HIV PrEP: Truvada

Of all the sexually transmitted infections out there, HIV is the biggest concern for most people. That’s why in the US the FDA’s approval of a drug to help prevent HIV infection was greeted with such relief. Several other countries have also approved Truvada to help prevent the spread of HIV.

Truvada is the first medication approved as a pre-exposure prophalyxis (PrEP) for HIV. That means taking Truvada before being exposed to HIV protects you against infection.

Truvada is actually a combination of medications. Tenofovir and emtricitabine are both anti-retroviral drugs which have been used to treat HIV/AIDS for years. They are most often used in combination with protase inhibitors, which use a different biochemical process to attack HIV.

For people who are not infected with HIV, but might be exposed, Truvada is believed to offer significant risk reduction. However it has some rare adverse effects that are extremely damaging. For this reason, the FDA recommends it only for people who are at high risk of infections:

  • Gay or bisexual men who have either have had anal sex without a condom or been diagnosed with an STD in the past 6 months
  • Heterosexual men or women who do not regularly use condoms during sex with partners of unknown HIV status who are substantial risk
  • Injection of illicit drugs in the last month with sharing of equipment
  • Discordant heterosexual and homosexual partners where one partner is HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative

Taking Truvada consistently can reduce your risks by up to 92%. However PrEP is like the birth control pill. Not taking it consistently leaves you unprotected. Benefits of taking Truvada take affect after 72 hours on the medication. It is necessary to continue taking Truvada for 30 days after a high risk exposure to be sure HIV transmission levels stay reduced.

Your doctor will not prescribe Truvada unless you have tested HIV negative in the past month. While on Truvada you will need to be tested regularly, and if you do become infected with HIV will need to stop taking Truvada immediately.

This is very important. Anyone taking Truvada during stage 1 of an HIV infection is putting themselves at risk of developing a drug resistant strain of HIV. This means during later stages, when you actually need the medications, they won’t work.

As I mentioned before, Truvada has some risks associated with it. If you look up side effects of Truvada you will get a long and scary list of potential side effects. It is important to realize that this list is a combination. It includes side effects of taking Truvada in combination with other drugs for treatment of HIV/AIDs and side effects of taking Truvada as PrEP. The most common reported side effects for taking Truvada as PrEP are headache, abdominal pain, and decreased weight. Truvada can in rare circumstances cause loss of renal function. People taking PrEP are advised to get their renal function tested every 3-6 months while on Truvada.

Whether or not Truvada is of benefit to someone in a polyamorous relationship will largely depend on your approach to safe sex. If you take a low risk approach–only having sex with people who are tested regularly for STIs, using condoms, etc, Truvada is probably not right for you. If you are comfortable with a high risk approach to safe sex–going bareback with multiple partners, getting tested infrequently or having sex with new partners often enough that testing is not effective for protection, than Truvada may be a good idea. As always, talk with your doctor, I am not an expert.

Standard Disclaimer

This post is part of the Safe Sex and STIs blog series.

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