Anyone else on Trizivir & nothing else?

[Boo Radley]

In October, 2004 I began a clinical trial in which subjects received either Trizivir alone or Trizivir and some PI I forget.   I fell into the former category and Trizivir has been the only HIV med I take since then  (Trizivir is composed of 3 NRTIs, in case you don't know:  AZT, 3TC, and Abacavir Sulfate).  My CD4 has never gone above ~350 since 2004 but vl has remained undetectable.  I am a wee bit late for blood work (was supposed to be done in September, 2009 but I'm too lazy) & my CD4 in August was 150 but fuck it.  It was a blip.   

Since most guidelines suggest use of 2 different classes of drugs upon HAART initiation and I'm not in compliance I wonder is anyone else is using Triz (or only 1 class) in his/her regimen? 

OK, I'm gonna relax and watch a few Gerard Butler flicks before retiring (Current faves:  The Ugly Truth and Law Abiding Citizen).  I'm sure numerous responses will be waiting for me when I next log in.  I can always feel the love...

Thanks!

[Hellraiser]

I see Trizivir on the list of possible meds at my doctor's office, but AZT and Abacavir both scream no to me.  Are you out of other options?

[Boo Radley]

I see Trizivir on the list of possible meds at my doctor's office, but AZT and Abacavir both scream no to me.  Are you out of other options?

In 2004 I'd just qualified for Medicare & didn't have prescription coverage yet.  I hadn't begun HAART and the first appointment with my new doctor (my previous doctor wasn't on the provider list of my Medicare HMO) was spent talking to his nurse about the clinical trials I was eligible for.  I think that was about the only one open at the moment.   (Since Katrina hit two weeks before the trials ended my participation didn't count anyway)

My doctor always says "If it ain't broke" so I've stayed on the regimen.  He sort of dismisses concerns that if I develop resistance to Triz my future options might be limited and, frankly, I don't give much of a damn any more after all these years.   I'm only asking because I wonder how common my situation is, which I realize isn't necessarily reflected by AIDSmeds demographics... or something. 

[leatherman]

Are you out of other options?

no, he said he had been in a clinical trial.

And bravo to you Boo. My first partner was in a clinical trial of something or other way back in 93; but he must not have been getting the real thing since he only worsened and eventually was let out of the trial for being too sick to give any meaningful results. (getting into the placebo arm of the trial isn't so great). Doing all that AZT every day was enough experimenting for me and my health. LOL So is this trial over then? I tell you when I was taking 28 pills a day (I can't even remember what they all were cause of the hiv brain fog. LOL) I would have loved to have only been doing 1 pill a day. 

How low were your cd4s when you began treatment or if/when you had an OI? That could explain why your cd4 count hasn't gotten too high (though it's nearly 100 points higher than mine and I've been on 15 different meds over 20 yrs). and yeah, don't sweat the blip.

[Hellraiser]

no, he said he had been in a clinical trial.

That doesn't really mean anything, post trial he could change his regimen off of Trizivir if he so chose (as long as his virus wasn't resistant to those other options).  The trial's been over for...5 years now I think he said?

[gemini20]

Since most guidelines suggest use of 2 different classes of drugs upon HAART initiation and I'm not in compliance I wonder is anyone else is using Triz (or only 1 class) in his/her regimen? 

Hi Boo,

I've been taking a boosted PI only regime since I returned to meds back in 2007. Although it should be noted that I had been on triple combinations before so my single class regime now was not my first.

Initially I was on Prezista (Darunavir) boosted with Norvir (Ritonavir) but switched after 8 months to Reyataz boosted with Norvir as I was concerned about fat gain around my stomach area. A year later I developed kidney stones and the Reyataz was considered a possible reason so I switched back to the boosted Prezista only.

Between 2007-2009 on my boosted PI only regime my t-cells went from 112 to 711 (13 to 33%). Then I did my usual arrogant 'I know what's best for me' attitude and decided to take another treatment break! This time it didn't work - t-cells plummeted to 159 (16%) within a month.

So I restarted back on boosted Prezista in September last year and t-cells in December were back to 391 (27.5%). I'm waiting on latest results tomorrow.

I do still have some concerns about the fat gain but for the time being I'm sticking to this regime and my doctor hasn't suggested changing it so I guess he's happy too.

Emma