Question
How soon can I eat after taking Odimune?
21 August 2012. Related: Adherence, All topics.
I hear you say its advisable to take odimune (efavrienz+ FTC+ tenofovir) at bed time and its only taken on empty stomach, how long exactly should i stay away from food before taking it? The reason i am asking this is I can not starve the whole day before taking the tablet.
Answer
Saying that Odimune needs to be taken on an ’empty stomach’ doesn’t mean you need to starve yourself. It is fine to eat something before or when you take this, but you have to be careful to make sure this is not a high fat meal.
A high fat meal will increase levels of efavirenz and so you may get more side effects (mood changes, anxiety, disorientation or interrupted sleep etc). Food low in fat or with just a little fat, will be fine.
More about this is explained in this question: What happens if don’t take Atripla on an empty stomach?
Odimune is a generic version of Atripla which includes the same meds but is just made by a different company.
Hi Gal,
Missing 5 days of meds is likely to have caused your viral load to increase. When you restart taking your meds this should go back down though. The concern would be the possibility that you may have developed resistance during this period. You can read about how missed doses can lead to resistance here. It’s important to speak to your doctor about this, and also discuss with your pharmacy how this can be avoided in the future.
I was out of medication for 5 days during the festive season. The Pharmarcy appointed by medical aid did not deliver on time , until post office where they deliver the medication closed and I had to go for holidays. How is this going to affect my CD4 count and viral load?
Hi Lester,
Problems sleeping and anxiety are commonly recommended side effect of efavirenz (one of the medicines in Odimune). These side effects don’t make your treatment less effective, but you don’t have to put up with them.
Taking odimune a couple of hours before you go to sleep, rather than at bedtime, makes it more likely that you will be asleep when the drug levels are at their highest – about four hours after taking efavirenz.
If these side effects are difficult to deal with and are affecting your quality of life it should be easy to change treatment. Haloperidol to reduce anxiety and sleeping pills to help with sleep disturbance may also help, although these have not been formally studied.
Up to 20% of people who take efavirenz change to a different treatment in the first year because of side effects. Tell your doctor about how you are feeling and ask him/her what your options are. Please see our side effects guide for more information.
I have been on Odimune for 2months now and I already see good results.
I am eating and have strength thou I haven’t gone for my blood test.
I am battling to sleep, I sleep for 5-6 hours and suffer from anxiety during the day. Is there anything that you can recommend to take with the medication? Also, sleeping for shorter hours won’t it decrease its effectiveness?
Hi Nana,
Odimune is a combination of three antiretroviral medicines- efavirenz, FTC and tenofovir. This is a widely used combination therapy for HIV. So called ‘immune boosters’ do not treat HIV.
Is odimune an immune booster or its a treatment?
Hi Bongs,
Usually people gain weight when they start treatment. Were you already loosing weight before you started treatment?
As with any symptom or side effect this is something you should talk to your doctor about.
I have been using odimune now form two weeks but i’m loosing weight and this is depressing. Is it normal?
Hi Lester,
It’s not a good idea to stop treatment. If you stop treatment now your viral load will go back up and your CD4 count will go down. You may also develop resistance and when you restart treatment you might not get such good results. Why do you want to stop taking your treatment?
Hi
If my viral load is below 50 and CD4 count above of 500, can I stop treatment and start again when my immune system is weak?