Question
Is my treatment causing my low energy?
29 September 2016. Related: All topics, Changing treatment, Newly diagnosed, Side effects, South Africa, Starting treatment.
I used to be active at the gym before I started with my treatment, (I started beginning of September). Now, the longest time I can spend at the gym is an hour, and i feel i have not worked out enough. Another thing is waking up in the morning is such a mission, and I don’t have energy to face the day anymore, I try to be as healthy as possible, I don’t drink energy drinks nor do I take energy supplements….
Answer
Hi,
How are you handling your recent diagnosis?
It’s great that you are staying active and healthy so soon after starting treatment! Some people take time to adjust and then get back into exercising as normal, particularly if they have a low CD4 count and immune system isn’t that strong when they start.
Do you mind me asking what HIV treatment you are taking and what your CD4 count is?
If you are taking a generic version of Atripla, there is a chance the efavirenz is causing the tiredness and lack of energy. The side effects can be quite broad but often involve sleep and mood changes. We have a guide on how to manage these specific side effects and whether to switch. For some they can go after the first few weeks but can last longer for others and they can consider switching.
Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Hi Papi, energy drinks would not cause an increase in viral load. Have you been asked to have a repeat test? As this is quite a big jump usually lab error accounts for most of these jumps. Other causes can include recent vaccines/infections or it is a random blip in your viral load: https://i-base.info/guides/changing/blips
The most important thing is that you get a repeat test to be sure of your result.
I’m on tld and my VL was undetectable, however last month went for bloods and results came back with VL 2855. The explanation could be of energy drinks, kindly advice how possible.