PrEP typically takes one to two weeks to provide full protection. It’s important to use a condom in the first two weeks of taking PrEP to make sure you’re protected against HIV.

Most PrEP users don’t experience side effects. In your first few weeks of taking PrEP, you might experience minor symptoms such as fatigue, headache, abdominal pain and weight loss. These side effects should go away on their own.

A small number of PrEP users might be at increased risk for kidney disease. While you’re taking PrEP, your doctor will monitor your kidney function with routine blood tests every three months.

For a comprehensive overview of all possible side effects, including those that are uncommon and rare, click here.

Because PrEP only protects against HIV, we strongly suggest that you use condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms can help you prevent things that PrEP can’t—like pregnancy, or STIs like gonorrhea and syphilis.

No. PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) can only prevent HIV when taken consistently BEFORE exposure. PrEP cannot be started as a method of treatment AFTER an event of HIV exposure (such as sex without a condom, needle-sharing drug use, or sexual assault).

PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) is the 28-day treatment regimen recommended for people who’ve been exposed to HIV. If you think you have been exposed to HIV, it is important that you start taking PEP as soon as possible. PEP is only effective is taking within 36 hours (a day and a half) of HIV exposure.

If you are exposed to HIV during a weekend, or you cannot make an appointment for the next day with your primary care doctor, go to an emergency room for immediate treatment. Do not wait more than 36 hours to start PEP treatment.

If you are currently taking PEP, talk to your doctor before starting PrEP. Blood testing and a short wait time are required to make sure you are HIV-negative after finishing a PEP regimen.

To be effective at preventing HIV, PrEP must be taken every day as prescribed by your doctor.

If you miss one dose, that’s okay. Take your next dose as planned.

If you miss two or three doses while you’re sexually active, or if you don’t take PrEP as prescribed, check in with your doctor to make sure that you’re still HIV-negative. You can restart your PrEP routine after you get a new negative HIV test.

If your primary care doctor is unfamiliar with PrEP, call AIDS Foundation Houston at 713-623-6796. AIDS Foundation Houston can help you find PrEP services, so you may continue seeing your primary doctor for the rest of your health needs.

If you want your primary care doctor to handle your PrEP services, AIDS Foundation Houston can contact your doctor on your behalf to talk about what PrEP is, and how it might be beneficial to you.

No, PrEP is not a vaccine. A vaccine provides immunity against an illness for a long period of time with no daily upkeep.

PrEP is a daily pill that, when taken as prescribed, greatly reduces your risk of getting HIV. PrEP does not provide immunity against HIV; as soon as you stop taking PrEP, you lose protection against the HIV virus. PrEP has to be taken every day for optimal protection against HIV.

Yes. PrEP is one of several recommended options available to prevent the transmission of HIV. Talk to your primary care doctor for more information on the options available to you.

PrEP is covered by Medicaid and most insurance programs. Co-pay assistance programs are available. Call AIDS Foundation Houston at 713-623-6796 for more information about co-pay assistance.

To date, research shows that hormone-based birth control drugs do NOT interact with PrEP. As advocated by the U.S. Women and PrEP Working Group, a coalition of more than 50 women from leading AIDS and women’s health organizations, more research needs to be done studying women and their prevention choices to avoid both HIV infection and pregnancy.

If taken correctly and consistently, PrEP is 92%–99% effective in reducing your risk for HIV.

It’s estimated that it takes at least seven days for PrEP to reach high levels of protection in the body. When used correctly, PrEP provides 92%–99% reduction in HIV risk for HIV-negative individuals who take the pills every day as directed.

No. We recognize that people go in and out of “seasons of risk,” where there are certain times it makes sense to take PrEP and then other times where it doesn’t make sense to take PrEP.

For example, if you start taking PrEP because you are sexually active with multiple partners who are HIV-positive and HIV-negative, and later you find yourself in a relationship where you and an HIV-negative partner are committed to having sex with only each other, then continuing to take PrEP might not make a whole lot of sense for you.

Or maybe you start PrEP when you are in a relationship, then that relationship ends and you have no sexual partner for the next six months; then it might not make sense to take PrEP.

Or more simply, maybe you decide to use other options to reduce your risk for getting infected with HIV, and PrEP doesn’t make the most sense at the moment.

With proper guidance, people can safely start and stop taking PrEP. Think of PrEP as an HIV prevention option where HIV-negative individuals take a pill to prevent HIV infection for the “season” when they are most at risk for being exposed to HIV.

If you feel your risk for HIV has changed recently and it doesn’t make sense for you to take PrEP anymore, then talk to your doctor about discontinuing PrEP. If you’re just experiencing a temporary “lull” in your sex life lasting less than a month or two and expect to be sexually active again in the near future, it may not be advisable to discontinue PrEP. Ask your doctor.