Why do some Aids/HIV patients chose not to take medicine?

I take 2 different meds daily and I pay around the $100 mark per month but cost pays no factor in my health.

I think some poz people don't take meds because:

a) maybe they're in denial
b) can't afford their meds
c) adherance (having to remember to take their meds day in and out)
d) lifestyle
e) possible drug interactions

Etc etc.

Just to clarify....

Not all people living with HIV are on anti-HIV meds (ARVs) for a variety of reasons:

-ARVs are not started immediately upon a diagnosis of HIV... ARVs are usually started at a certain point in HIV disease (with certain markers, eg. CD4 count, viral load, symptoms). It is mistakenly assumed that all people living with HIV are on meds and that is certainly not the case.

-once HIV meds are started they must be taken everday for the rest of the person's life and adherence to the medicine regime must be followed with greater than 95% accuracy to prevent resistance to the meds. This is huge. It is very important for the person living with HIV or AIDS to be completely ready to undertake this.

-Taking medicine everday is a constant reminder that you are sick

-The side effects and long term toxicities can greatly affect quality of life

-As others have mentioned, depending on your healthcare coverage, ARVs can be very expensive. So can the secondary medicines that are sometimes needed to deal with sideeffects from the ARVs

-Many people fear others (including family members) finding out they are HIV+, and taking medicine can be hard to hide in many circumstances

There are many reasons why a person may choose not to take ARVs, though most do end up taking them. It is an incredibly difficult decision and there are many factors that come into play. It seems like a no-brainer to people not living with HIV, but it really isn't.

because they know that their HIV/AIDS will not be totally cured by the medicine, and they know that sometimes the side effects of the medicine is worse than the disease itself. Most of the time, it's these people that do NOT believe that there will ever be a cure, so they don't see a reason to take a medicine that may prolong their life for only 20 years and have to suffer the side effects of the medicine for the rest of their lives.

It could also be because the anti retrovirals used to treat HIV/AIDS are VERY expensive and they can not afford them.

I think that its a quality of life issue. I think that if you have to be glued to a bunch of bottles of pills for the rest of your life that would kind of suck. Particularly if you have to take one with food and another without food and another with water and another before you sleep and yet another when you wake up. Not to mention other pills/medicine that are needed to battle side effects of said medicine or other things related to HIV Disease. No wonder people get tired and give up on their HIV medicine as well as other people that have health issues where multiple pills are the only way to live. This is of course if they have access to medicine and health care. So many people in the U.S. do not and I think that REALLY sucks.

Many medicines for HIV have side effects, so some people don't want to take them. Also, some people might feel as if the medicines are useless because they can't get rid of the HIV, so why bother taking them.

Many people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives due to improvements in medications, even though they still have a lot of side effects.

Mainly b/c of the cost. And if you're HIV positive, it's going to be hard to get insurace. Here's a list of some of the common HIV meds and how much they cost for a MONTHS supply.

Agenerase $772
Aptivus $1117.50
Combivir - Buy Here For Less $752.64
Crixivan $570.96
Emtriva $347.11
Epivir 300mg $347.11
Epzicom $813.55
Fortovase $263.35
Fuzeon $2315.40
Hivid $273.00
Invirase $748.50
Kaletra $796.26
Lexiva $658.99
Norvir $321.46
Rescriptor $316.35
Retrovir $405.59
Reyataz $892.91
Sustiva 600mg $499.43
Trizivir $1164.35
Truvada $867.99
Videx EC 400mg $346.04
Viramune $442.45
Zerit $385.88
Ziagen $466.44

Still wondering?

high cost of medication, they'll die eventually, and they're giving up on life.

COST