Question
Do I need to eat calcium rich foods at a different time to taking treatment?
25 January 2023. Related: All topics, Supplements and herbs.
My wife and I just been switched to TLD, they said that calcium and iron supplements interacts with dolutegravir. I’m just confused about foods containing calcium like milk, and iron rich foods like fish. Do I have to eat/drink them 6 hours after taking TLD to avoid interactions? Thank you so much
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
No. You do not need to eat/drink these foods at a different time to your medication.
Dolutegravir should not be taken at the same time as calcium/iron supplements. Often it is advised to take the treatment and supplement at opposite ends of the day to avoid interaction.
Supplements contain significantly higher levels of these vitamins/minerals than in food. It is because these supplements have much higher levels that there is risk of interaction. In food, these levels are much lower and will not interact with your treatment.
Josh.
Hi Lance, it is great that all your other indicators were normal.
Aside from what your renal doctor has advised there is nothing else to suggest.
Dear Josh,
I have taken kidney function test and urine test, in which eGFR is 89.3 and acid uric is 451.2 micromole/litre, but other indicators (such as creatinin, urea and microalbumin) are normal. Thus, beside changing my diet including reducing salt and protein (including contemporarily stop using whey) advised by my renal doctor, are there anything I should consider?
Hi Lance, yes you are able to consume these foods. The iron/calcium in these foods are not at a high enough level to interact with PEP. You can eat these at any point you want. This is also true for whey protein.
There is only concern around whey protein and TLD if you have known kidney problems. The protein can make the kidney toxic effects fo tenofovir ‘T’ worse. This is not a risk if you already have healthy kidneys before starting treatment.
Thus, as I use TLD as PEP, am I able to consume foods/drinks with rich iron and calcium like red meat and milk (regardless of time on the day, or just <=2h after and <=6h before use of TLD), as this drug interacts with iron and calcium?
Otherwise, as whey protein contains same amount of calcium to milk, do I need to concern about it?