Tired of forgetting to take his meds, Joe, who was diagnosed positive in 1985, asked his Information Technology staff to set up a computerized reminder system. I took the morning pill without fail, but I missed the midday dose quite regularly and once and a while the evening one. The problem with HIV drugs is that it's not like another medication. With his new system, everytime he needed to take a pill, gobble a capsule or chew a tablet, his pager sent him a short message telling him what to take and how. It's really unintrusive because everyone is used to pagers and cell phones going off in meetings.
Nobody asks what that page was.
My partner is on the Crixivan-Combivir combination so on top of his reminders to take the drugs, he receives reminders to eat at the right times. Once you've received a personal code name, you enter your med requirements into your computer. Then, depending on your request, you will be reminded via your pager, cell phone or e-mail. And if your regimen changes, you can input the changes 24 hours a day. What turned out to be a creative solution for a busy gay man with HIV is turning out to be beneficial for many people.