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.
I have been taking Atripla wrongly – ie one hour after supper. Can I change and take it 2hours before i eat? Will i experience side effects?
Hi Nomsa,
Odimune is a very safe and widely used medication. You will need to take this throughout pregnancy and if you decide to breastfeed. Whether you can stop after that will depend on what your CD4 count was when you started- do you know what this was?
Hi, Im 17 Weeks pregnant and HIV positive and i jst started on ODIMUNE pills. How safe is to take the pills and will i leave the treatment if my cd4 goes up?
Hi Isaac,
It’s normal to feel dizzy after taking odimune. This is why it is usually recommended that people take this medication at night, an hour or so before they go to bed. These side effects usually get easier after the first few weeks of treatment but odimune might not be the best medication for you because you are working shifts so it will be difficult to always take this before you go to bed.
It’s important to make sure you are not driving if you feel dizzy or drunk. You may be able to ask your employer to assign you to different tasks until these side effects improve. If this is not possible it’s a good idea to discuss this with your doctor and see whether changing to a different treatment would be better.
I’ve been taking odimune for plus minus two weeks,I fill dizzy and drunk a few hours after a dose is gonna be permanent or will the fillings fade after sometime.The worse thing is I am working shifts and my occupation is driving in open cast mining.And causes the burning filling inside the stomach going up the throat moments after dose
In most countries Odimune is recommended to take on an empty stomach, so this is fine. The concern with food is that a meal that is high in fat will increase the drug levels of efavirenz, which is one of the drugs in Odimune. So long as you don;t eat a high fat meal, many people take Odimune with or without food.
I’ve stated taking Odimune a week ago and now its almost two weeks. I took my tablet after finishing eating my supper. I’ve never experienced any side effects since I’ve started taking. Now I hear that I can take the tablet on an empty stomach, how true is that I’ve never try that but I want to hear from before I tried to take it on the empty stomach.
Thank you
Nozi
Hi, Odimune will reduce your viral load and this will reduce the risk to your baby if you are breastfeeding. This is something to discuss with your clinic though because different countries make different recommendations for how to feed your baby if you are HIV positive.
hi, ive just recently started taking odimune because i am breast feeding. Does it reduce my chances of infecting my baby who is also still on nevarapine?
Hi Nana,
It’s fine to have a little bit of variation in the time you take your medication. A good rule is to not be more than one hour early or late. So for instance taking it between 20.00 and 22.00 would be fine.