Question

Are spots on my arms and back linked to HIV meds?

9 June 2011. Related: All topics, Changing treatment, Side effects, Starting treatment.

I have been on atazanavir, ritonavir and truvada now for 3-months and tolerating them well.

However, I have suffered from what looks like adult type acne / spots. This is definitely not a rash. It is reminiscent of teenage-like spots, quite angry and red and painful and they come up mainly on my arms and back, thankfully not on the face.

Could this be from the medication? I never had these in my life even when I was a teenager!!

What can I do to treat them? Or prevent them from coming up in the first place?

Many thanks.

Answer

Answer: Simon Collins

Hi

Thanks for your question.

Any symptoms – especially anything involving your skin – first needs to be seen by your doctor who also has your full HIV history.

Depending on the diagnosis, this might include a simple treatment or a referral to another skin specialist.

If there is no other explanation (no changes in diet, washing powder, allergies etc), and nothing helps resolve this, then switching treatment would be the only way to see whether your HIV drugs could have contributed to this.

Sometimes a few people get reactions that are not commonly reported or seen in research studies, and so keeping an open mind to this possibility is important, if nothing else has worked to resolve the problem.

i-Base produce a guide to changing treatment, that may also be useful.