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 Maria, this is a common side effect of efavirenz (one of the three drugs in Atroiza).
I started using atroiza last month.i can’t sleep at night i stay awake and I don’t eat well . What could be a problem?
Please see:
http://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/hiv-transmission-and-testing
Hi,I have a sister who is infected so I just need to know whether I can also be infected because we use the same bathtub so I’m worried if some of her body fluids like vaginal discharge is left I might get infected…plz help
Hi Khithikile
Based on the online interaction database at Liverpool University, there is no interactions between your Trepiline (amitriptyline) and the meds in Atroiza.
You do not have to stop Trepiline. See:
http://www.hiv-druginteractions.org/downloads/ajd45jg-4er5-67oy-ur43-009ert.pdf?interaction_ids%5B%5D=67482&interaction_ids%5B%5D=76091&interaction_ids%5B%5D=76095&interaction_ids%5B%5D=69152&interaction_ids%5B%5D=68813&interaction_ids%5B%5D=69613
One of the meds in Atroiza – called efavirenz – can make you feel dizzy or spaced out – which is also sometimes a side effect of Trepiline.
I am hiv positive and I have to start aking atroiza today. I am worried because I am also taking trepiline. Is this not dangerous or must I stop taking trepiline?
Hi Maletsie, some ARVs are linked to risk of rash, but not blemishes.
I started using rf21 from January this year, so now I develop something sores on my face, what is cause of this blemishes?
It is fine for your meds to be out of the container for a day before you take them. Sometimes this depends on the actual medicine. Some capsules are more sensitive to high heat or to moisture in the air. Hard tablets are usually the most resistant to changes in temperature. Your pharmacist or the leaflet that comes with your meds will tell you more.
Good day. Is it true that if u took out the pill from the container it won’t work. m asking this because m working night shift so i don’t took the whole container i just took one pill and rappe with the tissue to drink it later 8pm at wor, so how possible that once it out from the container to drink other it not working