Stopping PrEP

It’s your choice to stop taking PrEP if you want to. Before you do,  call your doctor or the clinic who prescribed you PrEP to let them know. Your doctor or our PrEP staff will tell you more about this, but if you want to stop PrEP, you must:
Continue to take PrEP for 1 month from the point in time when you might have last been exposed to HIV; and,
Get tested for HIV 4 weeks after stopping PrEP.

Pausing & Restarting PrEP

If you’ve been on PrEP, but stopped for a while, and are ready to resume taking PrEP one a day, make sure you get an HIV test before starting again.

People who may have HIV—even if they don’t know it—must not take PrEP because they may develop resistance to the medication. That means that PrEP (Truvada and other brands) won’t work for them but would cause problems instead. That’s why it’s important to get an HIV test and make sure you’re HIV-negative before you start PrEP after taking a break.

If you have stopped PrEP for more than 7 days, and would like to restart, call us—or your provider—so that you can get guidance on how to do this safely.

If you were prescribed PrEP, but didn’t start it within 7 days and had sex during this time, you will need to take another HIV test before you can start your medication.

Report any flu-like symptoms or rashes to your health care provider or our staff, since these could be symptoms of early HIV infection.

Can I switch PrEP brand from one brand to another?

According to what we know, there are many brands for the original PrEP such as Truvada, Ricovir-EM, Teno-EM, Tenof-EM, Tanvin-EM and these PrEP can be used interchangeably. They workd the same, so you can switch them when you need to lower the cost if you are paying for PrEP out of your own pocket.

For the latest version of PrEP (2019) the original brand name is Descovy, the generic versions are TAFicita and TAFERO-EM which you can switch between three of them as well. But in many countries, Descovy is not that expensive anymore so you can stick with Descovy.

Combining PrEP With Other Prevention Strategies

PrEP isn’t 100% effective and also doesn’t protect against other STIs. If you’re taking PrEP, you should also take other steps to protect yourself like using condoms and lube and getting regularly tested for STIs.

Remember, it takes about 1 week of continuous dosing before you are protected by Truvada.

Health Monitoring While On PrEP

Regular visits to your PrEP provider are essential while you are taking PrEP.
At PULSE, after you start taking PrEP we repeat lab tests every 3 months.
Some people get tested every 6 months that's OK too but just make sure to get tested and remember that if you live in some big cities and are sexually active, the chance for getting infected with some bacterial or viral STDs are high.

Questions And Concerns

If you have been prescribed PrEP at PULSE, call us at (+66) 95 915 6385 if you have any questions or concerns, or if you’re going to run out of pills before your next visit. If you have an emergency, go to the hospital emergency room.

Additional Resources

PrEP FAQ | Getting PrEP at PULSE CLINIC |  Tips for PrEP Users  |  How to take PrEP
Buy PrEP Online | Truvada  |  Teno-Em Thai PrEP  |  PrEP Drug Monitor

sfcityclinic.org/services/prep.asp
prepfacts.org
cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep.html
projectinform.org/prep/

Content on this page was adapted from San Francisco City Clinic.