Prep And Traveling

[Ocelot2000]

OK so, I was off PrEP for a bit as I was changing insurance carriers. Now I'm starting back on it but had a question. Not sure if it's covered here yet.

 

I love to take it right before I go to bed but now I travel a lot between timezones. It gets really hard to manage the time you take it, but I was thinking, If lets say I'm going from LA, where I live to London, my second home. It's an 8 hour difference. Do you take one that night. Travel, take one when it would be night again, where it's morning there, and then take one only 12 hours later again? Then you can go back to one a night?

 

Also what is the window period? +/- 2 hours? 3 hours? where it's still considered the same time period?

 

Thanks.

[fillmyholeftl]

Instructions for HIV Meds is: if one forgets, and its not 12 hours, take the missed dose. If over 12 hrs, take at regular time... That would suggest (I suppose) to adjust to new time zone as practical as possible.  If you have been adherent to your schedule, missing a dose is not going to affect the level of Truvada in your system.  Hope this helps.

[tallbtm]

According to prepacts.org (http://men.prepfacts.org/the-questions/) when traveling you should take it about the same time you would at home. I take that to mean if you typically take it around bedtime (say 11:00 pm), then you should take it again around 11:00 pm in whatever timezone you're in. 

 

Truvada works by building up and concentrating in rectal tissues. While it's important to maintain adequate drug levels in your system to provide protection, the slight fluctuations in blood levels caused by travel and a time zone changes shouldn't have much effect, just as missing one dose isn't catastrophic.

 

What's a lot more important is that you were re-tested for HIV and reconfirmed to still be HIV negative before you resumed taking Truvada for PrEP.  By itself, Truvada is not sufficient to treat HIV infection and can lead to developing a Truvada-resistant strain of HIV thus limiting your future HIV treatment options.

[bblbbottom]

You take it the same time everyday, LA time, So in LA you take it 10pm daily , while in London you take it 6am every morning, 8 hours later( 10pm in LA), in NYC you would take it 1am every night, 3 hour later. Since it has a long half life you can be off by several hours without any change in blood levels. I travel often, and use an alarm on my cell phone that goes off 10pm LA time ( where I live), and then I know it's time to take it. Obviously, I know roughly the time I need to take it, so I'm prepared and have the pill.

[Ocelot2000]

Thanks guys. I'll do my best!

 

As for rechecking before I started it again, I did not, maybe I should have.

[rawfuckr]

I move between 9+ hour timezone difference and this became an issue too. I'm a bit paranoid about it so I'll spread the pill taking so it coincides with as much as 24 hours separation as possible, but I think the advice here is solid, simply take it at your usual time in the arrival timezone and call it a day. Shouldn't make much of a difference from what we know. If you want to be ever safer, just don't BB the day of arrival, or the day after.

[Guest kazore]

I live in NY I travel on the east coast (SF) and Europe (Fr) every 3 months. I take my daily pill at night around 11. I usually take the pill on the plane and then take the pill in Europe just a little earlier around 6/8 local time and then at 11 again. Same thing when I come back.