Living with HIV in the Philippines: Email 590: Late in Taking My ARV's

Hi pozzie,

Its my 19th day sa arvs and last saturday nag start na ko ng double dose ( lami/ zido at nevi ) . Worried lng kasi aq this morning nagising kasi ako mga 8:11 am which is dapat ang inom ko ng arvs ay 8am. Itatanung ko lang kung may magiging complikasyon ba ang pag inom ng late sa pagiging resistant ng virus?

TRANSLATION

Hi Pozzie.

It's my 19th day of taking ARV's and last saturday I started my double dose (lami/zido and nevi). I am worried because this morning I woke up at 8:11am when I should be taking my ARV's at 8am. I would like to ask if there will be complications in taking the ARV's late to it being resistant to the virus?

POZZIEPINOY’S RESPONSE

Hi there.

Thank you for your email. Thank you for sharing us your concern.

I am glad that you are now on your full dose of your ARV's and out of your trial period. I believe that you don't have any side effects from them as you never mentioned anything.

I am strict with adherence to ARV's. Being late or missing a dose is not a thing that I advocate as you won't know the effect of it in the long run. Of course, there will be instances that things get out of hand, but the best thing to do is to never allow it to happen.

Although some say that missing it for one day or being late for a few hours won't do much damage, but I believe that strong adherence and compliance are the most essential part of our treatment. For treatment to be effective, one must change his perspective over the ARV's. Trust me. You won't be late, miss or skip any dose if you understand that our ARV's are our lifelines. You won't be late, miss or skip a dose if you know the value of taking ARV's on time and how it can affect the "taming" of the virus.

Please read this blog entry if you haven't read it yet:

How Not to Miss your Scheduled Intake of ARV's

I hope I was able to answer your concerns. Feel free to email me again if you have other questions.

Stay healthy,

Pozziepinoy