tweeted, “Just started PrEP. Are you supposed to take the big pill on the first day of the month or the last?”A photo showed him holding the little plastic cylinder found in bottles of PrEP.The tweet has had almost 3K likes and prompted hundreds of comments.
The thing he is holding in the photo is the container that holds the desiccant. This absorbs moisture and helps maintain the quality of the pills.PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis.
Whether Truvada, Descovy or a generic, it’s a pill you take once a day to help prevent acquiring HIV.Thankfully, many appreciated the joke and made quips of their own (“It’s a suppository!”, “That’s the free musical shaker included in every bottle”).However, surprisingly, it seems not everyone knows what it is.One healthcare worker responded, “I’ve had a patient ask me where her ‘super pill’ was in her refill… she’d been eating the desiccant for a year…” A pharmacy worker concurred.
He reported being asked this very question in real life.As someone who works in pharmacy, this has been a legitimate question.Others also seemed to have little idea that plastic widget serves a function.One person said, “OK but real question: I always throw it away when I open one for the first time.