Question

When should I take my treatment when I’m traveling?

27 September 2012. Related: Adherence, All topics, Travel.

At the end of next month I’m travelling to Mexico to a conference and then onto California to visit relatives for a holiday.

Due to the differences in the dates summer time ends I’ll go through 6 time zone changes in 8 days!

If I carry on taking my pills at 08.15 local time with breakfast then I will at least remember to take them (never missed a dose and VL undetectable) but that means successively 25/24/28/26/24/24/25/25 hours dosing intervals. Are those long days in the middle going to cause me problems?

Answer

Answer: Rebecca McDowall

That’s quite a trip! Because your viral load is undetectable this is unlikely to cause you problems. This does vary depending on which treatment you are on, as some are more forgiving than others. Most ARVs have a window period of a couple of hours, but four hours might be a bit long for some. How long you have been undetectable for may also affect the likelihood of this causing any potential resistance.

It’s better to be a few hours late, than to risk forgetting a dose altogether. It’s worth discussing this with your doctor though as s/he will be able to give you information directly related to your personal circumstances. You can also see this previous question which has more detail about this question.