Question
Is it safe to conceive while taking Tribuss?
13 July 2012. Related: All topics, Pregnancy, Sero different couples, South Africa.
Hi. I’m currently on Tribuss. CD4 count is 347 viral load undectectable. My partner is negative!
Is it safe to be pregnant while taking such treatment?
And what are the chances of not infecting him? (My partner)
Answer
It’s great that you and your partner are looking to the future and planning to have a baby. Many sero-different couples have had and continue having health HIV negative babies.
Tribuss contains the drugs efavirenz, FTC and tenofovir. It is a combination that is now used by many HIV positive pregnant women worldwide. In the past, women wishing to conceive were advised not to use efavirenz, or to switch if they found out they were pregnant whilst taking it.
However, over the past few years, this advice has now changed. Here in the UK, the current UK guidelines for the management of HIV in pregnancy recommend that efavirenz can continue to be used by women considering pregnancy. They also recommend that efavirenz can be used by women diagnosed HIV positive during pregnancy.
There are many reports of women throughout the world who have continued taking efavirenz during pregnancy.
You also asked what the chances are of you not passing HIV onto your partner. Taking ARVs and having an undetectable viral load dramatically reduces the chances of you passing HIV to your partner.
However, in terms of conception, the options are much simpler and cheaper in a situation like yours. Do-it-yourself artificial insemination (self insemination) using a plastic syringe carries no risk to your partner. This is a very safe way to protect him from HIV. Please follow this link to our guide to HIV pregnancy and women’s health. It provides more detailed information on this method.
Good luck with your future plans.
Hi Pearl. I can’t comment on the details of your relationship but if your partner has an undetectable viral load on treatment, you are not at risk of HIV even if you don;t use condoms.
http://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study
If you use condoms anyway, you have been protected in two ways.
Hi I just learnt that tribuss is HIV treatment my partner has never told me he is positive the last time I checked myself I was negative in 2014 .my partner has been treated for lymphoma cancer which came to our knowledge May 2015. I asked him about tribuss he says he started taking it last year. I do not trust my partner he has had various extramarital affairs since we were married 21 years ago.I actually want to go and test again after discovering this tribuss fact.I thought he was on Cancer treatment yet this is HIV. He has been using condoms in our irregular sexual relations for many years.
Hi Kayt, if your partner is on effective treatment this makes it safe for you to stop using condoms in order to have a baby. Ideally, you partner should have an undetectable viral load. As not all countries have these tests, it is okay to think treatment is working if someone’s CD4 count is still high and increasing on treatment. See this link about conceiving:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/what-to-do-when-one-partner-is-hiv-positive-and-the-other-is-hiv-negative
And this link about how low the risk is when viral load is undetectable.
http://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study
Hi, I am a guy with a positive partner. I want to know if is it safe for us to have an unprotected sex with while she is taking Tribuss? I am nagative sø we just want a way of our having our baby, in a safe way. pls help us.
Hi Precious, if your doctor has prescribed Fertomid (clomiphene) this is fine to use. There are no interactions based on the Liverpool University drug interaction online reseource:
http://www.hiv-druginteractions.org/downloads/ajd45jg-4er5-67oy-ur43-009ert.pdf?interaction_ids%5B%5D=79382&interaction_ids%5B%5D=79373&interaction_ids%5B%5D=79367&interaction_ids%5B%5D=68813&interaction_ids%5B%5D=69152&interaction_ids%5B%5D=69702
Im on odimune me my partner is not on treatment but he is positive weve been trying to have a baby can i use fertomid
Hi Thabi, this is not liekly to be related to either HIV or Tribuss. Your situation is not ususual. Sometimes things take time and you can’t choose when this happens. In the UK, the doctor sometimes tests whether there is a fertility problem – for you or your partner – but it sounds like your doctor may already have done this. All you can do is to keep trying I guess. Have you considered adoption? There are lots of children who need parents.
hi,my partner and I areon tribuss,we have only one child but weve been trying to have another one for the past 3years,so im not sure what is the problem we have been to the doctor but he said theres nothing wrong.what should I do?
Hi Refilwe
Please talk to your doctor about your plans and your concerns.
Sometimes it takes a while to have a family, but your doctor can check whether there are any medical concerns.
Many women become pregnant on Tribuss and have successful pregnancies and their babies do not have HIV.
hi I m HIV positive and my partner wants to have a baby his also positive but now I m scare course last year January I had an actopic n in October I miscarriage so now is it healthy for us to have a baby I m also on tribuss treatment