Re: Re: Going Off Meds for a Month

[Guest guest]

Many HIV docs have a stash of ARV meds that their patients give them when they switch to other meds. BlueEyes and others in his situation should check with their docs and with docs of their friends.

Jerome

In a message dated 3/12/2012 10:25:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, joe_90292@... writes:

I most definitely wouldn´t do that. However, as I mentioned on this board some time ago, a friend of mine takes one or two days off meds per week. He has been doing that for years, and his doctor knows it. Well, his counts and ratios are extremely high (better than mine), and I wonder if that might be a feasible strategy for some. Given the pharmacokinetics of these drugs, this strategy doesn´t sound too crazy to me, even there if there is no research supporting it, that I know. This strategy certainly sounds like a better one to me that taking a month, or even a week off.Having said that, I take my meds daily....>> I am wondering how harmful it would be to go off Meds for a month until my Medicare part D kicks in. I just cannot afford to pay out of pocket for these meds .. I am so financially drained. Advice needed.>

[Guest guest]

Guys think of it this way, generally speaking HIV is a pressure pot

and medications are the lip that

keeps the pot from exploding.

So yes stopping the medications

will cause the virus to fight back

and that is when mutation caused resistance

to medications can happen.

BUT there are several variants

such as a person health condition

by logic some one with 500 Tcells

will do better going off medications for a while then some one with 200 Tcells

But even then genetics come in to play

some people are simply better equipped to fight HIV then others

(lucky them LOL)

In any case I was once given the best

advice to avoid stress, I was told

" it is pointless to worry about things we

have absolutely no control over "

Definitely try to find a way to get back on Meds but if there is NO alternative

and one has to take a small time off

well enjoy the pills free time because

it is much better then getting stressed

over a no win situation and stress

is out biggest enemy.

Mark

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 13, 2012, at 4:28 PM, " mark_h_hubbard " <mhubbard@...>

wrote:

> It saddens me when folks feel they need to respond to shared knowledge,

experience, and wisdom of group members with insults and conspiracy theories.

It's too bad that false assumptions have been made about individuals that aren't

even known.

>

> Putting that aside, it appears that previous posts were misread and

unsubstantiated conclusions drawn.

>

> I saw no post that predicted dire consequences for taking a drug holiday at a

specific drug count.

>

> No one made a claim that resistance is developed while off drugs. I, on the

contrary, corrected what was a mistaken guess about which might be riskier,

going off drugs or skipping a couple of days a week. The answer to that is

clear

>

> The generalizations made here about resistance and how it occurs are only

partially true, perhaps because they are based on how things happened earlier in

the epidemic.

>

> In the past, when and because regimens themselves were sub-optimal, folks did

develop resistance while being adherent to meds. With current regimens, this is

quite rare. Folks now most often develop resistance because they are not

consistently adherent, allowing drug levels to repeatedly drop below therapeutic

levels. Taking a couple of days off a week for a period of time could be an

ideal way to risk these suboptimal drug levels, depending on the drugs involved.

>

> I'm unaware of any major discrepancies between treatment guidelines and their

implementation in the U.S. vs. Canada. The folks I deal with believe the best

care happens when an experienced and knowledgable professional shares

responsibility for decision making with an informed patient, taking all

considerations into account.

>

> JB did not ask us when to start or about side effects or toxicities. He

described a financial situation that had forced him to consider something he

otherwise would not - going off medications for a while.

>

> Responses have been posted by folks who not only keep up with the science but

who have extensive person to person experience.

>

> Best,

>

> mark

>

> Mark Hubbard

> Nashville TN

>

>

>

>

>

>

>>

>>

>> From: JB <blueeyes9455@...>

>> Subject: Going Off Meds for a Month

>>

>> Received: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 5:44 PM

>>

>>

>>

>> Â

>>

>>

>>

>> I am wondering how harmful it would be to go off Meds for a month until my

Medicare part D kicks in. I just cannot afford to pay out of pocket for these

meds .. I am so financially drained. Advice needed.

>>

>

>

>

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