Six Must-Ask Questions for Provider When Starting a New HIV Medication

Six Must-Ask Questions for Provider When Starting a New HIV Medication

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If you've been living with HIV for a while, or even if you're newly diagnosed, you probably know that there are a multitude of HIV medications -- antiretrovirals -- on the market. By my last count, there were 37 different antiretrovirals approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. There's no "one size fits all" drug out there.

Some people may take the first combination of HIV medications they're initially prescribed for many years. The reason we need so many treatment options is because some people need to switch medications because of side effects, interactions with other medications, or because the HIV virus becomes resistant drugs that are already being taken. Also, HIV treatment options continue to improve, so sometimes it makes sense for people to switch medications if they can take fewer pills or medication that are even safer.

Any time you start a new HIV medication, whether you're just beginning antiretroviral therapy (ART) or have been on ART for years, there are a few key things you should take the time to investigate. Your provider should give you this information straight away -- but if not, make sure you ask him or her to fill in the blanks. Doing so will make you a better advocate for your own health now and in the years to come.

HIV drugs work by stopping the virus from making copies of itself -- or replicating. In order for HIV to replicate, it must infect a human "host" cell, and then use that cell's machinery to create copies of itself.

Different HIV drugs block HIV replication at different stages of this process of the virus' life cycle.

— with Joshana Mayee Nial and 19 others.

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