Q and A

Question

In South Africa on Atripla for two months, will efavirenz mood changes improve?

I am 31 year old South African lady I was diagnosed with TB in 2011 and started taking medication in June 2011, I however discovered that I am HIV positive in January 2012 and I had pneumonia. My CD4 count was 43.

I have been Atripla (efavirenz, FTC + tenofovir) for two months I try to take my medication at the same time daily but sometimes on the weekends I come home late I miss my dosage. I missed two days dosage and I am on my second month.

Since taking Atripla I am easily irritable, aggressive and short tempered. My skin itches and I am a bit darker facially. My brain functions slowly, I take time to understand and sometimes when people talk to me its like I am in another world. Please advise if this is going to be life time thing?

Answer

Hello,

Thank-you for your question. I’m sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis and that you are having difficulties with your HIV drugs.

Although you may be worried about having missed a couple of doses of your treatment this shouldn’t cause too many problems. What we are more concerned about are the mood changes you have described.

Changes in moods and in your ability to think are a typical side effect of efavirenz, one of the drugs in Atripla. Nearly everybody who takes efavirenz will experience some changes to their mood, sleep patterns, or concentration and thinking. For most people these side effects are mild and easy to manage.

It sounds like these side effects are causing you a lot of trouble though. If these mood changes are affecting your daily life you can talk to your doctor about changing treatment. Up to 1 in 5 people who start taking efavirenz change to a different drug in the first year.  Please follow this link for more information about efavirenz side effects.

The first step to changing your treatment is to talk to your doctor or clinic. Our guide to side effects contains information about how to describe side effects to your doctor. It’s important that your doctor understands how these side effects are affecting your life. Please follow this link for help about describing your side effects to your doctor.

Please let me know if you have any problems or would like more information.  If you would like to contact a local organisation you can contact TAC (Treatment  Action Campaign) who are based in South Africa. Please follow this link for TAC’s website.

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