Question
Can I take Atripla as a first line treatment?
13 February 2008. Related: All topics, Starting treatment.
I have got my usual bloods being done in a weeks time (every 3 months etc) and have decided that if my CD4 has declined and my viral load increased I am going to start treatment as I am starting to notice a decline in my overall health. The doctor spoke about Truvada and Sustiva as my 1st line options as they were the best for me, however can I start on the one tablet a day drug instead? I’ve heard that you need to get your viral load undetectable first, my last count was 77,000. Why is this?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
You should be able to take Truvada and Sustiva (two pills once a day) as first line therapy. Once your viral load is undetectable you can then switch to Atripla to take one less pill a day.
This is how Atripla was approved in Europe. This may be due to a number of reasons and one of those reasons might be that there wasn’t enough data on treatment naive patients.
I hope this is helpful.
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