What is the best combination?

Commonly used combinations

There isn't one answer to this question. This is because drugs that agree with one person can be difficult to tolerate for another.

Any combination should be:

Strong enough to reduce your viral load to below detection.
One you can tolerate AND follow the daily schedule AND stick to any food restrictions.

Your doctor will discuss with you which combinations are more likely to get your viral load undetectable. If you have taken HIV drugs before, this will affect how well your next treatment works.

Ask for information about dosing schedules, pill size and side effects. This will help you pick a combination that will be easier to follow.

Can I change treatments?

If your first combination is too difficult to follow, or if any initial side effects have not improved after the first few weeks, you can always change the drug or drugs that are most difficult.

If this is your first combination, you have many choices. You should not put up with difficult side effects for months on end.

Some people use one combination to get their viral load undetectable, and then change to an easier combination afterwards.

Can I take a break in my treatment?

Once you start treatment, taking a break in the future is not recommended, unless you have a serious medical problem with one of the drugs in your treatment.

The largest study to look at treatment interruptions (the SMART study) found an increased risk of both HIV-related and non-HIV-related illnesses and deaths in people who stopped treatment, compared to people on continuous treatment. This included serious heart, liver or kidney related disease.

Stopping treatment for any period is not generally recommended.
Your viral load can increase again very quickly (from undetectable to several thousand in a few weeks). Each interruption of treatment also carries a risk of developing drug resistance.
If you want to take a break, it is essential you talk to your doctor first. Some drugs have to be stopped at different times, to reduce the risk of resistance.

What is treatment naive?

'Treatment naive' or 'drug naive' refers to someone who has never used HIV drugs. Someone who has used drugs before is called 'treatment-experienced'.