Can HIV Treatment Be Taken Just 4 Days a Week? Studies are very promising

[bluedog7000]

Here's an article

https://www.poz.com/article/can-hiv-treatment-taken-just-4-days-week#lid=d5ab18bd98.613e8705e8

I wonder if this can be done with the current medications or only the future ones. I wonder if anyone has tried that and if so with what medication?

[Jim Allen]

Hiya.

Welcome to the forum.

I know some people have, mixed results, study results seem promising though.

What medication are you taking and how are you getting on? Is four days a week something you are considering and if so have you discussed four days a week with your doctor?

There are a number of studies into four days a week and threads on them if you are looking for more information.

Caution over French study only taking ART 4 days a week
http://i-base.info/htb/36517

FOTO: https://www.poz.com/article/hiv-efavirenz-intermittent-16959-8019

Thread:
Every Other Day: https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=72189.msg

Thread: Newer HIV Regimens May Require Less Strict Adherence
https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=73003.0

Thread: Fours days a week
https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=72799.msg

[bluedog7000]

I'm on Dovato now (from Biktarvy), supposedly it does less damage but not sure all about it.

[Matths]

Hi there, based on what my doctor tells me and the existing literature I would not support an approach of experimenting with dosing despite some studies that might suggest otherwise. I am Dovato too and the reasoning behind this drug was to reduce the number of drugs in the single pill to reduce the overall exposure to medications over time and with doing that avoiding possible side effects that may come up with long-term exposure. But especially for the 2-drug combo pills the recommendation is to take them daily. I do not want to comment on other drugs but speak for Dovato only. As you can see on page 18/19, the half-life time for the 2 drugs in this combo is 14 hours for dolutegravir and 13-18 hours for lamivudine. That means that the drug concentration is reduced 50% at those time points after taking the pill. While missing a drug occasionally may not result in virological failure if it’s a single event, doing it routinely may change that risk. Therefore, it makes most sense to not allow the drug concentration in your blood fall too low regularly and reach levels that don’t control the virus. Clearly, my thinking is if I tolerate the medication well and it keeps me UD to take it regularly. And if I had side effects, I’d rather switch medications to a regime that works rather than changing (reducing) the daily intake to any other schedule and thereby increasing my risk to end up with medication-resistant HIV. Best Matt
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/211994s000lbl.pdf

[nethan1621]

Whos doing 4 days a week ?

[Giancarlo]

I have been doing 4 days a week for about 3 years now.
I'm on Atripla, it is an "old" medication but it works well for me and is available as a generic drug, so all in all my treatment costs "only" about 140€ per month to my country - and 0€ to me

In France, it is stated in the official guidelines that such a strategy (4 days a week) can be considered, but case by case.