They may skip a dose or two, or just stop taking their drugs altogether. The higher the viral load, the greater the damage to the immune system, and the worse someone's prognosis. The virus can become resistant to the drugs the person was taking. There may also be problems if one stops taking just one or two drugs of a cocktail, rather than stopping the entire cocktail. Generally speaking, if a cocktail is discontinued, it is recommended that all the drugs in that cocktail be stopped, rather than just one to two drugs.
Drug resistance can limit someone's treatment options for the future.
Sometimes, a person may become resistant to multiple drugs at the same time, further limiting their future treatment options. Reduce the dosages of the drugs. It is important to be very careful when reducing the dosages of antiviral drugs. If dosages are too low, HIV can quickly develop resistance to the drugs, making these drugs useless. Change to a different drug cocktail.