Question
Can I switch to take meds in the morning instead of the evening?
18 December 2011. Related: Adherence, All topics.
I have just started treatment this week on a combination of truvada, ritonavir and atazanavir.
I have started taking them in the evening but with my work I now think moving to taking them at breakfast would be easier.
Can I just start doing that or is it more complicated than that now I’ve started?
Answer
Hi
There is a lot of flexibility in timing to find what works best for you.
With the meds in your combination is also easy to switch from evening to morning. Take your last evening dose at the usual time, and then take another dose the next morning at the time you want to take them. You are doing this to make sure you never leave more than 24 hours between doses, when the drug levels could drop too low and risk resistance.
Your drug levels will be slightly higher for the first few hours of dose the next day. This is unlikely to be a risk because there is already a wide range of variability in drug levels achieved by different people.
If you are worried about this, your last evening dose could be taken without the ritonavir, but this might be unecessarily cautious.
The only meds that really need to be taken at night are efavirenz and rilpivirine, or the combined pills that include these meds (Atripla and Complera).
Your HIV pharmacist would also be able to talk to you about this on the phone if you want to check this with the clinic first.
Hi Thabiso,
What else did the nurses say about this?
Emdolten is a single pill containing tenofovir, lamivudine (3TC) and dolutegravir. This is sometimes called TLD and it is made by a number of different companies. Please see this link for other names for this drug.
TLD is a safe and effective HIV treatment (ART) that works very well at keeping HIV at undetectable levels.
Please talk to your nurses again. You can ask them more questions, such as why you need to take it in the morning.
If you have access to your CD4 count and viral load results, please let us know what they are.
Hi I was taking my med at 20:00 for tge past seven years and last week I was at the clinic and the nurses told me that I have to change from atazanavir to emdolten they have been puting words in my mouth like saying I said the atazanavir doesn’t give me enough sleep which not true and they forced me to take emdolten and they said I must take them in the morning now I’m scared because I don’t know if that change will affect my health,kindly assist
Hi Tary,
When it is that you’d like to take meds? What is your normal time? What are you taking?
hi can I take my missed meds in e evening and take them in the morning due to double shift wrk
Hi Dolly,
Biktarvy is a 3-in-1 single combination pill that is taken once-daily. It can be taken with or without food. So you can take it whenever is fits into your daily schedule.
i was taking atripla at nite and changed to Biktarvy,do i take Biktarvy in am now?
Hi Mary,
This resource is for people who are HIV positive. Are you also taking meds for HIV along with your omeprazole? There can be an interaction with some HIV meds and omeprazole. Please let us know.
Hello can i take my missed last night medicine today in the morning? I am taking omeprazole for my acid reflux.
Hi Lee,
If your HIV is controlled, so your viral load is undetectable,then its perfectly fine to take your meds a few hours either side of your normal time.
I had a very busy 2 weeks so I have not been taking my meds on time, I would take them 30 to 45 minutes later .am worried the 2 weeks is long not taking them properly.will the be side effects