Question

16 comments

1. Lisa Thorley • 13 September 2018

   Hi Edmundo,

   Please see the above post and Q 13 here: http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions

2. Edmundo • 13 September 2018

   I am HIV positve i workout 5 times a week. I am not gaining muscle mass I am age 42 can i take Sustanon 250mg to build muscle mass. Every how long can I take it? I am also on Atripla, will it interfere with my medication.

3. Lisa Thorley • 21 March 2018

   Hi Pinto,

   As Roy has said, if you choose to stop taking meds your CD4 count will drop and your viral load will rebound. This will in time cause you problems. Skipping meds isn’t advised either, this is because meds need to be taken daily for them to be effective.

   I suppose you need to decide what’s more important, your body building or controlling your HIV.

4. Pinto • 21 March 2018

   Thanks Roy for your reply,
   I want to go for bodybuilding. So want to start lean bulking. To avoid medicine interactions I was thinking of stop hiv meditation while one month of steroid cycle. Or should i take steroid and hiv medicine on alternate days?

   Thanks in advance

5. Roy Trevelion • 14 March 2018

   Hi Pinto, Are you thinking of doing a steroid cycle to bulk up? As it says on this question above, some steroids can interact with your medication. However, if you decide to stop treatment, your viral load is likely to rebound soon. And if you stay off treatment your CD4 count will likely start to drop. When this happens the risk of developing infections increases. There can be an increased risk of drug resistance. You can read more about stopping on this question.

6. Pinto • 14 March 2018

   Hi,
   I am thinking of doing steroid cycle of one month. Do i have to stop my hiv meditation during the cycle? Thanks in advance.

7. Robin Jakob • 12 January 2015

   Hi,

   There are no drug interactions between your HIV meds and deca-durabolin. This means you can take them together.

8. dave • 12 January 2015

   i have the same question, can i take (Deca-durabolin) if I am on HIV medication (Efavirenz, lamivudine and Tenofovir) 3in1?

9. Charlotte Walker • 12 August 2010

   Hi James,

   The Liverpool University site says that ‘An interaction has been predicted based on the metabolic profiles of the drugs’. This means that the way the body processes both drugs is the same and so it could be that the body is busy processing the testosterone (sustanon) instead of the efavirenz. This will cause fluctuations in the amount of efavirenz in your blood which could in change how affective it is at suppressing the virus.

   There are alternatives to drugs if you want to bulk up. Have you tried working with a personal trainer at your gym? If you concentrate on shorter reps with heavier weights and couple this with use of low fat protein shakes such as whey-based formulas you should be able to bulk up in a similar way as if you were taking testosterone but without interacting with your HIV meds.

   To read more about bulking up without the use of supplements please follow this link to a book called ‘Built to Survive’ which focuses on body building in HIV positive men and women:

10. james • 8 August 2010

    Hi Charlotte and thank you for your answer, I have googled sustanon and efavirenz to see how they interact. Could you give me an idea of how they interact and is it a bad thing? Sorry to blab on and many thanks again