{"id":160,"date":"2024-11-01T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/new\/guides\/?page_id=160"},"modified":"2024-11-22T23:18:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T23:18:41","slug":"best-combination","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/starting\/best-combination","title":{"rendered":"What is the best combination?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-15911\" src=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/scratching-head.png\" alt=\"Person scratching their hea\" width=\"154\" height=\"202\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Although there are many approved HIV drugs, UK guidelines only recommend four main combinations.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are all based on a second-generation integrase inhibitor: either dolutegravir or bictegravir. All four combinations are all very effective and easy to take.<\/p>\n<p>Four alternative combinations can also be used in certain situations. These are also safe and effective if you need to use them.<\/p>\n<p>The main focus is to choose ART that will be both effective and easy to take.<\/p>\n<p>Ask your doctor about your choices. This will depend on whether you have taken HIV drugs before, or have drug resistance.<\/p>\n<p>Information about dosing, pill size and side effects will help you pick ART that is right for you.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There isn\u2019t one best combination. The one that is best for you depends on your medical history and your choice.<\/li>\n<li>All modern combinations are very good. They can all reduce your viral load to undetectable levels.<\/li>\n<li>This means choosing meds that are easy to take.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Talk to your doctor about your choice of treatment. If you have taken HIV drugs before, or have drug resistance, this will affect your choice.<\/p>\n<p>Ask about:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Dosing<\/strong> \u2013 how many pills and how many times a day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pill size<\/strong> \u2013 some pills are bigger than others.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Food<\/strong> \u2013 do they need to be taken with food?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Side effects<\/strong> \u2013 side effects might affect your choice, but this is a low risk with all ART.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For example, tell your doctor if taking meds with food will be easy or more difficult for you.<\/p>\n<p>5. If you have difficult with oral pills, some people can switch to<strong> injectable ART.<\/strong> This currently involves injections into your buttocks every two months. This combination uses cabotergravir-LA (an INSTI) and rilpivirine-LA (an NNRTI).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Get involved in choosing your treatment. If need to fit to your life, schedules and routines as much.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Being able to share with my relatives and close friends has helped me a lot. My boyfriend always asks me if I took the pills at time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve been taking HIV treatment for the last 20 years. When I started, no one would had imagined the choice we have now. I now feel truly optimistic about the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>As new drugs become available, choices will become even more individualised. A good relationship with our doctors and nurses is important: we\u2019ll probably need to see them for years!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>\u2014 Xavi, Barcelona<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although there are many approved HIV drugs, UK guidelines only recommend four main combinations. These are all based on a second-generation integrase inhibitor: either dolutegravir or bictegravir. All four combinations are all very effective and easy to take. Four alternative &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1547,"menu_order":45,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-guides.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-160","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17739,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/160\/revisions\/17739"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}