Myths About Medications

Myths About Medications

It has been very challenging for doctors to choose the best anti-HIV medications for their patients. When the first drugs were developed, they had to be taken as many as three times a day. Some drugs had complicated requirements about storage, or what kind of food they had to be taken with, or how long you had to wait after eating before taking a dose. The medications have changed dramatically. However, there are still some myths:

• Myth: You have to take your doses exactly 12 (or 8, or 24) hours apart.
  Reality: Medications today are fairly forgiving. Although you will have the most consistent blood levels of your drugs if they are taken at even intervals through the day, they won't stop working if you're off by an hour or two. However, some drugs, like Crixivan (indinavir) can require careful timing.
• Myth: You have to take 100% of your doses on time or else the drugs stop working.
  Reality: It's very important to take AIDS medications correctly. In fact, if you miss more than about 5% of your doses, HIV has an easier time developing resistance (see Fact Sheet 126) and possibly being able to multiply even when you're taking your medications. However, 100% adherence is not realistic for just about anyone. Do the best you can and be sure to let your health care provider know what's going on.
• Myth: Current drugs are so strong that you can stop taking them (take a drug holiday) with no problem.
  Reality: Ever since the first AIDS drugs were developed, patients have wanted to stop taking them due to side effects or to stop being reminded that they had AIDS. There have been many studies of "treatment interruptions" and all of them have shown that stopping your ARVs can cause problems. You could give the virus a chance to multiply (see Fact Sheet 125 on the viral load) or your count of CD4 cells (see Fact Sheet 124) could drop, a sign of immune damage.
• Myth: AIDS drugs are poison and are more dangerous than the HIV virus.
  Reality: When the first AIDS drugs became available, they weren't as good as current medications. People still died of AIDS-related conditions. It's true that some people get serious side effects from AIDS medications, but the death rate in the US has dropped by about 80%. Researchers are working hard to make HIV treatments easier and safer to use.