Complera year two... Anxiety?

[gadawg1979]

Over the past 6 months my Anxiety has gotten worse... I hate to go on another pill to treat it but its getting to that point.  Anyone else had this happen after Complera for a while?

[Miss Philicia]

the Edurant/rilpivirine component in Complera is an NNRTI (like Sustiva in Atripla) so depression/anxiety/mood changes are a known side effect. You should discuss this with your health care provider.

[gadawg1979]

the Edurant/rilpivirine component in Complera is an NNRTI (like Sustiva in Atripla) so depression/anxiety/mood changes are a known side effect. You should discuss this with your health care provider.

thanks and I will

[gadawg1979]

Next Appt on the 16th and something has to change... that or you all will see me on the news after the next person pisses me off... LOL

[BKKKevin]

Hello Gadawg,
It would be helpful to us if you gave us a bit more information about your situation?...

What other medications are you taking?
Do you take any over the counter drugs, like sleeping tablets or antihistamines?
What if any recreational drugs or alcohol do you take and how often?
You say your anxiety has gotten worse... What treatment have you had in the past to deal with it?

[Niceguy2013]

I'm going through this on Atripla, too. Talked to my doc about my anxiety and how it's affecting my work and personal life and his only suggestion was to change from Atripla to another treatment. I'm responding well to Atripla and suffer from very few other side effects (and also have managed to stockpile a nice cushion of medicine in case of unforseen problems.)
I'm thinking about seeing another doctor to discuss my anxiety.

[Miss Philicia]

I'm going through this on Atripla, too. Talked to my doc about my anxiety and how it's affecting my work and personal life and his only suggestion was to change from Atripla to another treatment. I'm responding well to Atripla and suffer from very few other side effects (and also have managed to stockpile a nice cushion of medicine in case of unforseen problems.)
I'm thinking about seeing another doctor to discuss my anxiety.

Your doctor's recommendation to change HIV medication is completely appropriate as anxiety is a known side effect from what you are taking.

[gadawg1979]

Okay so what we are doing is changing my statin as it was added after Complera and waiting 3 weeks to see what happens... If the problems continue maybe a meds change or paxil.

[Hellraiser]

Okay so what we are doing is changing my statin as it was added after Complera and waiting 3 weeks to see what happens... If the problems continue maybe a meds change or paxil.

I had anxiety issues on Atripla and swapped to Complera to get rid of them.  (It worked).

[RobbyR]

It's so interesting how people react differently (and similarly) to these different medications. I've been on Atripla for amost 5 years now, a couple years ago I started having occasional insomnia and some anxiety issues and so my doctor put me on Complera on a trial basis to see how I did..to date it's the only HIV medicine I've ever tried other than Atripla. I took Complera for awhile, and OMG it was an awful experience. It gave me terrible insomnia, the worst anxiety I've ever gotten in my life, to the point of having multiple panic attacks a day, intense paranoia, and cold sweats. Even worse, I got horribly deressed. Like MAJORLY depressed, to the point of not wanting to even get up or just laying around and crying for no reason. I was on a brief stint of Zoloft at the time for anxiety and not even that helped.

I told my doctor and he promptly took me off Complera because it was obvious it wasnt working. It was a terrible medication for me. I went back on Atripla.

Atripla hasn't been a total bed of roses either but with my current supplemental regimen of anxiety medicine it's at leat tolerable for me. I'd NEVER take Complera again it was awful for me.

[Jeff G]

It's so interesting how people react differently (and similarly) to these different medications. I've been on Atripla for amost 5 years now, a couple years ago I started having occasional insomnia and some anxiety issues and so my doctor put me on Complera on a trial basis to see how I did..to date it's the only HIV medicine I've ever tried other than Atripla. I took Complera for awhile, and OMG it was an awful experience. It gave me terrible insomnia, the worst anxiety I've ever gotten in my life, to the point of having multiple panic attacks a day, intense paranoia, and cold sweats. Even worse, I got horribly deressed. Like MAJORLY depressed, to the point of not wanting to even get up or just laying around and crying for no reason. I was on a brief stint of Zoloft at the time for anxiety and not even that helped.

I told my doctor and he promptly took me off Complera because it was obvious it wasnt working. It was a terrible medication for me. I went back on Atripla.

Atripla hasn't been a total bed of roses either but with my current supplemental regimen of anxiety medicine it's at leat tolerable for me. I'd NEVER take Complera again it was awful for me.

Its hard to fathom that a doctor this day in age would make a change to Atripla after a patient had a bad experience with Complera ... its mind boggling . The meds are in the same class and only Atripla has even a worse reputation for the side effects you were trying to avoid in Complera .

I hope the OP looks at other meds than Atripla because its not a smart swap in my opinion .

[gadawg1979]

Still on complera changed the statin and nothing changed... Two weeks ago we added Paxil extended release and now life is back to normal... well almost. or as normal as I can hope for.