Starting HIV treatment

Most people who are taking anti-HIV drugs will take a combination, or ‘regimen’, of three drugs. There are exceptions to this, for example, pregnant women (see the section Symptoms and illnesses), or sometimes those who have a very high viral load and need to take more than three drugs to obtain a powerful anti-HIV effect.

Before you start HIV treatment for the first time, you should have a test to see if you have been infected with a strain of HIV with resistance to certain anti-HIV drugs.