The folks who are doing the study at Columbia University never called me back.  🙁  The more I thought about it the less enthusiastic I was about being in a study anyway – I want more control over how I take PrEP. So I went to see my doctor today. Actually he was a new doctor – the nurse practitioner I had been seeing was leaving, so I needed to change to someone else. This new guy was pretty decent when we discussed PrEP. I’ll be his 3rd patient to go on it.

One thing that surprised me a little was how resistant he was to any option other than taking PrEP daily. He was adamant that it wasn’t proven effective for anything other than daily use. That’s the treatment plan the FDA has approved and the only one he wanted me to consider. It didn’t seem like he was aware of the study that showed decent efficacy when taken 4x/week.

I’m seeing him again in a little under 3 months (checkups every three months are required when you’re on PrEP), so during that time I’ll do my own research and see what’s actually been empirically proven when it comes to efficacy of less than daily usage. If I find a source I trust more than my doctor, then I’ll consider doing something other than the daily plan he’s recommending. Though I’ll probably do as he asks at least until I see him next. In the meantime I’m mailing him a copy of the study… Maybe he’ll soften his position a little – we’ll see.

I’ve sent an email to the guy up in Boston that the Maverick Men guys mentioned who apparently is actively doing research on PrEP. I’ll see what he says (and what his qualifications are).

Anyway, the prescription for Truvada has been faxed off to the mail order pharmacy my plan uses for reoccurring/major prescriptions. I should have my pills in a few days.

And oh yeah… They gave me yet another HIV test – just the regular rapid test – not an RNA test. And I was wrong in my previous post – the regular tests are fine when you’re on PrEP – though they may not catch a recent infection which would be bad if you’re going on and off and not taking PrEP daily. If you don’t catch HIV infection quickly you could become resistant to the two drugs in Truvada.