4 ms·

Doesn't PrEP have serious side-effects?

• mkr-hn 12y ago
  Currently. I'm sure things will improve as existing drugs are improved and new ones are invented.
• peter303 12y ago
  About $15,000 a year for someone to pay. Insurance companies resist expensive drugs not used to treat an existing disease. Seems to be readily available under medicaid. But you have to keep you income under $15K or ($10K in non-Obamacare states) to qualify.
  • gboss 12y ago
    That's actually not true. Insurance companies, such as Kaiser Permanente, see a few years of PrEP during a patients active sexual years favorable to treating HIV for life. I have a few friends that are on Prep and have private insurance and have not had any difficulty acquiring the prescription.
• megaframe 12y ago
  Some yes. Kidney failure in a small set of patients. Typically urine/blood samples are taken for the first few months to check for this. There's some evidence of bone degradation in long term use (think 10+ years) but its mitigated with regular strength exercises. Beyond that not much else the formula has been altered a few times to make it pretty safe to take regularly. Some people experience gastrointestinal distress from it but that usually passes after a month. If it doesn't they usually just stop taking it. All of the side effects stop if you stop taking it.