Treatment adherence (or compliance) refers to the HIV positive individual’s ability to stick to the prescribed method of treatment. This includes such things as taking your pills on time, not missing a dose, and following any recommended food guidelines.
Adherence is important for two reasons:
1.) If you miss even one dose, the levels of medication in your blood drop, allowing faster replication of the HIV virus.
2.) Drug resistance develops much faster when you miss even one dose. This means that the drugs that you are currently taking may not continue to work, including some drugs that you may have not even tried yet! You will have fewer options for treatment in the future.
An excellent way to make sure that you never miss a dose is to use a scheduler on your computer that you can set up to prompt/remind you when to take your medication. Others may find marking it on a calendar may be a quick and easy way to keep track.
What are your tips for ensuring personal adherence to your HIV treatment? We’d love to hear your suggestions.
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1 comment:
BCPWA thanks for the info on taking your meds.
My cd4 count has increased from 460 to 480 over a two month period. I follow an accurate timetable daily and have not missed any yet. I hope others can follow their schedule as I do.
OTHER, I want to stop taking the pills however and just give in to the disease. What is your advice to this dilema.
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