suffered as a result.  However, I personally would be cautious, especially in the beginning. 
Summer 2004--became HIV+
Dec. 2005--found out

Date          CD4    %       VL
Jan. '06    725    25      9,097
Nov. '06    671    34     52,202
Apr. '07    553    30      24,270
Sept. '07  685    27       4,849
Jan. '08    825    29       4,749
Mar. '08    751    30     16,026
Aug. '08    653    30       3,108
Oct. '08     819    28     10,046
Jan '09      547    31     13,000
May '09     645   25        6,478
Aug. '09    688   30      19,571
Nov. '09     641    27       9,598
Feb. '10     638    27       4,480
May '10      687      9    799,000 (CMV)
July '10      600     21      31,000
Nov '10      682     24     15,000
June '11     563    23     210,000 (blasto)
July  '11      530    22      39,000
Aug '11      677     22      21,000
Sept. '12    747     15      14,000

Offline Miss Philicia

  • Member
  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2010, 10:17:31 am »
Hi!  

Judging from this thread: http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=34109.0, there seems to be a number of people who miss doses more often than once every few years, and they do not appear to have suffered as a result.  However, I personally would be cautious, especially in the beginning.  

Except the OP of that thread has had such miserable adherence issues that he has indeed suffered as a result. Great example, Nestor.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 05:47:26 pm by Miss Philicia »
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline leatherman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 8,583
  • Google and HIV meds are Your Friends
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2010, 10:26:00 am »
taking your meds within an hour or so of the "regular" time is fine. You need to have >95% adherence (although 99-100% is what you really should be aiming for) so missing a dose every 2 yrs won't be the end of it all LOL

However all that is dependent upon you first becoming undetectable and staying undetectable for a period of time (say 6 mos to a yr). This early in the game, still carrying a viral load, you need to NEVER miss a dose and take your dose as close to your regular time as possible. You're still in the stage of fighting the HIV and can't afford any slip ups at this point.

Best wishes.
leatherman (aka Michael)

We were standing all alone
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
- Darren Hayes, "Chained to You"

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2010, 10:29:04 am »

Judging from this thread: http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=34109.0, there seems to be a number of people who miss doses more often than once every few years, and they do not appear to have suffered as a result.  

Seriously? You really need to know more about a poster's history before you go making statements like that. As Miss P says, the OP certainly has had many problems due to non-adherence, and don't be surprised when he comes along to tell you just that in no uncertain terms using some very plain language. ~shakes head~
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Inchlingblue

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,117
  • Chad Ochocinco PETA Ad
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2010, 11:12:36 am »
Once you have been undetectable for a while, if you were to miss one dose it likely would not be a big deal.  With Atripla, there was a study done called FOTO (you can Google it or do a search here in the forums for more info), it basically looked at taking it "Five Days On, Two Days Off."  For the most part it worked for the people in the study (these were people who had been undetectable for a while).

Remember that resistance has to do with having the right level of meds in your body to fight the virus and with most of the latest ARV meds they do stay in your system for a bit (albeit with different half lives, so some last longer than others).

Taking it a few hours before or after won't make a difference.

The above is not meant as an endorsement of being careless, I just find that when one is less stressed about exact timing and not missing doses it actually helps in having better adherence.

Offline Nestor

  • Member
  • Posts: 430
  • What we love, we shall grow to resemble.
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2010, 11:26:26 am »

Well first, thanks for the information. 

I'm not saying "go ahead and miss doses, it's no problem".  I have no intention of missing any doses at all when I take meds myself, although I do worry that I might do so unintentionally out of absent-mindedness. 

The OP (of this thread) asked whether missing a dose once every two years would be a bad thing.  Since there are three people in that other thread, (not just the OP, and in fact the OP is not the one I was thinking of) who miss doses more often than that and gave the appearance, at least in that thread, of being ok, I surmised that missing a dose once every two years would not be fatal.  Please remember that I was only addressing that question--how bad it would be to miss a dose every two years.  I had no intention of weighing in on a debate about whether it was okay to miss a dose every week or twice a week, etc.  As someone who doesn't even take meds yet, that would be outside my range. 

Miss P mentions miserable adherence and suffering as a result.  I don't think there is anyone here who questions whether "miserable adherance" would result in bad news.  I also didn't get the impression from that other thread that "miserable adherence" is what was being discussed there.  It certainly isn't what IAmHappy is asking about here: 

Quote
I don't really intend on missing any of my doses but I think it's bound to happen at least once every few years or so? My question is: How bad is it to miss ONE dose? How many doses can you miss in a certain time interval and still be safe? Let's say I miss a dose every 2 years, would that be a bad thing?

If I had had the impression that IAmHappy was saying "I'm thinking of adopting a cavalier attitude towards adherence, and missing doses left and right, and laughing about it", I would never have responded by pointing out that other thread.  To suggest a message of "Sure, don't worry, be devil-may-care and nothing will go wrong" to such a person would deeply wicked.  But to IAmHappy, I was just trying to say "probably missing a dose once every two years would not be fatal." 

I am sorry, however, that I pointed to the "eat me" thread for two reasons.  First, because it apparently created an impression which I was not trying to create, and secondly because it perhaps involves calling more attention to things people said in that thread than they themselves, perhaps, wanted to have called to them.  It may be also that things said in that thread were said for humourous purposes which I wrongly took seriously. 

I ended my previous post by saying "I personally would be cautious" etc.  just in case someone read it as advising carelessness, but perhaps that wasn't enough. 

The only reason I responded in this thread at all is that I share IamHappy's concern.  I do not take any meds or supplements now, but from time to time I have taken things like multivitamins, and it often happens that while making breakfast I'll open a bottle and, five minutes later, I'll be standing there looking at an open bottle and a glass of water and think "did I just take the vitamin, or did I just open the bottle in preparation to taking it?" and be absolutely unable to answer the question.  Then there were days when I was very preoccupied in the morning and I would leave the house and be on the subway and think "Damn, I forgot to take the vitamin."  No big deal when we're talking about a mulitvitamin, but on these occasions I would think "How the hell am I ever going to manage taking ARVs on schedule if I cannot even do that with a vitamin?"  And at those moments, thinking of how absent-minded I can be, and how chaotic my life sometimes is, I've been truly afraid that once I start HAART I will be one of those who forgets doses too often.  The only response that is able to calm that fear is what I call the "gravity" theory.  Avoiding AIDS is a thing of such importance that the very seriousness of adherence will impress itself upon me when the time comes.  The reason I'm careless or forgetful with a multivitamin is that I know that a multivitamin isn't all that important.  I know that HAART is important and when the time comes for me to take it, my mind will respond accordingly.  That's my hope, at least. 

But even if that hope comes true, is it possible that I will never miss a dose?  Brushing my teeth is about as close as it gets to being something I do without fail, yet surely there are nights when I am just dead tired or have had a drink too many and just sink into bed without brushing my teeth.  Is it plausible that there will never be a night when I do the same with medicine?  And if one such night comes, am I doomed? 

So I imagined that IamHappy's question came out of some such concerns.  I have indeed been given the impression, from statements such as some made in the "eat me" thread, that missing the occasional dose (a very different thing from "having miserable adherence issues") is not fatal, and that has gone some way towards calming my own fears about by own possible future adherence issues. 
I wanted to share that impression, that is all. 
Summer 2004--became HIV+
Dec. 2005--found out

Date          CD4    %       VL
Jan. '06    725    25      9,097
Nov. '06    671    34     52,202
Apr. '07    553    30      24,270
Sept. '07  685    27       4,849
Jan. '08    825    29       4,749
Mar. '08    751    30     16,026
Aug. '08    653    30       3,108
Oct. '08     819    28     10,046
Jan '09      547    31     13,000
May '09     645   25        6,478
Aug. '09    688   30      19,571
Nov. '09     641    27       9,598
Feb. '10     638    27       4,480
May '10      687      9    799,000 (CMV)
July '10      600     21      31,000
Nov '10      682     24     15,000
June '11     563    23     210,000 (blasto)
July  '11      530    22      39,000
Aug '11      677     22      21,000
Sept. '12    747     15      14,000

Offline Nestor

  • Member
  • Posts: 430
  • What we love, we shall grow to resemble.
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2010, 11:29:37 am »
Once you have been undetectable for a while, if you were to miss one dose it likely would not be a big deal.  With Atripla, there was a study done called FOTO (you can Google it or do a search here in the forums for more info), it basically looked at taking it "Five Days On, Two Days Off."  For the most part it worked for the people in the study (these were people who had been undetectable for a while).

Remember that resistance has to do with having the right level of meds in your body to fight the virus and with most of the latest ARV meds they do stay in your system for a bit (albeit with different half lives, so some last longer than others).

Taking it a few hours before or after won't make a difference.

The above is not meant as an endorsement of being careless, I just find that when one is less stressed about exact timing and not missing doses it actually helps in having better adherence.

This is basically all I was trying to say myself.  Pointing to the FOTO study was a much wiser way of saying it than pointing to the "eat me" thread was! 
Summer 2004--became HIV+
Dec. 2005--found out

Date          CD4    %       VL
Jan. '06    725    25      9,097
Nov. '06    671    34     52,202
Apr. '07    553    30      24,270
Sept. '07  685    27       4,849
Jan. '08    825    29       4,749
Mar. '08    751    30     16,026
Aug. '08    653    30       3,108
Oct. '08     819    28     10,046
Jan '09      547    31     13,000
May '09     645   25        6,478
Aug. '09    688   30      19,571
Nov. '09     641    27       9,598
Feb. '10     638    27       4,480
May '10      687      9    799,000 (CMV)
July '10      600     21      31,000
Nov '10      682     24     15,000
June '11     563    23     210,000 (blasto)
July  '11      530    22      39,000
Aug '11      677     22      21,000
Sept. '12    747     15      14,000

Offline Miss Philicia

  • Member
  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2010, 11:50:31 am »
My doctor has always been upfront with me that the adherence goal is 95%, not 100%, and this advice predates the FOTO study, which while I find interesting I would never attempt to replicate personally out of an inherent conservative stance toward the issue. 

Most doctors however probably err on the side of caution and emphasize near 100% adherence, and that certainly is the case for treatment naive patients.  At any rate, the topic is a slippery slope for many patients.  Once they feel a comfort zone with missing a dose a week, it can spiral to more missed doses, and most patients won't openly admit this to their doctor.  Add to that the prevalence of alcohol and recreational drug use in certain sectors of the HIV community and you can also understand the conservative stance of most doctors.  Studies have also linked the higher depression rates with HIV patients to adherence issues.

It's not a simple topic for many patients.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2010, 12:34:32 pm »
personally out of an inherent conservative stance toward the issue. 

You heard it here first folks she's a conservative.  I'll be distributing the money to the winners of the pool in PM.

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2010, 12:39:02 pm »

You heard it here first folks she's a conservative.  I'll be distributing the money to the winners of the pool in PM.

I'm doing a PM pool on who's gonna get a spanking in ten... nine... eight... seven............
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2010, 12:41:36 pm »
I'm doing a PM pool on who's gonna get a spanking in ten... nine... eight... seven............

Lower harder and use a paddle :)

Offline Jeffreyj

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,403
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2010, 01:12:35 pm »
OK. Let me speak on behalf of your concern, and my experience.

In my 25 years of being poz, i can't recall a three month period that I was 100%. On average, I would say I have missed at least 5 doses a month. I try to keep it as low as I can. But I can't believe missing one dose is anything to worry about. Hey I'm not saying its OK to miss doses. It's just inevitable.

My viral load has been undetectable for the past two years, my t-4 cells are over 1,000 for the first time.

Stress is more detrimental to your health, so don't worry about it.
Positive since 1985

Offline mecch

  • Member
  • Posts: 13,455
  • red pill? or blue pill?
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2010, 01:12:58 pm »
Also, I haven't been taking my pill exactly on time (30 mins time interval) but usually within 10 minutes of the previous day. I usually take my pill on 12:30 am every night, but sometimes I end up taking it on 12:45 am or 12:15. Is continually changing the time of taking the pill a bad thing?

Taking on time is important and you seem to be doing it exactly!  Bravo. DOn't go overboard with stress about the timing to the minute, however.

I can only report my own experience with the advice of my specialist.  After I had been undetectable, he told me I could vary the dose by hours - just as long as I got it in me each day.  Don't want to start a controversy about timing in this thread.  Just reporting that my doctor said if I was taking my dose before bed, it didnt matter if it was 11pm one day and 3 am the next.  Again, this was after I had been on it for awhile.   So maybe look forward to that eventually in your treatment, too.

“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

Offline metekrop

  • Member
  • Posts: 428
  • Is time running fast for you.
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2010, 03:22:55 pm »
I feel meds adherence is paramount important.  But once for a while, I don't think it would be a problem.  Like you, I was in full blown Aids.  I was prescribed Atripla and started to take it.  Suffered from a lot of side effects and its cost became a concern for me. I stopped it for about a month time.  But I came to know that I don’t have any other alternative.  Then I started again and I think I am taking it consistently since then and my results were very good as you can see it from my signature.
Diag.on 12/8, 2000, CD 440 VL 44K, No Meds
12/08 - 2/09 CD< 50 & VL >500k hosp'z.
St. Atripla - 7/09 CD 179, VL 197k
10/09 CD 300 VL U
3/10 468 U
8/10 460 U
12/10 492 U
3/11 636 U
8/11 530 U
1/12  616 U
7/12 640 U
12/12 669 U
5/13 711 U
11/13 663 U
4/14  797 U
10/14 810 U
4/15 671 U
10/15 694 U
3/16 768 U
8/16 459 U
2/22 780 U
8/31 940 U
2/26 809 U
8/18 882 U
3/28 718 U
8/15 778 U
2/25 920 70
8/11 793 U
2/22 690 U
6/8 834 U

Offline IAmHappy

  • Member
  • Posts: 13
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2010, 03:31:02 pm »
Thanks for sharing your experience guys.

And Nestor, don't worry I didn't misunderstand your post. I would be foolish to go against my doctor's advice just because I read something on the internet about it anyway.

The reason I made this thread is because I had a dream last night that I missed my Atripla dose, and I woke up actually panicking. I guess I'd feel really guilty if I missed one dose this early in the treatment process...that's good I guess.

Offline MYSTERY

  • Member
  • Posts: 186
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #17 on: September 07, 2010, 03:50:31 pm »
IAmHappy,

If I were you I would not set myself up for anything other then 100 percent adherence to your medication. There are factors involved why some people have to miss medication due to insurance issues or not being able to tolerate the medication, but from what I understand you have been able to tolerate the Atripla.

I started with Atripla and was on it for 5 years and in those 5 years I had never missed one dose. I always remembered to take my friend with me when ever I went out. Atripla was my best friend and I knew she was jealous and would punish me if I didn't give her the proper attention everyday. We went to sporting events together and concerts, and when the time came, I gave the Atripla the attention she deserved. I remember at a concert everyone was lighting their cigarette lighters for the band to come out and do an on core, and my watch timer went off and I was taking my Atripla.

I had to break up with her because of CNS side affects, and now I am dating 2 women by the name of Isentress and Truvada and they demand more attention, and I have never missed there call.

In short take your pill.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 03:53:49 pm by MYSTERY »
Atheist don't believe in GOD, but GOD believes in them and loves them. Never let the failure of man conflict with your love of GOD.

Offline newt

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,900
  • the one and original newt
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #18 on: September 07, 2010, 04:30:05 pm »
Quote
If I were you I would not set myself up for anything other then 100 percent adherence

True, but if you mssi the odd dose, even 1 a month, your doc, you and your immune system will be happy.

 -matt
"The object is to be a well patient, not a good patient"

Offline Matty the Damned

  • Member
  • Posts: 12,277
  • Antipodean in every sense of the word
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #19 on: September 07, 2010, 05:39:06 pm »
Nestor,

As others have noted I am certainly not to be considered an exemplar when it comes to issues of medication compliance. If you spent more time reading the things you link to (as opposed to penning interminable screeds of gibberish parading as wisdom) you'd know this.

Be sure that whenever you attempt to advise newly diagnosed folk in the future this thread will be trotted out so your opinions might be given the weight they deserve.

MtD

Offline Nestor

  • Member
  • Posts: 430
  • What we love, we shall grow to resemble.
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #20 on: September 07, 2010, 08:09:37 pm »
Nestor,

As others have noted I am certainly not to be considered an exemplar when it comes to issues of medication compliance. If you spent more time reading the things you link to (as opposed to penning interminable screeds of gibberish parading as wisdom) you'd know this.

Be sure that whenever you attempt to advise newly diagnosed folk in the future this thread will be trotted out so your opinions might be given the weight they deserve.

MtD

This is richly comic.  The thing to which I linked above was your own thread entitled "Eat me, bitches."  If I had spent more time reading that, what would the result have been?  Your contribution to the adherence question in that thread consisted of such statements as: 

Quote
I keep forgetting to take the morning dose, but with numbers like these who gives a shit?

Quote
Adherence is for losers and those who require a toupee.

That may all have been a joke, but did it occur to you, when you wrote that, that your words were surely being read by many people who may not have known you were joking, who did not know your full medical history, and whose evolving opinions might be influenced by the picture you painted there?  It was a frankly triumphant thread, you sounded on top of the world, and you gave the impression that non-adherence was something you laughed in the face of. 

I now learn that you have suffered in the past as a result of poor adherence.  If that is true, I am quite surprised that you would discuss non-adherence in the tone in which you describe it in that thread. 

Again, it was not even you that I had in mind when I linked to that thread.  There are two other persons in that thread who mentioned occasionally missing doses, and it was one of them, not you, to whom I wished to point.  I certainly never intended to point to you as an exemplar.

As for trotting out this thread, be my guest.  I explained myself fully above and have nothing to regret, except perhaps having paid undue attention to a thread started by you--a mistake I shall certainly not make in future. 

Seriously? You really need to know more about a poster's history before you go making statements like that. As Miss P says, the OP certainly has had many problems due to non-adherence, and don't be surprised when he comes along to tell you just that in no uncertain terms using some very plain language. ~shakes head~

Ann, after re-reading the "eat me, bitches" thread to which I linked above, it seems to me quite clear that the effect of various statements made by the OP in that thread was to portray imperfect adherence as a joke.  It may well be that I am tone-deaf and that those statements were purely sarcastic.  But if I read them wrong, surely some others may have done so too.  As I have said, I had no intention of encouraging non-adherence in the OP of this thread or anyone.  But the impression which I am accused of carrying is the one that could be reasonably expected to be planted in my mind, and in the minds of others, by his words in that thread.  If he created the impression, why am I being blamed for carrying it, and not he? 

Furthermore, you write: "the OP certainly has had many problems due to non-adherence, and don't be surprised when he comes along to tell you just that in no uncertain terms using some very plain language."  I do not understand this.  If he did not give us the information there (something he might have done, while he was making non-adherence sound like a grand old time) how is it reasonable for him to come in here and blame me for not knowing it? 

In fact, what he says is false: "If you spent more time reading the things you link to (as opposed to penning interminable screeds of gibberish parading as wisdom) you'd know this."  No, I would not.  I could have spent twenty hours reading the thread entitled "eat me, bitches" (charming name) and I would never have known it, for nowhere there does he allude to the fact. 

Finally, as for the bit about my "penning interminable screeds of gibberish parading as wisdom", I would like to point out that I have never spoken in that way to Matty or to any other forum member. 

Thanks for sharing your experience guys.

And Nestor, don't worry I didn't misunderstand your post. I would be foolish to go against my doctor's advice just because I read something on the internet about it anyway.

The reason I made this thread is because I had a dream last night that I missed my Atripla dose, and I woke up actually panicking. I guess I'd feel really guilty if I missed one dose this early in the treatment process...that's good I guess.

Hi IAmHappy,

I am sorry that all of this has come out in your thread.  Thank you for the kind words.  And yes, that you take adherence seriously is certainly a good thing. 
Summer 2004--became HIV+
Dec. 2005--found out

Date          CD4    %       VL
Jan. '06    725    25      9,097
Nov. '06    671    34     52,202
Apr. '07    553    30      24,270
Sept. '07  685    27       4,849
Jan. '08    825    29       4,749
Mar. '08    751    30     16,026
Aug. '08    653    30       3,108
Oct. '08     819    28     10,046
Jan '09      547    31     13,000
May '09     645   25        6,478
Aug. '09    688   30      19,571
Nov. '09     641    27       9,598
Feb. '10     638    27       4,480
May '10      687      9    799,000 (CMV)
July '10      600     21      31,000
Nov '10      682     24     15,000
June '11     563    23     210,000 (blasto)
July  '11      530    22      39,000
Aug '11      677     22      21,000
Sept. '12    747     15      14,000

Offline Matty the Damned

  • Member
  • Posts: 12,277
  • Antipodean in every sense of the word
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #21 on: September 07, 2010, 08:20:44 pm »
This is richly comic.  The thing to which I linked above was your own thread entitled "Eat me, bitches."  If I had spent more time reading that, what would the result have been?  Your contribution to the adherence question in that thread consisted of such statements as: 

That may all have been a joke, but did it occur to you, when you wrote that, that your words were surely being read by many people who may not have known you were joking, who did not know your full medical history, and whose evolving opinions might be influenced by the picture you painted there?  It was a frankly triumphant thread, you sounded on top of the world, and you gave the impression that non-adherence was something you laughed in the face of. 

I now learn that you have suffered in the past as a result of poor adherence.  If that is true, I am quite surprised that you would discuss non-adherence in the tone in which you describe it in that thread. 

Again, it was not even you that I had in mind when I linked to that thread.  There are two other persons in that thread who mentioned occasionally missing doses, and it was one of them, not you, to whom I wished to point.  I certainly never intended to point to you as an exemplar.

As for trotting out this thread, be my guest.  I explained myself fully above and have nothing to regret, except perhaps having paid undue attention to a thread started by you--a mistake I shall certainly not make in future. 

Ann, after re-reading the "eat me, bitches" thread to which I linked above, it seems to me quite clear that the effect of various statements made by the OP in that thread was to portray imperfect adherence as a joke.  It may well be that I am tone-deaf and that those statements were purely sarcastic.  But if I read them wrong, surely some others may have done so too.  As I have said, I had no intention of encouraging non-adherence in the OP of this thread or anyone.  But the impression which I am accused of carrying is the one that could be reasonably expected to be planted in my mind, and in the minds of others, by his words in that thread.  If he created the impression, why am I being blamed for carrying it, and not he? 

Furthermore, you write: "the OP certainly has had many problems due to non-adherence, and don't be surprised when he comes along to tell you just that in no uncertain terms using some very plain language."  I do not understand this.  If he did not give us the information there (something he might have done, while he was making non-adherence sound like a grand old time) how is it reasonable for him to come in here and blame me for not knowing it? 

In fact, what he says is false: "If you spent more time reading the things you link to (as opposed to penning interminable screeds of gibberish parading as wisdom) you'd know this."  No, I would not.  I could have spent twenty hours reading the thread entitled "eat me, bitches" (charming name) and I would never have known it, for nowhere there does he allude to the fact. 

Finally, as for the bit about my "penning interminable screeds of gibberish parading as wisdom", I would like to point out that I have never spoken in that way to Matty or to any other forum member. 

Hi IAmHappy,

I am sorry that all of this has come out in your thread.  Thank you for the kind words.  And yes, that you take adherence seriously is certainly a good thing. 


MtD

Offline Miss Philicia

  • Member
  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #22 on: September 07, 2010, 08:23:57 pm »
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #23 on: September 08, 2010, 02:00:11 am »


This is so sweet...Is that little matty in his first halloween costume?

Offline Matty the Damned

  • Member
  • Posts: 12,277
  • Antipodean in every sense of the word
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #24 on: September 08, 2010, 02:01:24 am »
This is so sweet...Is that little matty in his first halloween costume?

We don't do that halloween bullshit down here.

MtD

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #25 on: September 08, 2010, 02:02:35 am »
We don't do that halloween bullshit down here.

MtD

I was talking about the real Matty, Will's cat.

Offline Matty the Damned

  • Member
  • Posts: 12,277
  • Antipodean in every sense of the word
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #26 on: September 08, 2010, 02:05:18 am »
I was talking about the real Matty, Will's cat.

Sure you were.  ::)

MtD

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #27 on: September 08, 2010, 02:06:26 am »
Sure you were.  ::)

MtD

It's a freaking cat in a costume.  I'm not sure how much more obvious it has to be.  Also, you're not the center of the universe, I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you.

Offline Miss Philicia

  • Member
  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #28 on: September 08, 2010, 02:12:09 am »
Also, you're not the center of the universe, I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you.

"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline Matty the Damned

  • Member
  • Posts: 12,277
  • Antipodean in every sense of the word
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #29 on: September 08, 2010, 02:14:03 am »
It's a freaking cat in a costume.  I'm not sure how much more obvious it has to be.  Also, you're not the center of the universe, I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you.

You can be such a soft target. It's almost too much fun. ;D

The damp heat of the Big Easy starting to get to you, Hecky? :)

MtD

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #30 on: September 08, 2010, 10:28:10 am »
You can be such a soft target. It's almost too much fun. ;D

The damp heat of the Big Easy starting to get to you, Hecky? :)

MtD

You and I operate on different wavelengths and  an actual conversation between us without irony, sarcasm, mockery, or just plain bitchiness is almost impossible.  In fairness it was like 1am when I posted that.

Offline Matty the Damned

  • Member
  • Posts: 12,277
  • Antipodean in every sense of the word
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #31 on: September 08, 2010, 03:33:31 pm »
You and I operate on different wavelengths and  an actual conversation between us without irony, sarcasm, mockery, or just plain bitchiness is almost impossible.  In fairness it was like 1am when I posted that.

When you start employing irony, let me know.

MtD

Offline Hellraiser

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,155
  • Semi-misanthropic
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #32 on: September 08, 2010, 10:05:14 pm »
When you start employing irony, let me know.

MtD

I will let you know.  The very next time I do it!

Offline foreveryoung79

  • Member
  • Posts: 7
Re: Missing doses (Atripla)
« Reply #33 on: September 09, 2010, 04:29:34 pm »
ok so im a newby on here and to the world of HIV but i wanted to share. i was diagnosed in april or may (cant remember), either way i started taking atripla about 3 months ago because my cd4 count was 205 and my viral load was 90,000. i take my meds before i go to bed which is somewhere between 12:30 am and 3 am (im never a stickler for the timing just so i do it once a day) -this may be ignorant but i was never told it could be bad to do- sometimes i even ate food right around taking the pill (iv since found that the food can make it go right through your system). the first day i felt pin pricks on my chest arms and legs but decided it would probably go away. it did. i probably missed 3-4 doses during my first 3 months and was unsure how my new labs would come out. after being on the meds for the last 3 months my cd4 count went from 205 to 436 and my viral load went from 90,000 to 444. i never did miss more than 1 dose in a row, and if i woke the next day and realized i forgot the pill i would take it then (unless it was like only 4 or 5 hours till i was suppose to take the next one)
i hope this helps anyone it can but in all my inexperience i would say its not like deodorant or brushing your teeth continued forgetfulness could make your body immune to it. and then its just a really crapy way to spend money.

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.