Q and A

Question

Is excessive sweating related to my treatment?

Hi,

I was diagnosed with HIV fairly recently and have been on ART for almost 1 year. I’m currently undetectable and my CD4 is recovering very well. All symptoms of infection have subsided and I’m back to my normal life which involves living abroad in hot, dry climates.

I seem to be very intolerant of heat since being on ART and I’m suffering with Hyperhidrosis. I’m sweating a lot more than any other person who’s experiencing the same level of heat around me.

Is this something that I should discuss with my consultant? A side effect of ART perhaps? I’m not really sure.

To be clear these aren’t night sweats so I’m not worried about my VL or CD4 having taken a turn for the worse and I have no other symptoms. Just terrible sweats that comes on from the lightest exertion or even just from slight stress.

Answer

Hi, how are you doing?

It is great to hear that your life is returning to normal.

Is this excessive sweating something you have experienced before? If it is new it would be suitable to discuss this with your doctor. Even if it is something different and not related to your medication?

What ART do you take? It’s possible that this is a related side effect however after being on ART for a year it would be unusual to present now.

Josh

4 comments

  1. Josh Peasegood

    Hi Liyonda, what is the name of the ARVs you have been taking? and is this something you have experienced in the past?

    Have you noticed any other symptoms recently e.g., fevers, more infections, unintentional weight loss?

  2. Liyonda

    Hi everyone I see URL talking about sweating. I have a question pls ..I’ve been on arvs for 2 years now but suddenly I’m sweating so badly at night I can even share a bed with siblings..bcos by the time I got up middle of night stock up wet ,bed wet everything freezing my lungs out …why…and yes I also smoke…I went to d clinic n they took my blood n check nothing wrong with me but my chest feels very heavy

  3. Josh Peasegood

    Hi J, emtricitabine and tenofovir do not cause changes to sweating. However, it is known that this is an uncommon side effect from raltegravir.

    Raltegravir can uncommonly cause: chills, hot flushes and sweat changes.

    By saying it subsided, does this mean you had these problems with excessive sweat before starting treatment? Will you be able to see a doctor about this?

  4. J

    Hi Josh,

    It’s something I only experienced after infection but pre-diagnosis.

    Subsided for a month or two after starting ART but it’s come back now I’m back to my normal life. Living in hot climates it’s something I expect but I’m really suffering bad at the moment.

    I take Raltegravir 600MG with Emtricitabine 200MG/Tenoforvir 245MG.

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