Complera weight gain

[futureRN]

I've been on complera for about a few months now. I've noticed a bit of a weight gain. I want to say around 15-25 lbs. I've gained it mainly around my abdominal area (which is mainly where I've always stored it... family curse). Anyways, I've cut my calories and have done rigorous cardio and dieted for about 2-3 weeks now with no progress at all. Pre-complera this weight would've been down at least 8 lbs for me.

My question is: what should I do in the quest for a better body. I'm going to talk about Egfirta to my Doctor. I wanted to see what other people here have done in order to shed and keep off the extra weight.

Thanks in advance

[buginme2]

 Your  weight gain probably has more to do with starting meds and a return to health than it has to do specifically with Complera.

 When I started meds I  gained about twenty pounds.  It's rather common.  I  started with Atripla.  When I changed to Complera I  actually lost weight.



 

[futureRN]

I wouldn't really say a return to health... because when I originally lost my weight in 2008 I was negative. I've been pretty healthy and active since my weight lost. Even when I was positive and not on the medication, I lived a healthy and active life style. I don't my weight gain is me returning to health. This weight gain is unacceptable and needs to be reversed.

[le_liseur]

Well, for one, since Complera has to be taken with complete meals, around 350 calories, it's normal to gain weight if you didn't already have the habit to eat that much.

Beside, you don't really say how much you weight in total, and what's your height. You might have got a few pounds since you started, but, like buginme said, it might also just be a normal weight for your height. And then, there's also age; your body will react differently over time to many things, including food, and exercises...

I doubt it's 'only' because of the medications, but then again, maybe it is. I feel it might be because you had to modify your diet so that Complera works well, meaning taking the time to eat complete caloric meals every time you have to swallow the pill.

If gaining 15 pounds is a real issue, did you say anything to your doctor when he suggested to take Complera, and told you that you'd have to have caloric meals?

[dapoulio]

I'm having the same issue.  I'm up about 15 pounds in a month.  My eating habits are no different.  When i switched from Atripla to Complera (my doctor thought this a good idea but made it clear it wasn't necessary...which makes me feel weird anyways) I gained about 15 pounds and counting in about 2 months.  It's depressing.  I workout more than I used to 4-5 days a week with a moderately strict lifting/cardio regimen and i'm still seeing a pound more here and there.  I'm not losing any fat either.  The switch from Complera to Atripla is the only change i've made that could be effecting this.  I was undetectable on Atripla and i'm undetectable on Complera...should I go back to Atripla?

[meh3948]

Hi. I never really correlated taking Complera to weight gain although I have gained 40 pounds since I have been on it which is about 8 years. I am in my 3rd month of Egrifta and the only thing it seems to be doing is loosening up my previous large but firm stomach into a noticebale gut. That concerns me. Any thoughts? I will ask my doctor about weight gain and Complera but I doubt he will say it is a concern.
I think a lot of it has to do with me being POZ for 30 years combined with aging. I am more inclined to think down that road.
Have a great day.

[harleymc]

In the pre-HAART days it was generally accepted that people with untreated ( or ineffectively treated) HIV needed 20% more calories / kilojoules to maintain their weight because our metabolisms were running a lot faster to repair the damage of the infection.

The moment you get onto HAART you will need 20% fewer calories/ kilojoules to remain at the same weight.

If you are trying to lose weight you will have to make some serious lifestyle changes.

[meh3948]

Yesterday I went to my HIV doctor and talked to him about my weight gain. He took one look at my chart and said "We need to change your medication" (Complera). He said there was much more of a tendency for weight gain with it than with other types of medications. Apparently one of the three drugs that make up Complera is the culprit, Truvada not being the cause..can't remember the names of the other two. I have been poz for 30 years and he said I had 2 options.
1) Go on a new regemine with more recent medications..and I should see a difference in 6 months or
2) Come off meds completely. He said I have a very strong immune system..TCells never below 500 and consistently non detectable....and I should see a difference in 3 months. I elected to do the 2nd, with strict monitoring.
I am seeing a plastic surgeon next week about removing the fat on my upper back. I cannot sit upright with my hump making contact with the chair and the back of my head unable to. It has become very uncomfortable and, although I understand it may come back, I am going to have that removed.
He is also putting me on Metformin....since starting Egrifta my numbers have floated up near the pre diabetes line.. and apparently Metformin may help with the weight as well.
I had been on Complera for 8 years. Had no idea their was a correlation with weight gain. Am glad I joined the forum to find out!

[Miss Philicia]

This is the second time you have said that you've been on Complera for 8 years -- at first I assumed it was a typo error. Complera was only FDA approved at the end of 2011. Can you clarify what exactly you are talking about because it doesn't make sense to me.

The other main drug in Complera is Edurant, from the NNRTI class of HIV meds: http://www.aidsmeds.com/archive/Edurant_1619.shtml

Supposedly the packaging insert reads: Call your doctor at once if you have any of these other serious side effects:

signs of liver damage - nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
confusion, severe depression, unusual thoughts or behavior, suicidal thoughts or actions;
increased thirst and urination, weakness, constipation;
urinating less than usual or not at all;
swelling, rapid weight gain, feeling short of breath;
signs of infection such as fever, chills, skin lesions, or cough with yellow or green mucus.

Other than that though it sounds as if you are describing not just weight gain but lipohypertrophy, meaning specifically the upper back fatty deposits that you are discussing having surgically removed. If you have been HIV+ for 30 years then I would more likely think that an HIV medication that you were on before Complera was the culprit. Were you ever on Crixivan back in the late 90's?

[AT]

Supposedly the packaging insert reads: Call your doctor at once if you have any of these other serious side effects:

signs of liver damage - nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
confusion, severe depression, unusual thoughts or behavior, suicidal thoughts or actions;
increased thirst and urination, weakness, constipation;
urinating less than usual or not at all;
swelling, rapid weight gain, feeling short of breath;
signs of infection such as fever, chills, skin lesions, or cough with yellow or green mucus.

I'm in my third month taking Complera and it has worked to quickly take me to undetectable. I didn't find "weight gain" as a side effect on the Complera website. I didn't save my literature that came with the meds to verify. The warning seems to be an online, generic warning for many medications.

I have gained weight beginning with my second month on Complera. I attribute that to a predictable consequence of the enormous volume of food I ate daily to maintain my frail 172 pounds before I was treated for HIV. This morning I weight 187. My goal was 185 which was my pre-infection standard. I'm 5'8". Weight gain has always been an issue for me. I'm glad to have this problem back in my life.

Itching is a new issue for me. Again, it's not listed on the Complera website but it's listed on other sites as a side effect for the drug. I'll try natural remedies via diet and skin care before I change from Complera. Of course, if it's not just winter skin or worsens, then I'll quickly see my doctor.

If anyone has extra Complera because they changed med, PLEASE, contact me about your extra meds. Peace.

[newone]

On Complera (or whatever it is called in the UK) for a couple of years at first I thought it was a relief from Atripla but I too have gained extra KGs and recently a lot of very annoying all over the body hitching without an obvious reason.

Good CD numbers and undetectable for as long as I can remember..
Is there an alternative to Complera/Atripla one a day regime??

[meh3948]

Ok I was mistaken. Since Complera wasn't manufactured until 2011 then I have been on it 5 years. I don't appreciate you saying that my post "doesn't make sense". It is my first time on here, trying to reach out for information. The weight gain was NOT rapid. It was gradual. Metabolism changes are also a part of aging. People tend to gain weight positive or negative. So my non sensical self, after reading about the correlation between weight gain and and Complera, went to my doctor about it. I guess I should have perused the fine print of the prescription insert to note this side effect and refused to take it from the beginning.
Does my reply make sense?
How about a little more sensitivity to people who aren't Rhodes Scholars? I think in our unique situation we are deserving of a little more compassion in written as well as spoken thoughts.