HIV therapy has changed greatly since the first "cocktails" were introduced in the mid 1990s. Now, instead of taking multiple pills, multiple times a day, people may be able to take fewer pills. However, some people may still be taking more complicated regimens and not know they have options to simplify their dosing — possibly down to once daily.



You may have no trouble remembering to take your first dose, but your second dose might give you problems. Don’t be ashamed to let your healthcare provider know if you’ve missed doses. The only way he or she can help you is to know exactly what is going on.

Ask your healthcare provider if an easier-to-take HIV dosing regimen may be right for you.



Maybe. The fewer times you have to take pills each day, the less chance you have of missing a dose. There are several once-a-day meds available that allow you to take your meds with fewer interruptions to your daily routine.

In recent years, HIV meds have also been combined into one pill to help simplify the number of pills you have to take. Talk to your healthcare provider to see if this may be an option for you.

Yes. You can take some once-a-day meds with or without food. This can be very helpful when it comes to scheduling your day. Talk to your healthcare provider about once-a-day meds that don’t have food restrictions.


You and your healthcare provider will be the best judges of this. Reducing the number of pills you take, or how often you take them, may help you better stick to your HIV treatment regimen. This is important, because when you miss medication doses, even for a short time, the virus may have the opportunity to make copies of itself much quicker, and you may have a greater risk of developing drug resistance (when the virus has learned how to outsmart the HIV meds).


The easier an HIV dosing regimen is to follow, the easier it will be for you to take your meds every day. This may help you raise your T-cell, or CD4 cell, count and lower your viral load to an undetectable level to reach your treatment goals. When you miss doses, the virus can become resistant to your HIV meds. That's why it is so important to take all of your meds all the time.

1. Gatell J, Salmon-Ceron D, Lazzarin A, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2007;44:1484-92.
2. Martinez E, Arranz JA, Podzamczer D, et al. The BICOMBO study. Presented at: IAS Meeting; July 22-26, 2007; Sydney, Australia.
3. DeJesus E, Sharma S, Corales R, et al. COMET study. Presented at: 2nd International Conference on HIV Treatment Adherence; March 28-30; Jersey City, New Jersey.