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 Sali, you are describing common side effects of efavirenz which is one of the drugs in Atroiza. These should get easier but the information at this link has ideas that might help:
http://i-base.info/qa/12092
If none of these idea help then talk to your doctor and ask for a drug that doesn’t have these side effects.
hi, I started taking the Atroiza two weeks ago, first 3 days I would be dizzy, however now I have noticed that I lost weight and I cant sleep at night. I wake up in the middle of the night, I have funny dreams is this normal? should I continue with the pills as my cd4 is very high its 1025? do I really need to go through this, sometimes I cant feel my legs?
Hi Kagiso, I am sorry but these are things that your doctor needs to discuss. How are you sleeping? If you sleep quality s not good, this will make you tired the next day. If this is becoming worse or too difficult, you could ask the doctor if you could try a different combination for a month. Then you would know if it is related to efavirenz which is in most first combinations. In the UK you could easily change ot something else but in many countries alternative combinations are more expensive, so it is more difficult sometimes to change.
hi i’m Kagisho i’ve been taking treatment for over two years now, recently i fainted at work, i have lost appetide most of the time im lazy to do anything. when i go to the docter they say nothing is wrong with me. im just wondering what could be the cause of this.
Hi Nomfundo, this sounds like side effects to efavirenz. Usually this gets better over time.
Please have a look at the information in this link which might help.
http://i-base.info/qa/12092
hy ijs hv started my treatment atrioza since ihv started it at the middle of the nighth when sometymz I woke up I feel dizzy HV a headache n I loss my appetite should I be worried
Hi Samantha, your sister’s doctor needs to be looking at this. Without your sister’s full history it is difficult to explain one blood result like sugar levels. You are right that this seems high though, so the doctor needs to take this seriously. It will involve looking at medical history, diet, medications, level or exercise etc all of which affect blood sugar. This page has more information.
http://i-base.info/guides/side/increased-blood-sugar-levels-and-risk-of-type-2-diabetes
My sister haa been on ARVs but now her sugar level is always above 15 mmol. can these be the side effects?
Hi Sindy, it is good you are now on treatment. This is good both for you and your baby. If you have an undetectable viral load when you give brith this will be best for your baby too.
Hi
Am pregnant and started my treatment after 5 months of pregnancy…will that affect my unborn baby?