POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: uk lady on March 06, 2008, 07:21:25 am
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hi all well next tues i am due to switch my meds from sustiva & truvada to kaletra & keeping the truvada. i am changing due to wanting to become pregnant. my doc wants me to also add azt but i am very wary of doing this as i have had slight fat loss & know that this drug can cause fat loss & really dont want to lose anymore. so i am going to ask if maybe i can add azt when i am pregnant as after all it could take a while to even fall pregnant. my question is does anyone have any advice on kaletra maybe side effects i need to watch out for or anything at all? my numbers are cd4 400 & my vl is undetectable thanks :)
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Hi UK lady
I'm on Kaletra/Truvada. There's a list of possible side effects/ drug interactions etc in the lessons
http://www.aidsmeds.com/archive/Kaletra_1559.shtml
Kaletra is notorious for diarrhea, but not everyone gets it or to the same degree. When taken in the tablet form twice a day (rather than once per day as a liquid or capsule) the chance appears to be smallest (under a third). Me I'm on the twice a day tablets. When I first started, the diarrhea was problematic, especially during the first week, but it lessened over time and is now pretty much entirely controllable through diet.
You might want to time the switch for when you can take a few days off (near a bathroom as we US types would say, toilet to you Brits I guess)
Cheers
Asurbanipal
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Thanks Assurbanipal thats great to know, all very nerve racking changing meds! i have bene on truvada & sustiva for about 2 years now so obv i am very worried but hey i got used to the meds in the first place so im sure il become used to these too x
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I have been taking Truvada and Kaletra (twice a day) for one month and I now I dont feel any side effects. In the begining I would get slightly nauseous, and hypo attacks, where I had to eat something immediately.
Now I feel the same as I did before I was taking them. Although I do take them with a some food.
The food settles my stomach and I feel fine. I have not had diarea thank God.
I dont think you need to worry.
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Seriously, I would recommend obtaining a script for loperamide in case you quickly develop diarrhea from Kaletra. I had to take 3 2mg capsules twice per day when I was on that crap. I don't see how anyone handles these meds with no diarrhea issues.
Something must be seriously wrong in my body, but they've check me for everything. And no, I don't eat tons of BK Whoppers like Timberly.
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thanks philly &roie will take that advice on board, hopefully it will all go fine im more worried about maybe having to add azt if anyone has advice on weather i can wait til im pregnant to add it or do i have to take it now?
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Hi uk lady. I'm on Truvada and Kaletra as well. I'll echo what others have said - be ready to run to the bathroom when you get on it. I've had diarreah off and on since I started taking the medicine, but when it gets bad I take some immodium and it clears up for a few days at least. The frequency and severity of the diarreah seem to be less now that I've been on Kaletra for close to 4 months, but it still happens.
No other side-effects as of now. I'd also have your cholesterol and triglyceride levels checked after going on Kaletra. Sometimes it can really cause those to skyrocket, and you need to watch out for that.
I have no idea why your doctor would recommend azt on top of truvada and kaletra, as truvada and kaletra taken together are a proven and effective combo. Azt shouldn't normally need to be added to it. However, your doctor may have good reason, so I'd bring the issue up with him/her again. Azt is notorious for a lot of severe side-effects, so I'd be very sure to question your doctor well about that before starting it while hoping to become pregnant. I cannot imagine azt being good for a developing fetus. But I'm no doctor, so what the heck do I know.
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UK lady (and Patrick) I suggest you read the lesson on AZT here: http://www.aidsmeds.com/archive/Retrovir_1582.shtml (http://www.aidsmeds.com/archive/Retrovir_1582.shtml).
AZT can reduce the chance of passing HIV to your baby to as low as 8%. The lesson seems to recommend that you take it during the second and third trimester's, and by IV drip during the birth. The baby then takes a syrup version of it for a while after birth. Discuss it with your doc but looks like you may be able to wait till the 2nd trimester before starting AZT.
I'm sure other more knowledgeable people will chime in here with all the details, or possibly ask in the women's forum.
As for Kaletra, I took it for 2 years. I had constant diarrhoea and fatigue. It did get my viral load under control though. Some people seem to do OK on it, but not me and not for quite a few others. I guess you just have to try it. Is there a particular reason for the Kaletra? I switched from Kaletra/Truvada to Prezista/Truvada and have not looked back.
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I have been in the past on Kaletra+ Epivir & Viread, Kaletra+ Norvir & Reyataz, and for about a year now on Kaletra & Truvada. I never had any issue's with my stomach or bowels. However my liver is acting up lately (and I've been feeling like $hit). Next week I'll hear if it's and old hepatitis that's causing this, or the current combo.
I am (as is also my ID doc) very reluctant to contemplate changing meds, because I have total viral suppression and excellent CD count. *If it ain't broke don't fix it*
With all my past experience with meds since 1992, this one is the easyest I've ever had (5 pills all at once in the morning).
Goodluck and wish you'll have little to no issue's with this combo.
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thanks guys well its all so confusing really to me as truvada & sustiva are my first meds & i dont know anything of any others so when my doc said going on kaletra i just agreed as i have no experience of any others. i have no idea what my options are guess il have to really have a talk about this to him but am due in for changing on tues
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thanks guys well its all so confusing really to me as truvada & sustiva are my first meds & i dont know anything of any others so when my doc said going on kaletra i just agreed as i have no experience of any others. i have no idea what my options are guess il have to really have a talk about this to him but am due in for changing on tues
This is why I believe that doctors who prescribe HIV meds upon being heavily lobbied by pharmaceutical interests should be forced to take the drugs themselves for 90 days before being allowed to prescribe them. If the doc is concerned about the possible CNS side effects of Sustiva impacting a fetus, Viramune+Truvada is a viable option -- same class of drug.
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thanks redhotmuslbear my doc did mention viramune but he said its not for people with higher cd4 counts i think thats what he said! as risk of liver problems maybe