Question
Can I make my meds last longer by missing one dose a week?
26 November 2020. Related: Adherence, All topics.
Due of the current situation, the clinic give me 3 months of treatment (generic Atripla). But the bottle contains 28 pills so I decided to skip one pill every two weeks to cover the missing days. I can’t collect any more ARV’s until my next appointment.
Is this gonna be okay and am I gonna stay undetectable? Or will I be detectable again?
Please I need your answer because my partner negative and i’m so worried about him.
Answer
Hi there
This sounds like a good idea.
If you already know your meds wont quite last until your next prescription, it is safe to miss one dose a week to make your meds cover the missing days.
It is better to do this than to have to go for several days without meds at the end.
It is also a good thing to do if you want to have a small emergency supply for the future.
All three drugs in Atripla (including generics) have long half-lives. This means that with daily dosing, at the end of each 24-hour dose there are still high enough levels to cover you for most or all of the next day.
Several studies showed that so long as you are undetectable, missing one or two doses every week will not effect on your viral load.
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