Question
Interactions between tumeric and atazanavir/ritonavir?
11 July 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Drug interactions.
Interactions between tumeric and atazanaivr/ritonavir?I read that turmeric is great for keeping up your immune system and for those who are hiv + are there any interactions between turmeric and atazanavir / ritonavir / truvada combo? on the issue of interactions, with this drug combo am I right that only st johns wort and grapefruit should be avoided? what about garlic? many thx
Answer
There are no interactions based on the listings at this site.
Tumeric (curcumin) is unlikely to have any noticeable impact on your health. Any theoretical interest was never developed into any tangible way to use tumeric as a treatment.
HIV medications are the only proven way to increase your CD4 count.
The potential interactions with garlic would not be when used in cooking.
Hi Daniel, thanks for your question. First, to put this in context, being HIV positive doesn’t mean that someone has to change their diet, although moving to a more healthy diet is good for anyone. Second, if you are eating a healthy balanced diet will give you everything you need – ie there is no need for supplements.
In general, unless supplements are prescribed by your doctor for a medical reason, they are unlikely to make any difference. Examples when they could help is if you have difficulty eating solid food, or becasue you have low vitamin levels etc.
If you are using supplements, please tell your doctor too, as there are two main cautions.
One is that supplements that contain creatine can sometimes affect the results of kidney monitoring tests. You can still take both but your doctor needs to know about this in order to interpret your test results. This is especially true if your combination contains tenofovir.
The other concerns supplements that contain calcium, magnesium or aluminium if your combination includes an integrase inhibitor. This is because you need to separate the times you take the supplement from the time you take you HIV meds. Each integrase inhibitor is different – please see the individual info from this link.
i-base.info/guides/category/arvs/integrase-inhibitors
What food supplements are not advisable to take when you are using HIV medication