A change in my HIV meds

I've been taking Maraviroc and Kivexa for about four years now, after having a 2 year break to let my kidneys recover when I nearly carked it in 2010. The drugs have worked well and I've been undetectable since taking them.

I was taking Truvada before that, and it mixed with the painkiller Naprosyn (an anti-inflammatory drug) giving me acute kidney failure. To this day I can't take any sort of anti-inflammatory medication, not even creams, as I've developed a severe allergy to them in which they affect my kidneys.

There's a new HIV drug now though in the same line as Truvada but a much lower dose of the active ingredient and therefore doesn't affect the kidneys. Descovy puts the much smaller dose of said ingredient straight to where it's supposed to go and therefore leaving nothing more to be digested through the liver and kidneys. This is what I'm starting on tomorrow, replacing the Kivexa with the Descovy. I'll remain taking the Maraviroc as well.

The pharmacist at the Albion St Centre explained it all to me. With Truvada the dose was very high in comparison which left a large amount of the drug having to be processed by the liver and kidneys. Descovy avoids that problem making it much safer to take.

As always I feel a bit nervous starting a new HIV drug, but my HIV GP was confident that it would work well for me and to take advantage of this new option.