Dealing with drug side effects

January 2004     View PDF     En español

A word about switching

Sometimes people facing serious side effects will switch drugs simply to improve their quality of life, even though the drugs were controlling HIV well. This is one way to deal with the side effects linked to that drug.

Switching a drug solely because of side effects may also save that drug as a future treatment option. In fact, side effects that you have with a drug at one time may not occur again if or when you try that drug again.

However, it is dangerous to simply stop taking one drug in your regimen, reduce its dose without talking to your doctor or pharmacist, or decide only to take it periodically. This can do more harm than good as it leads to drug resistance, making that drug—and perhaps others—less useful for you now or in the future.