Does treatment always work?

For some people the treatments will not work as well.

• The combination may not be strong enough.
• You may already be resistant to one or more of the drugs in your combination.
• Missed or late doses can lead to resistance (even if you are only missing one dose a week).
• One or more of the drugs may not be absorbed properly. There can be big variations between people and tests can check for this.
• Side effects may be too difficult to tolerate.

Trial results never show a 100% success rate. BUT if you have a good doctor, and you follow your regimen carefully, anyone starting treatment for the first time should be able to get an undetectable viral load.

Success rates for people on their second or third therapy are usually lower than for those starting treatments for the first time.

This is often because people make the same mistakes when they start a new combination without understanding why the original one failed.

If you need new drugs in order to put together a new combination, then make sure you and your doctor knows about the latest options.