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Changing Treatment

People living with HIV may want or need to change medications for a number of reasons including:

Side effects
Inconvenience of dosing
Difficulty adhering
Resistance
Treatment fatigue

Side effects

For many years, HIV treatments have carried a reputation of causing side effects and requiring complicated dosing regimes. People are often concerned about how these issues might impact on their day-to-day lives. The SMART study found that treatment breaks caused more harm than good, and therefore other ways of managing side effects became important.

New treatments and improved formulations allow people to change their combinations in order to avoid and resolve side effects. Changes in combinations have allowed many to treat earlier and many more to switch combinations in order to improve side effects. With these choices and improvements people find themselves able to return to social events, relationships and even work.

The impact of chronic diarrhoea cannot be understated. It's now often possible to eliminate diarrhoea altogether in many cases. If you're concerned that your combination is causing side effects talk to your doctor.

Complicated dosing

Combinations with complex dosing considerations are not only difficult to take, but can also bring limitations to lifestyle.

Night time dosing can limit social options
Medications that must be taken with food can be difficult for some
Potential interactions with medications and recreational drugs can spoil a good night out

Complicated dosing requirements can make it difficult to adhere to your treatment. With all of the messages about the importance of adherence and the possibilities of resistance, it's important that there are alternatives to explore that allow our treatments to fit our lifestyle and not the other way round. If these issues or others are making it difficult for you to adhere, or are limiting your lifestyle choices, talk to your doctor to discuss your options.

Treatment fatigue

Even if your combination is working well, you're managing your dosing requirements and you experience few or mild side effects, the impact of taking medications over a long period of time can result in treatment fatigue. In this situation, people can report feeling fed up with treatments or even depressed. Treatment fatigue can sometimes result in reduced compliance and resistance, so it's important for you to discuss these issues with your doctor.

If you'd like to discuss your options, you should contact your HIV prescriber. To assess your own combination you can use the self assessment tool at www.youcanthrive.com.au.