Question
Is it okay to miss three days of meds?
16 March 2024. Related: Adherence, All topics, Support.
Hi I have been taking treatment for 3 years would I be ok if I missed 3 days of treatment?
Answer
Hi there
Daily oral HIV meds are prescribed to be taken every day.
As a website giving information, this is the best advice.
Some studies have reported that missing one dose a week, or sometimes 2 or 3 doses can be okay though.
This will depend on which meds are in your combination.
So although missing doses is not recommended, missing three doses once is unlikely to cause your combination to fail.
Doing this every week though would be much more risky.
Hello Emily and thanks for getting in touch.
I aim sorry to hear you are in such difficult situation.
Missing a month of treatment will likely not have a significant effect on your health but that also depends on how healthy you are now, how robust your immune system is already, how low your CD4 counts were when you were diagnosed and if you are living with other conditions at the same time (would you be able to continue taking medication for these conditions?).
In any case when you stop your medication your viral load will rebound again, which means you might get those flu-like symptoms for a couple of weeks.
You will also lose your undetectable status, which will mean you will need to use condoms when you have sex.
Have you considered talking to your clinic and doctor about this?
They might be able to help out.
What happens if I miss ARV treatment for a month because of financial constraints
Hi Mandy, although it is not good for you to miss meds, missing one or even two days will usually be ok. Your viral load takes more than a few days before it rebounds so your oarnter will also have been protected. Please do not worry.
Hey
I missed 2 days over the weekend of taking pills and unfortunately had sex with someone (as the receiver) is it possible that I could’ve infected him?
I’ve been undetectable for 2 years now..