by paul montero TRUVADA TRUTHS: KEEPING YOU POSITIVELY NEGATIVE
ey, I’m on TV! Or at least that’s the reaction I’ve had as of late to watching one of my prescribed medications (tenofovir/emtric- itabine) on the news every five minutes. If you’re not up with the latest word about Truvada having been considered for HIV-
negative people for the use of minimizing the risk of HIV infection, it’s probably because you’ve tuned out the eye-rolling controversy that inevitably follows anything regarding impending changes in the public’s sexual behavior. While I see this proposal as a potentially positive (hahah) step forward, there are two distinct, sharply opposing and gratingly vocal schools of thought:
THE “PRODUCT PUSHERS” These are the people who hear “cure” when the word “treatment” is spoken.
You gotta love the glow of undying optimism, but a reality check is really in order when one is willing to ignore a product’s latent side effects and blindly entrust one’s health to this mostly-effective-but-not-foolproof medication all for the sake of mounting HIV onto the trophy mantle of plagues that mankind has conquered.
THE “FORESEERS OF DOOM” These are the ones who have convinced themselves that everyone making
use of this treatment will immediately begin scheduling nightly anonymous bareback orgies while letting their daily dose of meds slip from their memory in the whirlwind of reckless abandon. These defenders of dissuasion mean well, I’m sure. But is it the duty of a drug distributor to supervise adherence to proper dosage, or simply to manufacture a product? I suppose they could always
lace the drug with trace amounts of nicotine! Just kidding! …well, sort of. One particularly valid point that this group brings to light is the possibility of HIV strains mutating to become resistant to the drug if the strict dosage schedule is not followed. While this can happen in the immune systems of HIV-negative and positive people alike, negative people don’t generally feel the same sense of urgency to take each dose as do their positive counterparts in whom the medication is most busy disabling the virus. And then there’s the price tag. Based on my prescription receipt, I’ve calcu-
lated the price of a single Truvada pill to about $40. A month’s supply brings that number to approximately $1,200. While I’ve been spared the brunt of that bill by the massive amounts of money raised in the name of treatment, I somehow doubt that the throngs of HIV-negative people who apply for this med will be approved to benefit from ADAP or the Ryan White Care Act. Another gesture of mercy with which the universe has decided to grace me
is my almost-nonexistent reaction to the drug, though my doctor has vetoed all energy drinks from my diet and advised me to limit my alcohol intake to one glass of wine a day, as Truvada plays a noticeable part in liver toxicity—awww, sad panda. Unfortunately not all may share my good fortune. Among its more prominent side-effects are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of appetite and diarrhea, liver and kidney toxicity and loss of bone density. Where does that leave us? While I have more faith in people’s ability to swal-
low a daily blue pill than the opponents of this proposal do, adherence has admittedly been a trouble spot for me in the past as well. Just like any other daily ritual, it’s simply a new habit that needs our attention in order to become an effortless flash in our routine. As an individual, it’s up to you to determine how effective this treatment will be. As someone who has taken this drug for more than a year, I do have a few tips to make the transition to adherence go a little more smoothly:
1. CARRY A PILL CASE WITH YOU. One with a compartment for each
day of the week. You know, the kind that your grandmother uses. It sure beats those noisy prescription bottles rolling around in your man purse, messenger satchel, butch clutch, fag bag or whatever you want to call it. And for those of us who don’t want our regimen to become public knowledge, it definitely minimizes people’s curiosity about what kinds of pills you’re swallowing if they don’t come from those conspicuous bright-orange bottles. This way, you can tell them it’s just a daily multivitamin. Most importantly, though, it’s a handy way to remember whether or not you’ve taken your meds that particular day.
2. TAKE IT WITH FOOD. Truvada won’t have any different effects if you
take it on an empty stomach, but it will definitely help you remember to take it once it becomes part of your lunch/dinner ritual.
3. KEEP A JOURNAL OF SIDE-EFFECTS. Even if you have none, you’ll
have an approximate reminder of when your last dose was taken. Plus, you’ll have a more comprehensive list of ailments to show your doctor.
30 RAGE monthly | JULY 2012
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