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Barbara Roberts has lived with HIV for 30 years. Now, a new FDA-approved medication is changing how she manages it at the age of 74.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In 1996, Barbara Roberts thought she had a bad case of the flu that wouldn\u2019t go away. After several days of experiencing a high fever and sweating, she decided to go to the emergency room, where she was sent home with antibiotics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI just still didn\u2019t feel well,\u201d Roberts told Healthline. \u201cAnd I remember going back to the emergency room.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
She stayed in the hospital for three days while doctors ran tests. On December 21, 1996, Roberts was diagnosed with HIV<\/a>. She was 44 years old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt surprised me because it never occurred to me that that\u2019s what was going wrong with me,\u201d she said. \u201cI was in total shock, disarray, scared to death because back then, it was like a death sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Roberts left the hospital with a medication regimen and visited an HIV clinic for guidance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEveryone was so nice to me there. They were so kind and calmed all my fears; they tried to at least,\u201d said Roberts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Initially, her medications helped ease symptoms, and she felt better. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, a year after her diagnosis, Roberts became extremely tired and experienced shortness of breath<\/a> and nosebleeds. She also noticed that the skin on her hands and the bottom of her feet darkened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n An intense nosebleed<\/a> led her back to the ER, where doctors discovered she had significantly low blood platelets. For 25 days straight, she received blood and platelet transfusions in the hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During this time, doctors determined that one of her medications caused her symptoms, and they adjusted accordingly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAfter that, I have never gone back to the hospital or had any problems with my medications, and I\u2019ve had different ones over the years,\u201d said Roberts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 2021, Roberts\u2019 rheumatologist, Debbie Hagins<\/a>, MD, medical director of the Coastal CARE Centers in southeast Georgia, asked if she would like to participate in a clinical trial for try Idvynso<\/a>, a daily two-drug single-tablet treatment for people with HIV who are virally suppressed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cShe explained the medication to me and asked if I would like to be in a study,\u201d said Roberts. \u201cI felt it was a privilege for her to ask me to be in this study.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She decided to enroll in the clinical trial because she couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to take only one medication a day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe only thing I remember from initially taking the medication was I had really vivid dreams for about two weeks, and it\u2019s been smooth sailing [since],\u201d said Roberts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On April 21, 2026, the FDA approved Idvynso.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Roberts continues to participate in the clinical trial as part of an open-label extension, in which additional data are collected to better understand the drug\u2019s long-term safety profile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n