 |
||
| Please note: This information was as current as we could make it on the date given above. But medical information is always changing, and some information given here may be out of date. For regularly updated information on a variety of health topics, please visit familydoctor.org, the AAFP patient education Web site. |
Taking HIV Medicines on Schedule The HIV virus is so strong, it can fight off the effect of HIV medicines if the level of medicine in your body goes down, even for only a few hours. To keep the level of medicine in your body from dropping too low, you have to take all your medicines on an exact schedule. This means taking every medicine at the same time every day.
Why does it matter when I take my medicine?
The most important thing to remember about HIV medicines is that skipping pills or forgetting to take them is worse than not taking any medicines at all. If you take all your pills when you're supposed to, you can live longer and feel better. If you don't take your pills at the right times, the medicine level in your body gets too low to protect you.How can I remember when to take all my medicines?
You have a lot of pills to take. The directions about taking them may confuse you. It helps if you put your daily activities--the time you get up, the time you go to bed and the times you eat meals--on a schedule. This schedule makes it easier to plan when to take all your medicines. (People with diabetes have to follow a similar plan.)Using a schedule, or a time line like the one shown below, may help you to remember when to take your medicines. Here's how to use a time line:
- Fill in the blanks with the time that you wake up, and the time you eat breakfast, lunch and supper, and a bedtime snack, if you have one.
- Circle the medicines you are taking.
- Now fill in the other blanks with the times you plan to take each medicine.
- An alarm clock or a programmable watch can remind you when it's time to take each pill.
NOTES:
*--If you are taking both didanosine and indinavir, be sure to take them an hour apart.
†--Keep ritonavir refrigerated.
This handout provides a general overview on this topic and may not apply to everyone. To find out if this handout applies to you and to get more information on this subject, talk to your family doctor.
Visit familydoctor.org for information on this and many other health-related topics.
Copyright © 1998 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Permission is granted to print and photocopy this material for nonprofit educational uses. Written permission is required for all other uses, including electronic uses.
January 15, 1998 Contents |AFP Home Page |AAFP Home | Search
