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Main Forums => Someone I Care About Has HIV => Topic started by: squaw on June 30, 2010, 08:58:05 pm

Title: Have Another Question
Post by: squaw on June 30, 2010, 08:58:05 pm
I'm not sure I am posting this in the correct category.  As you guys know, my son recently tested HIV+ and has been on Atripla for about three weeks.  My question (or rather his question) concerns possible side effects of Atripla, I started to post my question under side effects, but since I'm not HIV+ myself, I thought I should post the question here. 

My son says he has developed bags under his eyes since starting on Atripla.  He never had a problem with this before.  He tried to google it and didn't find any information.  I have found you guys to be the best source of information (and support).  Has anyone experienced bags under their eyes as a side effect of Atripla?  You know how gay guys are about their looks. LOL  He is not liking it much.

Thanks for your assistance again.

Squaw
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: Matty the Damned on June 30, 2010, 09:05:17 pm
I'm not sure I am posting this in the correct category.  As you guys know, my son recently tested HIV+ and has been on Atripla for about three weeks.  My question (or rather his question) concerns possible side effects of Atripla, I started to post my question under side effects, but since I'm not HIV+ myself, I thought I should post the question here. 

My son says he has developed bags under his eyes since starting on Atripla.  He never had a problem with this before.  He tried to google it and didn't find any information.  I have found you guys to be the best source of information (and support).  Has anyone experienced bags under their eyes as a side effect of Atripla?  You know how gay guys are about their looks. LOL  He is not liking it much.

Thanks for your assistance again.

Squaw

Hi Squaw,

How long has your son been on the stuff? Atripla can cause sleep disturbance issues but these often settle down in the first month or so.

MtD
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: Hellraiser on June 30, 2010, 09:10:10 pm
You know how gay guys are about their looks. LOL  He is not liking it much.

Coolest mother ever for saying this.

Anyway, I'm on Atripla and my sleep seems to be kind of hit or miss, the bags as Matty said would probably be more an indicator of a lack of rest than as a primary effect of the medication itself.  If he thinks his sleep is being disturbed there are a number of ways to deal with that.
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: WillyWump on June 30, 2010, 10:13:20 pm
  You know how gay guys are about their looks. LOL  He is not liking it much.

Squaw

Will you adopt me?

MAtty and Heckraiser are correct, Atripla causes sleep disturbances, which in turn may cause the bags. Also maybe just the general stress of the situation is causing the bags. Tell him the bags will most likely go away and in the meantime he need not worry so much about the bags because the Atripla is kicking the Virus's butt! It's a great trade off :)

-Will
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: phildinftlaudy on June 30, 2010, 10:24:02 pm
Yeah Squaw - same as Hellraiser here, with Atripla good sleep is an off and on thing - some nights are fine; other nights I wake up a few times; other nights the dreams come on strong and actually interrupt my sleep (either becausse they are so damn wild that they trip me out and I wake up or I do something in them like fly off the back of a vehicle and it scares me and I wake up).... The bags under the eyes are probably lack of rest, maybe some stress from being newly diagnosed, also if he lost weight at all (which I think you said before that he had) that miight make bags under the eyes more pronounced than before.  
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: squaw on June 30, 2010, 10:39:53 pm
Thanks for all the responses.  Willy, I would be happy to adopt you.  I wish I give seminars to parents of homosexuals.  There are so many families that are needlessly torn apart because of lack of understanding and failure to accept.  I will never understand how parents can turn their backs on their children because of something that they can not help and did not choose.  Unfortunately my sermon often falls on deaf ears.  It's amazing how narrow minded people can be.  I'll get off my soap box now.  'night people.   :-*
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: phildinftlaudy on June 30, 2010, 10:41:15 pm
Like the saying goes -- Minds are like parachutes - they function only when open

Have a good night squaw.
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: Sebastian1969 on July 01, 2010, 05:45:36 pm
Squaw,
My boyfriend has been on Atripla for 9 months now.  In the begining he was more tired and not sleeping as well as he would have liked to and I could see it in his eyes, after a few months he gets a good nights sleep now.  I think it was a combination of meds, worrying, work, and just the everyday obsticles in life.
Your son is early in his treatment and I think the better he can take care of himself, rest and so on, the better the tired eyes get.
As many have said, you are a cool mom, your son is lucky to have you, assure him he is as hot as he ever was and nothing can change that:)
Title: Re: Have Another Question
Post by: Mother Teresa on July 07, 2010, 11:12:49 am
Squaw, I have had my share of knowing really cool gay guys and I have to admit they would certainly love to have you as their mom, lol.  Anyway, I know it may come on deaf ears right now for your son to be told he needs to get as much rest as he possibly can and with that he will probably start losing the bags under his eyes....however he can always use the cool trick that us women use when we get those unsightly bags and that is the cool sliced cucumber rings placed over the eyes while resting or better yet the cooled used tea bag trick.  I'm sure he is still quite handsome in any case but that may take some of the puffiness away.

T