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Gateway Apothecary
Saint Louis, MO
Today is the golden age of HIV treatment. There are now more than 30 different medications that can be used to treat HIV. Currently, there are eight regimens that are listed as preferred by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Those include:
Single tablet regimens:
Atripla
Complera
Stribild
Integrased based regimens:
Isentress and Truvada
Tivicay and Truvada
Tivicay and Epzicom
Protease based regimens:
Reyataz, Norvir and Truvada
Prezista, Norvir and Truvada
These are the most commonly used medications for a newly treated patient with HIV. On your first visit with your HIV provider, they will most likely not start any of the medications. At your first visit, the doctor will draw labs that will contain CD4 count, viral load, genotype and other necessary labs.
Where your starting levels are for your CD4 or viral load will determine if you need to start on medications to help prevent opportunistic infections. Individual circumstances will determine the specific regimen that is picked out for you. HIV treatment is not cookie cutter and not everyone fits into the same box. You should have a conversation with your provider about your options and together you should pick out the best regimen for you.
When you do decide to start therapy, hopefully the medication that you and the provider decided on is a perfect match and there are few side effects. If the match isn’t perfect, there are many other options that can be chosen to avoid some of the side effects.
Today, we no longer wait for a patient to have a CD4 count of less than 200 or having an AIDS diagnosis to start medication. We have seen that the earlier we treat the patient the better their outcomes later in life. We have progressed so far in the treatment of HIV that patients now live to a normal life expectancy, as long as they stay virologically surpressed.
Additional writing by Amanda Wong, student pharmacist at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
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