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 Judith,
Congratulations on your pregnancy.
Being on meds is the only way to prevent HIV transmission to your baby. Therefore, you are already doing the best thing possible. For more information on HIV and pregnancy please see:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
I’m hiv positive and I’m pregnant. I’m taking Atroiza as my Arv med. I’m worried if my baby will be born hiv negative. What else can I do to protect my unborn child.
Hi Anonimas,
Atrozia and atenef are generic versions of the ARV, Atripla. They contain the same ingredients, this being efavirenz + tenofovir DF + FTC. Therefore, they are the same thing. Please see:
http://i-base.info/guides/1561
Hi, I’ve found out that I’m hiv positive. I’m 22. I started my treatment with atroiza. Last time I went to the clinic they gave me atenef. Is it possible?
Hi Sandiswa,
I’m sorry to hear that your sister is so unwell.
Atrozia is not known to cause epilepsy, and neither is TB. Therefore, you will need to talk to her doctor about this. If your sister has TB, its important that she receives treatment for this, as well as her HIV. Do you know what TB meds your sister is taking?
Hi Doc my sister started to use atroiza maybe a year ago ever since she started she began to have epileptics she went to the hospital many times for this, they diagnosed her of a TB in her lungs shes on treatment for that now,is this normal Doc?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Hi Norah, we tell everyone who gets a rash to go to their doctor. If it gets worse you need to go back to the doctor. It sounds like your mother should ask to use a different medicine. Please contact the clinic again. You can say i-Base gave this information. If one doctor doesn’t listen, ask to speak to another.
My mother has started Atroza and she has developed a rash its been 3weeks now, she went to the clinic and they gave pills and cream but it looks like its getting worse everyday. Please advise
Hi Joseph, do you know the names of your girlfriends meds and here CD4 count. Any symptoms are something to talk to the doctor about.
Hi my name is Joseph,my girlfriend is on ARV’s for about 3months now, and she started experiencing headache and sore feet. could ARV’s be the cause of her pains