Treatment Choices

The recommended treatment for HIV is a combination of three or more meds from at least two different classes. This type of treatment regimen is called Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). By using meds from more than one class, you can fight HIV at different stages of its replication.

Today, there is a wide selection of drug combinations from which to choose. HIV drugs may have different side effects, dosing and number of pills required each day. A number of the drugs are once-a-day meds. Together, you and your healthcare provider will decide which meds are right for you.

Choosing an HIV regimen with your healthcare provider

If you're starting or changing your therapy, talk to your doctor about which HIV treatment plan might work for you. Keep in mind that you and your healthcare provider will decide which meds are right for you by thinking about a number of factors. These might include lifestyle, possible side effects, dosing frequency, number of pills, lab values and HIV resistance.

Treatment guidelines for HIV meds exist to help healthcare providers make suggestions for treatment. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) treatment guidelines serve this purpose. Also covered in the guidelines are HIV treatment goals, recommendations for when to start treatment, and use of HIV meds in certain types of people such as pregnant women. Download a helpful fact sheet to learn more about the DHHS treatment guidelines.

With these recommendations in mind, you and your doctor can choose a regimen that is right for you.

Classes of HIV medications and how they work

There are five different classes of HIV meds, and each class works differently to fight HIV.

• Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), also called "nukes"
  NRTIs are like fake building blocks that HIV needs to make more copies of itself. When HIV uses an NRTI instead of a normal building block, reproduction of the virus is slowed.
• Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), also called "non-nukes"
  NNRTIs disable a protein that HIV needs to reproduce. That protein is called reverse transcriptase.

• Protease inhibitors (PIs)
  PIs disable a protein that HIV needs to reproduce. That protein is called protease.
• Entry/Fusion inhibitors
  Entry/Fusion inhibitors work by blocking HIV entry into cells.
• Integrase inhibitors (INSTIs)
  Integrase inhibitors work by blocking the action of the protein integrase. This protein inserts HIV’s genes into the CD4 cells' genes.

There are more than 30 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of HIV. To find out more about specific HIV meds, talk to your healthcare provider.

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