The next step is for you and your health care provider to choose a drug regimen. Currently, there are close to 30 drugs approved for HIV treatment. They are grouped into five classes:
- Entry inhibitors (includes fusion inhibitors and CCR5 antagonists)
- Integrase inhibitors
- Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (“nukes” or NRTIs)
- Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (“non-nukes” or NNRTIs)
- Protease inhibitors (PIs)
There are many ways to combine the drugs, but experts recommend that people who have never taken HIV drugs before start with one of the following combinations:
- An NNRTI plus 2 NRTIs or
- A PI plus 2 NRTIs (in most cases the PI should be combined, or “boosted,” with a small dose of a second PI; this makes the first PI work better)
More information about which drugs to take can be found in the US government’s treatment guidelines (see links in “Additional Resources” on the right).
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