Getting PrEP at PULSE CLINICS

We provide detailed up-to-date advice before you start. It’s important to check your medical history and run neccessary blood tests as well as a sexual health screen. We will make sure you understand things and know well how to take care of your self and your partner(s).

Our team will help you choose which treatment plan to follow. We’ll check your medical history, personal sexual risk evaluation and run HIV test, kidney function test, Hepatitis B and liver function blood tests. 
We can arrange a sexual health screen at our PULSE CLINIC. We’ll dispense 90 tablets at the first visit (if you need more than that, ask our doctor). The whole process to acquire PrEP at PULSE CLINIC takes 30 minutes.You will also receive medical certificate that will allow you to travel with PrEP medications in every countries. PrEP appointment includes consultation, risk evaluation, rapid HIV and syphilis test, metabolic test (kidney function, liver function and hepatitis B vaccine level). Once you book appointment for PrEP, you don't need to book appointment for HIV test or other tests.

• MAKE SURE YOU GET TESTED FOR HIV, KIDNEY FUNCTION, HEPATITIS B VIRUS BEFORE TAKING PrEP.
• MAKE SURE YOU DIDN'T HAVE EXPOSURE TO HIV (Bareback sex, sharing needle) 14-21 DAYS BEFORE HIV TEST.
• MAKE SURE WE HAVE  YOUR PRESCRIPTION or LAB RESULTS BEFORE ORDERING PrEP.

It’s important to have regular monitoring. We’ll make sure everything is going OK and doing well. We’ll check HIV status, do syphilis test. 
Twice a year we’ll run a blood test to check your kidneys and liver. 
If you decide to continue we can sell you up to 12 month’s supply each visit, except for people from or living in The Netherlands which has different laws allowing its residences to bring back more than 12 bottles for personal use.

• MAKE SURE YOU'RE HIV NEGATIVE, HAVE NORMAL KIDNEY FUNCTIONTO CONTINUE TAKING PrEP.
• MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
• MAKE SURE YOU GET PROPER TREATMENT WHEN HAVING STDS AND TELL YOUR SEX PARTNER(S) TO GET TESTED AND TREATED TOO.
• MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR PrEP DAILY AND SHOULD NOT SHARE YOUR PrEP WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NOT GET TESTED.

It’s important to confirm your HIV status (that you are HIV negative, of course!) and check your kidney function for regular monitoring. Send us a copy of passport and lab results from your doctor or your labs or just send us prescription from your doctor. We’ll re-check your results, then we can provide you 3 to 6 month’s supply each time through buy PrEP online service. 

HOW TO TAKE PrEP

How you take PrEP depends on 1. How often do you have sex 2. Do you plan to have sex well in advance?

Clinical Practice Guideline of the United States (2013) and HIV prevention Guidelines of Thailand (2014) provided comprehensive information which suggests us to use daily oral PrEP to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV infection in adults. Our advice around PrEP is based on the results of 2 European studies. The 2 studies looked at different ways of taking the treatment. Both of the studies showed an 86% reduction in catching HIV.

PROUD Study¹ DAILY DOSE
– People took a Truvada pill every day. No one taking the Truvada correctly caught HIV in this study. (This is the officially recommended way to take PrEP.)

IPERGAY Study²  
– Take 2 Truvada pills between 2-24 hours BEFORE sex. Then take one Truvada pill every day until 2 days have passed after the last condomless sex. This regimen is not recommended for vaginal sex. (and not recommended for gay people who enjoy chemsex or do not plan to have sex very well, because there are already evidences that many people forget to take the third and the forth pill.)

4 Pills a week (TTSS - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday)
- This is only for anal sex, NOT for vaginal sex.
- You have to start by taking one pill a day for 7 days BEFORE having risks then 4 pills per week.

We can run a blood test to check the correct drugs are present in your body. You need to have taken a pill in the 24 hours before the test.  Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a branch of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology that specialises in the measurement of medication concentrations in blood.

 PrEP is safe and it works very well. 

References

1.McCormack S, Dunn D. Pragmatic Open-Label Randomised Trial of Preexposure Prophylaxis: The PROUD Study. CROI 2015; Seattle, Washington, 2015.
2.Molina J, Capitant C, Spire B, Pialoux G, Chidiac C, Charreau I, et al., editors. On demand PrEP with oral TDF-FTC in MSM: results of the ANRS Ipergay trial. Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections