Truvada

[yaagjon]

Are there any posters taking it as a preventative.

 

Is it worth taking for the odd moment of stupidity when drunk.

 

Any side effects?

 

[Sheryl]

There are indeed side effects, considerable ones. Both unpleasant ones and potentially serious ones.

 

There are two ways this can be used in people not yet infected with HIV.

 

One is as pre-exposure prophylaxis. For this, it has to  ta be taken consistently, every day, long term. This is recommended only for people at sufficiently high risk that the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

 

The other is post-exposure prophylaxis. In that case it is taken for 28 days after a high-risk exposure. It has to be started within 72 hours of the event and the sooner the better in terms of efficacy. As the unpleasant side effects of this tends to be worst at the beginning, doing this for 28 days is no picnic.

 

This drug will not prevent other STDs nor Hepatitis (B or C)  infection, which is also a risk in unprotected sex and more easily acquired than HIV. You would obviously be far better off using condoms.

 

See http://www.avert.org/learn-share/hiv-fact-sheets/emergency-treatment

[yaagjon]

18 hours ago, Sheryl said:

There are indeed side effects, considerable ones. Both unpleasant ones and potentially serious ones.

 

There are two ways this can be used in people not yet infected with HIV.

 

One is as pre-exposure prophylaxis. For this, it has to  ta be taken consistently, every day, long term. This is recommended only for people at sufficiently high risk that the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

 

The other is post-exposure prophylaxis. In that case it is taken for 28 days after a high-risk exposure. It has to be started within 72 hours of the event and the sooner the better in terms of efficacy. As the unpleasant side effects of this tends to be worst at the beginning, doing this for 28 days is no picnic.

 

This drug will not prevent other STDs nor Hepatitis (B or C)  infection, which is also a risk in unprotected sex and more easily acquired than HIV. You would obviously be far better off using condoms.

 

See http://www.avert.org/learn-share/hiv-fact-sheets/emergency-treatment

Thanks for that.