HIV and Medication

In order for HIV treatment to be effective, people living with HIV must take the tablets correctly and on time, without missing doses. HIV tablets require a high adherence rate in order to work correctly, and ideally no doses should be missed. If you regularly miss any doses let your HIV doctor or nurse know.

If you are on injectable HIV treatment it is very important that you do not miss your clinic appointments to have the injections.

If you struggle with taking your medication George House Trust can offer you information, support and advice about adherence.

Poor adherence may lead to a situation where your tablets are no longer working to manage your HIV effectively.  This is known as resistance.  Resistance is more likely to happen if you miss doses of your medication regularly. It might also happen if you do not take your HIV treatment correctly, or you take other medications which interact with your HIV tablets and stop them from working.

If resistance happens, you may have to change the treatment that you’re taking.  Although there is a variety of treatments available, resistance ultimately reduces the treatment options that are available to you.

George House Trust can offer you information, support and advice about resistance.

Some people living with HIV are concerned about potential side effects when they start treatment for the first time, or switch to new medications.

Everybody responds differently to treatments, and you may experience more, or fewer side effects than other people.  Some people do not get any side effects at all. 

For most people the side effects will reduce over time, and often only last for the first few days of starting a new drug. If your side effects persist for longer and you feel that you can’t cope with them, then you should talk to your HIV doctor or nurse. 

George House Trust can help with advice support and information about treatments and side effects.