Question
Is it normal to feel hot at night when taking Atripla?
19 January 2012. Related: All topics, Side effects.
I have been taking Atripla for 5 months but still get very hot at night on occassion.
Is this normal?
Answer
Feeling hot at night as a symptom on its own may not be a side effect of Atripla. Are you experiencing other symptoms? People taking Atripla [which contains three drugs, efavirenz, tenofovir and FTC] usually experience other side effects including sleep disturbances, mood changes and anxiety. For most people these are mild and generally become easier to manage over time.
If, however, you are experiencing these side effects and find that it is affecting your quality of life, an option is to switch to another drug. Switching should be relatively easy. Your doctor will be able to advise you accordingly.
For more information on managing side effects, please follow this link to our guide on HIV and your quality of life.
Best wishes.
Hi Josh Peasegood. Thank you for saying so and I’m happy to share because this forum helps me a lot too.
I do try taking it on an empty stomach and taking it earlier helps. I wouldn’t recommend taking it earlier at first but as we our bodies grow more accustomed to the drug the effects lessen. As soon as I started feeling less drowsy I take it around 5pm and have my supper 1 to 2 hours later.
I have felt that food and even snacks make the hot flushes worse and we rarely get food these days that don’t have a kind of oil in them.
When I haven’t had any snacks though I still feel the hot flush but like I said it comes on 2 hours after taking meds and doesn’t always last and it’s manageable so I really don’t mind.
But if I had any other severe side effects with it or even if it were unmanageable I would check with the clinic.