Strategies for first line HIV therapy

May 2008     View PDF

Deciding when to start therapy and what treatments to use can leave many people feeling overwhelmed. Taking therapy can greatly slow the course of your HIV disease, extend your life and improve your quality of life. It may also cause side effects. You have time to get informed about your HIV disease as well as about when to start and what to start. This publication can help you do that.

There’s no definitive answer on the best time to start. Some people choose to put off taking meds for as long as safely possible. Others decide to start earlier in the course of their disease. Both strategies have merit and both are supported by some research. Whatever your strategy, your willingness to commit to taking therapy over the long-term as well as getting informed up front on all your options can influence how well you do.

If you look at taking HIV therapy as part of a larger picture, it may be easier to make changes as new information becomes available. Charting out your second and perhaps third regimen ahead of time can be extremely helpful. For instance, you may start one regimen, but then find that the drugs don’t work as well as you hoped. You can then proceed to the second with more confidence rather than being overwhelmed because your first choice didn’t quite work out.