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 Lebo,
Please see Q5 here: http://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
I tested HIV + and my girlfriend tested negative also my ex who is pregnant test negative is there an error on the test kit or what?
Hi Luyanda,
The good news is that if the person taking Atroiza has an undetectable viral load, the risk of HIV to you is zero. Even if you don’t use condoms.
Please see more info here at Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U).
What happen if I sleep with someone taking Atroiza ,while am negative without proctection
Hi Bonyana,
It’s unlikely that you’re feeling like this due to the Atrozia. Therefore, please talk to your doctor.
Hi
Its only 2 months now on Atroiza Arvs treatment , the problem um experience is that my hands sometimes pains too much on the joints and its too painful
Please assist
Hi Sthembiso,
If you are taking Atroiza it can be difficult to work shifts with time changes. That’s because efavirenz, one of the drugs in this combination, can disturb sleep. Please see Atripla for side effects and recommendation to take before bedtime and on an empty stomach.
But one thing is to please speak to your doctor to see if there is a choice. Explain how difficult this is to work shifts and say you need a different medicine.
Hi …may l know the time schedule for taking ARVs befause at work we can shifts
Hi Dee,
Have you had any other possible risks, so sex without a condom with other people? If you have this could explain why you may be positive. Have you had an ELISA test? If you have when are you due to get your results back? How long have you now been on the meds?
Hi. I just tested positive while both my current partner and ex tested negative after I told them about my results. Is it possible that there may have been an error with my results. I had an herpes outbreak when I went testing and I have read that this may cause error when testing using a kit. And should I continue taking the meds before the blood samples confirm the results