Starting and stopping Prep

[Rob78]

I’ve been taking daily prep and recently stopped. When restarting it I’ve been told I should take 2 pills between 2 and 24hrs before sex and then continue with the daily dose. I don’t intend having sex for a week so I’d rather not take 2 pills together but I do want to get back on daily dosing.  Instead of taking 2 pills can I take one pill a day for 7 days before sex ? 

[fskn]

At the bottom of this reply to another thread, I quote the intermittent Truvada for PrEP regimen from the US CDC PrEP guidelines. Note that intermittent dosing, which involves a 2-pill loading dose after a break of 7 or more days, is only for Truvada (or generic), not for Descovy at this time.

In general, your medical provider is the one to talk to, and this is doubly true if you had an interruption in daily PrEP without intending to start intermittent dosing.

[viking8x6]

Yes, of course you can. There's nothing different about re-starting PrEP and starting it the first time, so taking it daily for seven days will work fine. I suspect your provider was trying to make sure you would be protected sooner if you were impatient about starting to have sex... Not that anyone on this site would ever be impatient about sex... No, never! 😉

[RealCute]

The question I would ask is how long did you stop for?  The number of days?  In that time did you have sexual contact? If so you should be retested to make sure you don't go back on prep without a clear HIV test.

2-1-1 can be used but again you must make sure you are neg before using intermittent dosing and be sure to use 211 before sexual contact each time.

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by RealCute
Wording