You Should Know!

According to the National Institutes of Health, the two preferred antiretroviral drug regimens'as of November 2004'for people beginning their first highly active antiretroviral therapy cocktails are built around the protease inhibitor Kaletra or the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor Sustiva, plus two nucleoside analogs. The NIH guidelines suggest choosing either Kaletra or Sustiva and adding one choice from the following: ' Ziagen plus either Epivir or Emtriva (Ziagen and Epivir are available together in the combination pill Epzicom); ' Zerit plus either Epivir or Emtriva; ' Viread plus either Epivir or Emtriva (Viread and Emtriva are available together in the combination pill Truvada); ' Retrovir plus Videx EC; ' Retrovir plus either Epivir or Emtriva (Retrovir and Epivir are available together in the combination pill Combivir). For more information on preferred initial antiretroviral regimens, alternate combinations, and drug cocktails that should be avoided, review the NIH guidelines. Brief descriptions of all FDA-approved anti-HIV medications are available in the HIV PlusGuide.