I missed a dose of my meds by 11 hours the other day, is it a big deal? Thanks in advance, S

It depends on what your meds are, I suppose. While most doctors tell us to take our meds at the same time each day, it really doesn't matter much if we are a little late one day for almost all meds. If you are talking an anti-depressant, just try to move your dosage back toward your regular time, perhaps in a few steps so that you don't get too much.

Just my opinion,

Mark

They were my antivirals, Truvada and Emtriva. I just went back to my regular dose that night (13 Hours later). S

They were my antivirals, Truvada and Emtriva. I just went back to my regular dose that night (13 Hours later). S

Perhaps try this link if your are worried, which includes the ability to question their staff by email:

www.mayoclinic.com

Or try this link:

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/AIDS_and_HIV/hic_HIV_AIDS.aspx

sorry for the late reply. one missed dose is safe.

every time you miss a dose you reduce the potency of the drugs by 10 percent. What that means is the drugs can be comprimised by the HIV and they can find a way around the drug making then useless and possibly killing an entire class of drugs for you. It is imperative you do not miss a dose EVER. That may sound unrealistic, but I know some guys who are reduced to the Inject able drugs , (last resort stuff) because they did not pay attention to their meds.
Ask you Doc about Atripla. It is a cocktail drug all in one pill. You take it once a day at night before bed. It has been working for me for quite a while. The main side affect is weird dreams at night. Sometimes fun. Good luck

Thank you both for your responses. Atripla is not available here, at least at the clinic I use. I take two pills once a day at 8:30. Unfortunately, this particular night I was tired and fell asleep before taking them. On another note, while understand that compliance is essential, I`ve been lead to understand that 98% compliance is acceptable, although not the best scenario. So who knows. I have my appointment on the 13 and will ask the docs at the clinic. Where do drug "vacations" fall into all this is you can never miss a dose purely by chance?

Thanks DuncanUK, didn`t see your post til just now. I didn`t think it was a big deal, but the docs here in Mexico have a very different view of things than the docs in the US. IE no malpractice settlments to worry about and generally don`t make things sound as dire as US docs. Take it seriously yes, but decreasing the effectiveness by 10 percent seems a little extreme to me, sorry Davesc, especially since I didn`t go the whole 24 hours without. Thanks to all.

i dont bother taking them at all....i have given up all together. but do not be reckless like me.

a drug holiday was the subject of a study done in the East US. They stopped the study because there was such a high incidence of opportunistic infections and other health problems occurring and they were much more virulent . A friend of mine was part of the study. His Doc freaked and called him and put him back on the meds right away. The only good thing about taking a holiday is if the meds are working and you stop them altogether, you can start the same class of drugs again later without compromising that class of drugs. If you don't take the meds regularly then the virus can do an end run around the class and you loose the entire class of drugs. Take them everyday, even if you have to take them early of later. Just in case you do not get it in mag. form, you can get POZ on line. Full of all kinds of good stuff for our community.

Davesc- thanks for the info. you answered another question that had come up. When I was in for my checkup a couple of weeks ago the docs switched me off Efavirenz and put me on two others because they thought the Efavirenz might be making my bipolar worse. I was worried because my viral load was undetectable and everything was good and I thought switching to another med closed the door on the first permanently. Thanks! Scott