Don't take a holiday over the holidays

A drug holiday, that is

by Mary Turner

Gayly Health Columnist

There’s a chill in the air. There are people everywhere. It’s the countdown to Christmas and the New Year. Happy times for the most part, but the holidays can allow so many emotions to surface. Like fear - it sets in as you think about if there are too many parties, or if will you be alone? Are you near family and friends? Do you have enough money to spread around the cheer?

Sure, the holidays can be merry and bright, but they can also drive your train right over Crazy Mountain! After the stress of the holidays, many of us need just that…a holiday. That’s right. We need a chance to get away.

However, if you have HIV or AIDS and you’re feeling as though you need a “Drug Holiday,” then stop right there. Think about this carefully.

A drug holiday or structured treatment interruption is taking “a break” from your HIV medications. You might truly feel as if you need a break. Maybe you are experiencing unpleasant side effects or reactions to your drugs and WTF – you want to feel good over the holidays. You may feel that the way your drugs make you feel isn’t worth whatever benefit they might provide.

Well, that makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is for you to decide by yourself that you’re just going to stop for a while and then get back on them when you’re feeling better. This can be dangerous, no matter what illness you’re being treated for.

With HIV, stopping abruptly can have devastating, even deadly, consequences. Your doctor might not be your significant other or the love of your life, but he or she should be a partner in your healthcare decisions. You can’t be objective about how you feel physically or emotionally. You need someone outside of yourself (who happens to be trained in medicine) to help you work through those rough times.

The Federal government funded a study called SMART (the Strategy for Management of Antiretroviral Therapy) to look at the possible impact a drug holiday might have on HIV treatment. The study found that drug holidays are very dangerous. Taking a break from your regular medication routine can result in a higher risk of getting sick, of dying (isn’t this what you’re trying NOT to do?) and of having even more problems with your medications. From where I’m sitting, that doesn’t sound like a holiday is worth its cost. 

The participants in the SMART study who took a drug holiday were found to have more than twice the risk of developing serious health complications or of dying than the participants who stayed on their drug regime. You can read the about the study at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/aids_smart.html.

Remember, there are many people who love you. So if your treatment protocol doesn’t seem to be working for you or makes you feel funny or bad, talk with your doctor. Maybe the dosage of your drugs needs to be adjusted. Maybe you do need to change up which drugs you are taking, but make those decisions wisely with the help of your doctor. Then you can make plans for a real holiday in the mountains, or on the beach, or hanging out with “BFFs.”

Now, that’s a real holiday.

The Gayly – December 15, 2013 @ 5:15pm