Question
Are these side effects from Atroiza?
13 December 2013. Related: All topics, Life expectancy, Newly diagnosed, Pregnancy, Side effects.
Am a 19 yr old girl I just foundout that am HIV+ and am pregnant.
I started taking Atroiza but since I started I hardly sleep. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and have a bad headache when I ask nurse she say its part of treatment. Is it Atroiza doing this or what?
I know HIV can’t be cured and I doing this for my unborn baby because if I die who wil raised her/him?
Answer
Hello,
I’m very sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. Finding out you are HIV positive is never easy but finding out in pregnancy can be especially hard. Do you have any support to help you deal with this?
Atroiza is a generic version of Atripla.
Atroiza contains a drug called efavirenz which has side effects that include sleep disturbance, mood changes and headaches. Usually these will improve over the first few weeks of treatment. However, some people change to a different drug because of these side effects.
It’s important to understand that these are related to your treatment, and to discuss them with your clinic if you are finding them difficult or they don’t improve. This link has more about these side effects.
You are right that we don’t have a cure for HIV. ARVs are very effective at treating HIV though and can allow you to have a long and healthy life.
With ARVs, HIV positive people have almost the same life expectancy as HIV negative people. Living with HIV isn’t something that is easy and you do need to take it seriously, but it shouldn’t stop you from doing anything in life you would have done before your diagnosis.
You may find the following links useful for more information. Do get back in touch if you have any questions.
Hi Joyce,
Atrozia is a generic version of Atripla. It is not known to cause joint pains. Please see:
http://i-base.info/guides/1561
Therefore, this is something that your sister should talk to her doctor about.
You mention that she used to take other ARVs, do you know what she changed? Are you also aware of what her CD4 count is, and viral load?
My sister is taking Atroiza. Her joints has become weak, she is not going to work now since she changed for 3 pills to this one. Is it normal to feel powerless?
Hi Thato, this doesn’t sound like a side effect, but it is something to talk to your doctor about. If your CD4 count was under 200 when you started treatment this might be another infection. Or it might just be normal lymph nodes.
I am taking Atroiza and lately I have some lumps between the neck and jawbone, can this be the side effects?
Hi Patience,
For me to be able to answer this I’ll need more info. What what you CD4 count when you were diagnosed? What was you CD4 when you changed? What medication where you originally on? What are you know taking? Have you had any problems with resistance?
Hi im 18 years Old i found out that i was hiv positive when i was 15 now they changed my medication why
Hi Percy,
Diarrhoea is not a common side effect when taking atrozia. However, if your brother is eating and taking atrozia straight away, this maybe why he is having diarrhoea.
For more information on diarrhoea and how to manage it please see:
http://i-base.info/qa/8046
My brother’s been taking atroiza for 3days is it normal that he’s having diarrhoea?
Hi Vovo,
There can be drug interactions with ARVS. What they are though will depend on the ARVs that you are taking. And also what other drugs you intend to take alongside your ARVs. I’m not sure what prime 1 is.
what can happen to me if i m using prime 1 and hiv treatment at the same time or what are side effect of the combination. I learn that prime1 give strenght and relive stress and also i learn that arvs are take alone without any medicine plz help