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 Mpilo,
If your partner’s been on meds since 2016 then unless they have had treatment issues their viral load will be undetectable. What this means is that they can’t transmit HIV to you through sexual intercourse, and this includes when you don’t use a condom. Please see here for more info:
http://i-base.info/htb/32308
If this is the case, then there’s no chance that you’re infected.
If you were in the UK you wouldn’t be prescribed PEP as there isn’t a risk.
In some countries Atrozia may be given as PEP, in the UK however it isn’t.
My partner is HIV+ he was diagnosed last year 2016 July and has been on treatment since. We use a condom all the time however last night our condom burst. I went to see a doc for prep and he gave me atrozia.
1 what are chances i could get infected
2 is atrozia the right meds…im hiv negative.
Hi Mxolisi, Atroiza can have these side effects, but they normally get easier after the first week or two. This link has more detailed information about efavirenz side effects and things that can help. Efavirenz is the active drug in Atroiza causing the problems.
http://i-base.info/guides/side/cns-side-effects
i started taking Atrozia for 2 weeks and everytime i wake up I’m dizzy and loss appetite and i oversleep i don’t know y
Hi Mbali,
Because you only took 2 you should be fine. You’ll just need to wait for them to go out of your system.
I am Hiv negative I took some Arv by mistake so I need to know nothing will happen to me. And since I drink 2 of them in the same time I feel like vomiting and my body is tired. What should I do
Hi angelina,
Please see Q3 here:
http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
I’ve been taking Atrozia for more than 8 months. I still feel crazy when I take it.
Hi Stse,
What’s your CD4 count? Your mixed emotional state could be due to the efavirenz that are in Atrozia, therefore if these are causing you a lot of problems, you might need to change. Please see Q3 here:
http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
For info about starting meds please see here:
http://i-base.info/guides/starting
It might help you.
I am too emotional i dnt knw whether its because of the status or the treatment which is stressing me..i just want to adjust my life to my status within these few months and accept..av been taking atroiza for 20 days now i want to stop until 2018..