Question
What happens if don’t take Atripla on an empty stomach?
25 October 2011. Related: Adherence, All topics, Drug interactions.
Hello! I take Atripla and I need to take it on an empty stomach. I am just wondering what happens when I don’t take it on an empty stomach and how long after a meal is the stomach empty?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
Eating before taking Atripla will not stop it from working.
When the drug instructions say take Atripla on an empty stomach, it does not mean that you have to feel physically empty or hungry. That is why the recommendation is to take your medication after about 2 hours without eating. A cup of tea and a biscuit an hour before you take your medication should be fine.
One of the reasons why they recommend taking it on an empty stomach is because a high fat mean can increase the drug levels of efavirenz to 60%. This can then increase the side effects. Nearly all other foods are fine, just leave a couple of hours when the meal is high fat. [efavirenz is one of the drugs contained in Atripla].
Some people find that they can eat and take Atripla almost straight after without experiencing side effects. However, as people are individuals and react differently to treatment, others find that eating and taking Atripla straight after, gives them nausea, vomitting or diarrhoea.
Hi. I’m on Odimmune. My problem is I find it very hard to take my pills in fixed time, I take them at any time between 20:00 and 21:00. Would be that a problem?
Hi Lisa,
I’m sorry to hear about the difficult side effects you are experiencing. How much longer to you have to take the TB meds? Unfortunately it’s normal to have more side effects when taking ARVs together with TB meds. Your doctor should be able to give you painkillers for the headaches and medicine to stop the diarrhoea. These side effects should get better after a few weeks but it’s important to tell the doctor how you are feeling so you can get something to make these side effects easier.
I have started taking odimune about a week ago & since then I’v been getting terrible headache & diarrhoea I also have TB & on treatment but I didn’t have running stomach n headache while I was only on TB treatment, could it be the odimune side effects coz I can’t even focus at work the pains are just unbearable I also feel tired and get hotflashes??
Hello, if you have changed the way that you are taking your medication this could be the cause of this symptom. Odimune and Atripla contain the same drugs so you shouldn’t experience different side effects when changing from one to the other.
I started with atripla last month and I didn’t experiance any symtoms.and this month they gave me odimune its been 3days now but I fell tired and not sleeping at night.my stomuch has air.ists coz by odimune or its because I use to take it with my food in stomuch.
The food interaction with Atripla means that a high fat meal increases the levels of of efavirenz. So the worry would not be about it being less effective against the virus but about causing more side effects. So long as you are not getting side effects you can chose to still take Atripla with food even though it is not recommended.
When food is needed to increase the drug level though, it would be more risky not to follow this advice. In this case not taking food will risk not getting high enough concentrations, and this could cause treatment to fail.
i have taken Atripla on a full stomach almost every single time, because i have a fear of vomiting. I still came up undetected a few weeks later.
Hi Pamela, It is very important that your sister explains her symptoms to a doctor so that they can check whether there is any problem with her medication. Unfortunately I can’t diagnose these reactions online.
Hi
My sister is currently on odimune but she has to take it in the morning after eating. Problem is currently she has a lung infection and her iron went very low. She has some antibiotics that she is taking. She has a reaction and blacked out fo most of the night. Might this be a cause of the meadictions reacting in her system?
Hello,
I’m glad to hear your second day was easier. It’s normal to have these types of side effects when you first start Atripla. This should continue to improve with time but do tell your doctor about any symptoms you are experiencing and if these don’t get better.