Street drugs and HIV medications
If you’ve got HIV and are on combination therapy, then you already have a constant amount of prescription drugs in your system. Adding street drugs to that carries risks. Because your body is processing your HIV meds it can’t process street drugs as easily as a person not on HIV meds. As your liver tries to deal with both your HIV drugs and any chems you’ve taken, there can be a build up of the street drugs.
Imagine a road of traffic trying to join a road that’s already busy – traffic has to slow down and a jam can start to build. This is like what happens as street drugs reach a liver that’s already dealing with HIV meds. It can cause higher levels of street drugs in someone’s system, which, if unlucky, can reach overdose levels. This has killed a few people.
What combos are riskiest?
The risk is biggest when the body (in particular the liver) uses the same processes to deal with a street drug that it uses to handle an HIV med. For example, the liver uses the same processes to deal with many street drugs as it does to handles protease inhibitors (eg, Ritonavir, Kaletra and Norvir). On the other hand, the body deals with cocaine and HIV drugs using different processes, which is why there are no dangerous interactions between the two.
Taking things easy
The risk of an interaction could be higher when someone has just started to take HIV medication. In these first weeks and months the body is getting used to processing them, so adding a street drug at this time could have added risks. Some people advise caution in the first weeks and months of starting combination therapy, either avoiding street drugs or starting off with lower amounts and seeing how it goes.
Of course, another danger of taking drugs when you’re on HIV medication is you forget to take the HIV meds the right time – or at all.
It’s always advisable to check with your HIV doctor. They should be used to dealing with questions about illegal drugs. But if you feel you can’t talk to your doctor, there’s also the I-Base helpline:-
I-Base
Phone: 0808 800 6013, Mon-Wed 12-4pm.
To find out how your HIV medication might interact with recreational drugs, visit the Disco.
