[T-Plus 12 Days.]
Twelve days in now, which means I'm getting close to half way through my first month on PrEP. I've taken my doses on time (well, within about 45 minutes of my alarm) every night so far, and at this point I should be very, very protected from infection; for the most part, things have gone smoothly, but the nausea I was experiencing at first lasted a bit longer than I expected, and I've gone for about a week with some mild indigestion. Not fun, but not debilitating at all, and my appetite has been fine. On the upside, it's been getting better daily, and my doctor explained that most side effects pass within a month.
In terms of adherence, I've been digging into the MediSafe app I've been using a little more. There are several handy features that I've found beyond the ones I described in my previous post; you can see a lot of those features in play in the picture below:
MediSafe adherence app.
There are a few things going on here. The app tracks my medications in a virtual "Pill Box" each day. If I click on a medication, I see a box like the one pictured above, displaying the next scheduled dose of the medication that day, dosing instructions/preferences, the number of remaining pills (which I've set in the Profile portion of the app), and when I have my refill reminder set (in about two weeks as of this posting). The app also lets me enter my prescription numbers, which is handy when I get texts from my pharmacy for automatic refills, since that's the only identifier I gen in them.
I haven't had to use a pill from my emergency stash yet, but I expect I will soon; I'm taking an evening graduate course each week this spring, and it generally runs past my dosing time. I could wait until I get home afterwards, but I'd rather stay as consistent about my timing as possible, so my plan is to speak with the professor and ask permission to step out for a moment each night. I don't need to tell her what specifically I'm taking, but I can explain that it's an important, time-sensitive medication. Schools in the United States are generally expected to make minor accommodations for health and wellness, so this should be adequate. If you're a student as well, don't be afraid to ask for permission to go take your PrEP when it's time! It only takes a moment, and by speaking with your professors, you should have no trouble keeping your dosing schedule punctual and consistent.
Cheers, folks!
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