Question
Can I routinely take pain meds with oral PrEP?
30 December 2022. Related: All topics, Drug interactions, Southern Africa.
Hey there, i’m from South Africa and recently started my PrEP medication. My question is can I take PrEP with my over the counter painkillers? I suffer from mild headaches and usually take two pills a day, will this not interfere with the PrEP pills?
Answer
Hi there
Thanks – you are right to check this.
Even though there are few important drug interactions with PrEP, this might be a concern.
https://i-base.info/guides/prep/does-prep-interact-with-any-other-medications
PrEP can interact with some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), especially diclofenac, ibuprofen and naproxen. Short-term use for a few days will be okay, but routinely taking both drugs together can cause kidney problems.
NHS information about NSAIDs:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/nsaids
Please talk to your doctor about this and about alternative ways to treat the headaches. Sometimes closer kidney monitoring might be okay.
Hi Vincent, pls see this link for info on PEP:
https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/pep-faq
The timing wont make any difference so it is best to do whatever is easiest.
Hi, i am currently on PEP and i took it everyday at roughly 8 PM indonesian time. I will be travelling to NZ with 6 hours ahead in timezone.
Should i keep taking PEP at 8pm indonesian time (which is 2 am NZ time) or should i just take it at 8PM NZ time (which means 6 hours early).
Also my 28 day course finished at 2 March 2025. When should i test for HIV after taking PEP? Thank you
Hi David, please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you routinely take diclofenac.
This will not affect PEP if you only took it for one day.
Hello there I have started taking PEP on one day back and next day I had my pep at 6:34 pm and at 7:20 pm I took again Diclofenac tabs ,this will reduce the efficacy of Pep or what else will happen ?