Does treatment always work?
HIV meds work for nearly everyone. If you are unlucky not to get a response if could be due to one of the following reasons.
- Adherence: This means checking you are taking the right dose at the right time each day, and following any food recommendations.
- Potency: Is the combination strong enough. With a high viral load (over 100,000) some combinations are not recommended. Also, the higher you start, the longer it may take to come down.
- Resistance: You may have been resistant to one or more of the drugs before you started. UK guidelines recommend a resistance test before starting treatment to check for this.
- Absorption: 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: You have to be able to tolerate your meds and they have to be easy for you to take.
Trial results never show a 100% response. 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.