kinkygradstudent
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Need to find recently tested raw TOPS that are negative
kinkygradstudent replied to not_sure_bb's topic in General Discussion
I read through the information on the FDA site and talked to the clinical director of the local STD clinic about it. A few things I was surprised to learn: *PrEP is not the full set of drugs that would be used to treat HIV. It's two particular medications that are often used in combination for HIV-positive patients. For an HIV-positive patient, however, a third drug would be added. So one takes less drugs for PrEP than if one had HIV, and PrEP is not a substitute for HIV treatment. *The medications were chosen particularly for their low potential to create resistant strains. None of the patients who were HIV-negative at the beginning of the study and got infected with HIV developed medication-resistant strains. *The side effects are a lot less severe for PrEP than with PEP drugs. *The side effects in general turned out to be a lot less than I expected - the only really significant one was nausea in 9% of the PrEP group, 5% in the placebo group, but with the rate falling to the placebo group. And some people had elevated levels of creatine in their kidneys, but it didn't cause any problems for them. *It was far more effective than I had expected when I first heard of the studies - with risk falling by as much as 70% for those who took their pills every day. (they both had patients self-report and also measured blood levels of the medication regularly). I'd encourage people who are interested to follow some of the links from the FDA page ( http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm312210.htm ) and read some of the studies. I know I was quite skeptical when I originally heard they were doing the study, but my opinions on it have changed after seeing some of the more recent data and talking to people here in SF about it. -
Need to find recently tested raw TOPS that are negative
kinkygradstudent replied to not_sure_bb's topic in General Discussion
Correction - As of July 16th, Truvada for PrEP is FDA-approved and is no longer an off-label use. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm312210.htm