Switched to Atripla after almost 7 months off meds side effects / long story

[trai]

Been on it for 6 nights now.... Eavh Night I am finding I am sleeping less and less...and less.. Yeah I get the wonderful dreams. made a couple of GI issues worse ( haha) thought it was the PIs)  Have the drunkiness, etc.   But OMFG the not being able to sleep is going to to be the end of me.  Also starting to get the PN  back in my hands, once again thought it was the PIs...guess not.  I am not really sure how much of this is going to make sense, since my concentratration is not what it was a week ago.

My KS has neither improved while I was on meds, nor gotten worse since I came off of them in Aug.   In Aug we switched my meds after about a year and 4 months due to side effects...and my bad luck was to get to get the Chicken Pox...yes the Chicken Pox not the shingles 2 days after starting the new meds.   Of course the extra horrible way I felt was attibuted to the meds...since it took another 6 days for the chicken pox to start showing up.  ( I never had the first childhood disease)  That was the worse 3 weeks of my life with chicken poz.  I really just wanted to die for 2 weeks.  I mean DIE.
 
Any ideas on the atripla, I know it is early still.

[Peter Staley]

Trai -- first, discuss the sleeping problems with your doc.  I'd ask about a good non-addicting sleeping pill, like Lunesta.

Good luck, and please post an update.

[David_CA]

Like I've said many times, I take Atripla in the morning.  It wasn't really interfering with my sleep all that much, but I could tell a difference... I just didn't feel rested in the mornings.  It also took a bit longer to fall asleep.  Plus, by taking it in the morning, it's always on a really empty stomach.  Even if I eat breakfast an hour or two after taking it, I still feel fine.

After falling asleep on the couch one night and missing my dose, I panicked and took it when I woke up (which happened to be my regular wake-up time).  I felt a bit funky for a bit, but not all that bad.  More importantly, I felt SO rested.  I go to the gym every morning, which really seems to help keep me from really noticing the Atripla. 

If you're not having any 'real' side effects (by that I mean physical issues that won't go away) or don't want to take additional pills, switching dosing time may work for you.  I didn't ask my Dr. about it before the switch, as it wasn't practical, but you may want to ask yours.  He did comment that very few of his patients take it in the morning.  Other than that, Peter makes a great suggestion, too.