How safe is to stop meds for a while?

[cumdumpfag]

I am undetectable for 11 months and using Stribild.

I see some guys on the forum stop taking meds for a while. How safe is this ? Can I have a break for a week or 2 weeks maybe?

Can I have a second strain during this period?

[pozpig]

Well, stopping meds isn't really a good idea unless your intention is to build resistance, increase viral load, etc. For some guys, stopping meds is for medical reasons....perhaps side effects become a problem, etc. Others stop in order to become toxic to pass to others. As for being safe, that all pretty much depends on your personal definition of safe. I know current thought among the medical community is that med vacations aren't any longer an option that should be considered since resistances can develop when the level of medication is not maintained in the blood stream.  A week probably won't develop much of a problem as many meds have a very long half-life compared to earlier meds, but I wouldn't suggest doing that on a regular basis. 

As for acquiring a second strain, it's always possible regardless of being on or off meds since there are resistant strains everywhere. If you are on a medication that someone else has developed a resistance toward, you definitely can run the risk of acquiring their strain if they have sufficient virus in their blood/cum. Keep in mind that an undetectable or even low VL test only indicates whats present in the blood. You can have significantly more virus in your cum though maintaining a low viral load for extended periods usually is a pretty good indicator that you probably don't have a high viral load in other areas that aren't easily tested. 

I think the big question here is what is the reason you have behind wanting to stop meds? I'm sure many of us can offer suggestion through our own personal experience to help you achieve whatever goal you might have. 

[cumdumpfag]

On 9/2/2017 at 0:08 AM, pozpig said:

Well, stopping meds isn't really a good idea unless your intention is to build resistance, increase viral load, etc. For some guys, stopping meds is for medical reasons....perhaps side effects become a problem, etc. Others stop in order to become toxic to pass to others. As for being safe, that all pretty much depends on your personal definition of safe. I know current thought among the medical community is that med vacations aren't any longer an option that should be considered since resistances can develop when the level of medication is not maintained in the blood stream.  A week probably won't develop much of a problem as many meds have a very long half-life compared to earlier meds, but I wouldn't suggest doing that on a regular basis. 

As for acquiring a second strain, it's always possible regardless of being on or off meds since there are resistant strains everywhere. If you are on a medication that someone else has developed a resistance toward, you definitely can run the risk of acquiring their strain if they have sufficient virus in their blood/cum. Keep in mind that an undetectable or even low VL test only indicates whats present in the blood. You can have significantly more virus in your cum though maintaining a low viral load for extended periods usually is a pretty good indicator that you probably don't have a high viral load in other areas that aren't easily tested. 

I think the big question here is what is the reason you have behind wanting to stop meds? I'm sure many of us can offer suggestion through our own personal experience to help you achieve whatever goal you might have. 

Very clear and informative! Thank you!

The problem is that I will not be able to afford med expenses for a few months starting from next month.

[wood]

On 9/2/2017 at 5:37 PM, cumdumpfag said:

Very clear and informative! Thank you!

The problem is that I will not be able to afford med expenses for a few months starting from next month.

Talk to your doctor or medication manufacturer about assistance, there are many programs out there. As the previous poster said stopping meds is a very bad idea. The idea of "med holidays" was popular back in the late 90's and early 2000's back when there were more severe side effects, unfortunately they always always ended up with increased resistance.  HIV mutates very rapidly and the reason the meds work is that the virus doesn't have the ability to mutate if it's constantly surpressed.  

medication resistance is very real and a very bad thing, especially wiTh long term injectable meds coming on the market. They are based on current drugs but last 2+ months with a single shot. However if you become resistant to certain drug types now, you may be SOL for those drugs which would almost certainly make life much easier.

in short do not take a break 

[Guest grubbysubby]

I’m interested in your comment about undetectable is only the blood, not necessarily the semen @cumdumpfag... I’d disagree with that line of thought because, if it’s true, then undetectable does NOT necessarily equal untransmittable; which is exactly the message that many are touting. What are your thoughts?

[GermanFucker]

On 13.3.2018 at 5:46 AM, grubbysubby said:

I’m interested in your comment about undetectable is only the blood, not necessarily the semen @cumdumpfag... I’d disagree with that line of thought because, if it’s true, then undetectable does NOT necessarily equal untransmittable; which is exactly the message that many are touting. What are your thoughts?

If you read the medical recommendations in detail you will find that undetectable with a supressed viral load OVER A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME is considered safe / untransmittable. It is a well known fact that HIV viral load in blood / semen / mucosal tissue etc. decreases (increases) at a different rate once you start (stop) treatment. A supressed viral load in your blood over a prolonged period of time serves as an indicator that there is also little virus in other bodily tissues / fluids.

Of course having just started meds is safer than having completely untreated HIV, just as taking PrEP intermittendly is better than not at all. It is still worthwhile to read up on the issue than just to go by word of mouth / what is touted by some. There is hard data for those who have been taking their meds over a prolonged period of time, that is why for THIS GROUP one can confidently make recommendations. But if you fall outside known parameters, everything is just a - more or less - educated guess.

[Guest hole4bbuse]

On 3/13/2018 at 12:46 AM, grubbysubby said:

I’m interested in your comment about undetectable is only the blood, not necessarily the semen @cumdumpfag... I’d disagree with that line of thought because, if it’s true, then undetectable does NOT necessarily equal untransmittable; which is exactly the message that many are touting. What are your thoughts?

 

[Guest grubbysubby]

Agree @hole4bbuse... that post was just querying the comment that undetectable in the blood does not = undetectable in semen which IMPLIES that undetectable in the blood does not equal untransmittable. It was a specific response to @cumdumpfag to say that I disagreed with him because of the implications of his statement.

[Guest hole4bbuse]

10 minutes ago, grubbysubby said:

Agree @hole4bbuse... that post was just querying the comment that undetectable in the blood does not = undetectable in semen which IMPLIES that undetectable in the blood does not equal untransmittable. It was a specific response to @cumdumpfag to say that I disagreed with him because of the implications of his statement.

Understand Sir

[tallslenderguy]

There are  some great responses about resistance, i appreciate some of the well informed on this site.

i am on Truvada/Tivicay regimen. i (stupidly) missed a dose of Truvada and two of Tivicay recently (i had forgotten to refill and it was a weekend where my pharm was closed). While worrying, i did some searches and found this info:

"The total amount of nonadherent time with HIV antiretroviral therapy over the course of a month affects the risk of having a detectable viral load starting at 14 days, but an interruption of just 2 days will cause the viral load to rise, according to research presented here at the 6th International Conference on HIV Treatment and Prevention Adherence, sponsored by the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC)."

HIV is an aggressive, nasty virus, i can still remember watching my brother die from AID's during the 80's, it wasn't pretty or sexy (by most standards).  i'm a critical care nurse and i deal with disease and death all the time, AID's (that can develop from unsuppressed HIV) is one of the worst i have ever seen, i sure as hell don't want it.  Meds have been around long enough now that have a whole new generation of guys who haven't seen the same issues we encountered when the virus first took hold. i think we are so very fortunate to be living in an era where we have meds that are generally safe and can keep the virus suppressed. Taking a pill or two a day is nothing compared to what guys had to do when treatment was still being developed and there were side effects and lots of meds to remember.  

As to cost, as with all meds that will eventually go down... as long as the older meds remain effective and can make it to the time when they can be made as generics.  Meanwhile, here's info on assistance programs to help if you cannot afford meds.

[SDPartyPig]

It's nearly a year later, hopefully time flew for you, I know that mine did even with its low points. While I'm not an expert I recall reading an article a while ago about people who have been on med holidays.  It sounds like once the meds were restarted HIV largely returned to its pre-holiday state.  The VL is the lesser concern since an AIDS diagnosis is reached when the tcells fall below 250. After receiving my HIV+ test result it was another 5 years before I saw a doctor. While I was diagnosed with full AIDS the meds quickly began reversing that trend. Would be nice to hear how you are getting along.  Cheers!

[ButchGuy78]

If your having issues with paying for medication talk to your state aids resource. Specially ask for ADAP it stands for AIDS Drug Assistance Program . They can answer your questions and help with copay issues for your HIV drugs.

[CamoPup]

On 9/2/2017 at 6:37 PM, cumdumpfag said:

Very clear and informative! Thank you!

The problem is that I will not be able to afford med expenses for a few months starting from next month.

have you checked out your local AIDS/HIV groups?  there are programs to help you pay for meds