Regimen Adherence...

Adherence is 1 of the biggest issues with HIV treatment.  There a countless articles on it.  Still many people fail to adhere to their treatment regimen.  For some, it's things beyond their control;  lack of access to meds, lack of access to medical professionals, lack of food, etc...  For others though, it's a matter of getting into & staying in the habit of adherence.

That's sounds really easy, trust me as someone who has taken meds daily for over a decade, it isn't at all easy.  There are days when I really wish I'd never see another pill again.   I hate needles, but if they got to a point I could get a weekly/monthly does in a shot & be done with it, I would.  

It isn't that taking the pills is hard, it isn't.  It's that taking them is so easy to forget.  Ask any women on "The Pill".   I've driven myself nuts trying to remember to take my meds.  Only later to wonder if I actually did take them.  I've tried tons of little tricks.  They all worked for a while.  Even now, with the pills sitting right in front of my face, I still have problems remembering to take them sometimes.

Then there's the resentment.  The feeling of being so damned dependent on a drug.  The fact these things have to be with you always.  Every dose is a reminder you have this condition.  This is the price you pay to live.  You know you should be thankful these meds even exist, but still at times you resent them.   No one wants to be reminded they're dependent or ill.  

This isn't just my life problem.  It isn't just my life that rotates around meds & medical appointments.  It isn't just the lives of those living with HIV.  It's everyone finding themselves on whatever medical regimen.  Chronic illness & lifelong regimens are something healthy people can't properly appreciate.  The can't really understand the never-ending doldrums of the situation, of being ill & dependent.   They think, "All you have to do is take a pill."   

Such a naive statement.   So simplistic to think adherence was an easy task.   If it was, it wouldn't be a problem.  Hell, if it was there wouldn't be so many "Oops babies" born because someone forgot to use birth control.  The more common something is, the more mundane & tedious, the more easily it is forgotten or overlooked.

No matter what your ill, adherence is probably a must for your health.   Knowing that doesn't make it any easier.  Here's to adherence, such annoying troll.  

Cya...