Accidental double dose of Truvada/Intelence

[jasper]

Hi all,

I've been taking Truvada/Intelence regimen for a couple of years now and on paper it looks great. Unfortunately I have found that I have a CNS issue with the NNRTIs. I was put on Viramune initially and it gave me a constant headache and dizziness that did not go away over time. Intelence wasn't giving me the same issue until I switched from the 100MG pills to the 200MG pills. Immediately I got the same CNS side effects which lasted for a month. I switched back to the 100's and life went back to normal.

Fast forward, a week ago I wasn't paying attention and I took a double dose of  Truvada/Intelence. Starting the next day and continuing, I have a non-stop headache (like a really bad tension headache) that lasts 24/7. I'm also a bit dizzy and a little nauseated.

Ever since I started HIV meds, I have become really sensitive to a number of types of medicines (antibiotics, SSRIs, etc). It's so frustrating.

My doctor ran boodwork to check out my liver and gallbladder enzymes and they came back normal.

Everything I read about side effects seems to refer to people's initial experience with getting on meds. I would, however, be grateful to hear from anyone else who has gone through this with the NNRTIs and more importantly, if there's any way of countering the side effects?

Thanks very much!

[Ann]

Jasper, why don't you just ditch the NNRTI class and go for one of the others? There are three other classes you can choose from: Protease Inhibitors (PIs); Entry Inhibitors (including Fusion Inhibitors); and Integrase Inhibitors. You could keep the Truvada with any of these classes. You can read about them in the Treatments section of this website.

Some people just can't tolerate meds from the NNRTI class - and while it's usually just Sustiva that is the culprit, some people have problems with the entire class.

For the record, I didn't want to chance side effects from Sustiva (or any NNRTI), so I went with Truvada and Norvir boosted Prezista. Aside from a bit of diarrhea in the first two weeks, it's been blissfully side-effect free. (I started in July.)

[jasper]

Hi Ann!

Thanks for the response. Switching is a consideration. I started off with Epzicom/Isentress and had nasty CNS reactions, then on to Truvada/Viramune with slightly less CNS issues but still no fun. Then went on to Truvada/Prezista/Norvir. The CNS stuff definitely went away.

Unfortunately at the while before the Prezista, I had a psychiatrist who put me through the psycho-pharma-kopia of psych meds to try and counter the CNS effects (none of them worked) which lead to me to take so much Aleve that I developed multiple ulcers (so dumb of me). Anything was really rough on my stomach. The Norvir was just too strong to handle so we switched to Intelence.

When I tried to switch from the 100mg pills to the 200mg pills and go the CNS reaction, an increase in my Lexapro dose took care of it. I tried doing an increase the past couple of days and so far it didn't work:(

Trying to nail these problems down in my experience can take many months. I was finally side effect-free for almost 2 years and am supposed to be moving to another city for a great new job....and now this. Hope it gets figured out sooner than later. Being poz sucks!