Question

I have been off treatment and want to start again. Is that OK?

31 August 2016. Related: Adherence, All topics, Changing treatment, Starting treatment.

I’ve been on treatment and had been working although the past 9 months I haven’t been taking the meds that regularly. I found life was hard. I’m thinking about starting again, is that possible?

Answer

Answer: Muirgen Stack

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch.

It’s great that you want to start treatment again. Everyone is different and finds the routine of taking meds affects their life in different ways. Starting on treatment again will improve your health and reduce risk of passing HIV onto any partners.

May I ask if you have any support? It sounds like you have been going through a rough patch and you can get help to work through any problems you have. This will also make adhering to your meds in the future easier.

As you have been off treatment for a little while you should ask your clinic if they have resistance testing available. This will tell you if your old combination will still work against your HIV.

If your clinic cannot do resistance testing you should take a viral load test before starting meds. Then again soon after starting them. If it has gone down or gone ‘undetectable’ this will show that your meds are still effective.

If not it is important to change to a combination that is effective.

You can find more information on changing treatment in our guide and please get back in touch if you have any more questions or want help or support.