HIV Support Group

HIV (also known as human immunodeficiency virus, and formerly known as HTLV-III and lymphadenopathy-associated virus) is a retrovirus that primarily infects vital components of the human immune system which can lead the syndrome known as AIDS. Many of the problems faced by people infected with HIV result from failure of the immune system to protect from opportunistic...

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Infectious Diseases
/ HIV Support Group

Meds

missmary
missmary
I have been HIV for 3 years now. I just went to see my doc today and he told me that I need to start on meds. My cd4 is now 478 and it just keeps going down. I have a guestion I was wondering if there is any one out there that is taking or have took the med. The name is ATRIPLA. I would like to know what kind of side effects or anything you can tell me about this med. im very scared to start taking them,but i need to start tonight. Please help. Mary
tim2218
tim2218
I was on Atripla for two years before I went off. You can expect some weird dreams, kinda trippy like, at first. They ended up taking me off, because I was having no good results. I think there is another thread on Atripla in the group if you look for it. Best of luck to you.
deleted_user
deleted_user
My ex was on Atripla and had great results. His VL went to undectable and his CD4 was on the rise. We broke up and he stopped caring and taking care of hiself, so now I don't know. Hope this helps.
missmary
missmary
I have only been on Atripla for 5 days now. I'm not sure if im have any weird dream or not. i think I do sleep better thou. i go back in 3 weeks to have my blood check will know if it works or not then. Thaks for the comments.
DrDuke
DrDuke
Thanks for letting us know how it is going for you, MissMary. Too often, we hear only the bad news, sometimes the super-good news. But it is also important to just hear the everyday news.

Most of the information available, says that Atripla is a good combination of drugs for most people. But it really helps to hear first-hand accounts, good, bad and average.

The "scientific" publications on AIDS drugs are too impersonal and sterile, and use terms like "serious adverse events" which most of us can't define. For some people, wild dreams are "serious" and for other people they are trivial. We are all unique individuals with different tolerances for different types of problems. I understand why "science" has to pretend we are all clones and talk about "averages" and "percentages". A support group like this has a different purpose.

I think that five days on Atripla with no sign of serious problems is a good sign for you. From what I have heard, most people who had bad side effects had them within a few days and most often even the very first dose. Because HIV treatments need to be taken for years, even the smallest adverse side effects have to be taken seriously. Most of us can put up with something like bad dreams for a week or so, but to consider continuation for years is another story.

Anyway, thanks again for sharing your story, and please keep us updated.