Do I need to take PrEP every day?

NOT SURE ABOUT TAKING YOUR PREP EVERY SINGLE DAY?

There are more ways to use PrEP than we knew about when we first discovered PrEP as an effective HIV prevention tool. Which means, depending on your lifestyle and your body - there may be different convenient ways to get protected.

DAILY PrEP

PrEP is an effective tool for most people wanting to remain HIV negative. For the majority of people - taking a daily pill for round the clock protection is a simple and effective way to do that. Daily PrEP is easy, and it’s what most of us are used to hearing about PrEP. Depending on who you are, how you take Daily PrEP might be slightly different. Get the full run down on how to take PrEP

ON DEMAND PREP

Depending on who you are, the kind of sex you’re having, and how often - On Demand PrEP may be suitable so you only have to take PrEP when you need to.

Why on Demand PrEP?

If you are a cisgender guy having sex with other guys - you can take PrEP in carefully timed doses to only get protected when you need to. This might be because you want to take less medication, or because you don't have sex often enough for Daily PrEP to make sense to you.

HOW TO USE ON DEMAND PREP

As long as you have a bit of lead time, you can plan your protection just like you plan your hookup.

• Take 2 PrEP pills between 2-24 hours before sex. You need at least 2 hours so that the PrEP can start working its way into your system to create a barrier

• Have sex - this is the fun bit.

• Take a single PrEP pill 24 hours after your first double dose

• Take another single PrEP pill 24 hours after your last dose.

Remember, On Demand PrEP only works for cisgender guys having sex with other guys. For cisgender women, trans folk, you'll need to use Daily PrEP. If you’ve just had sex over one short period, this is where you can stop taking PrEP. Pretty simple right?

You can use reminders or alarms in your phone, or even apps like Medisafe to schedule your medication

Here's how that might look for just one hookup. Between your double dose, and your next dose - you can have as MUCH sex as you like!

If you have sex over a longer period, On Demand PrEP can still work. Just keep taking your PrEP every day until you have two sex free days where you took a PrEP pill.

Here's a great cheeky animation from Rinse and Repeat