Take With Food: A Must?

[LordBerners]

I take tenofovir, reyetaz, abacavir, and norvir, some of which are suppose to be taken with a meal (I think the norvir especially?). 

I've been very good at keeping the dosing time about the same every day - within an hour - but I have not been able to have a meal every time.  How much will failing to fulfil the meal requirement once in a while hurt the effectiveness of my treatment?

[BM]

Only the abacavir in your list has no food restrictions: the rest have to be taken with food - at the very least a "substantial snack". If you don't take your medication with food, you might not absorb enough of your drugs, leading to possible resistance and viral rebound.

[J.R.E.]

Only the abacavir in your list has no food restrictions

Hello,


Tenofovir ( Viread) also has no food restrictions, so that can be taken with or without food. I am not familiar with Reyetaz or Norvir. But if some food is required for those, you should probably try to eat something as BM suggested..Even if it is just a snack.


Take care---Ray

[BM]

Tenofovir ( Viread) also has no food restrictions, so that can be taken with or without food.

The information slip that comes with my tenofovir says that it should be taken with food. Maybe the advice is different depending where you are?

[bufguy]

Tenofovir is one of the ingredients in atripla, and they recommend you don't take atripla with food because of the extra absorption of efavirenz into the blood with food.

[Miss Philicia]

For the "food" requirement all you really need is a slice of bread or two -- unless it clearly states "full meal" which I doubt it does.  Norvir just says "food" not meal, same with Truvada so I would assume that the Tenofovir component by itself is the same.

There were HIV medications back in the 90's that clearly required full meals, but I've not encountered this for a good decade I think.  I really don't worry about the food thing much because I tend to eat something small every couple hours as my meals are often small -- helps one metabolize better anyway and stay trim   So I figure I've always got a little something in my tummy that my meds can mix with.

[LTSurviver]

The information slip that comes with my tenofovir says that it should be taken with food. Maybe the advice is different depending where you are?

http://www.viread.com/

How should I take VIREAD?
*Stay under a healthcare provider's care when taking VIREAD. Do not change your treatment or stop treatment without first talking with your healthcare provider.
*Take VIREAD exactly as your healthcare provider prescribed it. Follow the directions from your healthcare provider, exactly as written on the label. Set up a dosing schedule and follow it carefully.
*If you are taking VIREAD to treat your HIV or if you have HIV and HBV co-infection and are taking VIREAD, always take VIREAD in combination with other anti-HIV medicines. VIREAD and other products like VIREAD may be less likely to work in the future if you are not taking VIREAD with other anti-HIV medicines because you may develop resistance to those medicines.
*Talk to your doctor about taking an HIV test before you start treatment with VIREAD for chronic hepatitis B.
*The usual dose of VIREAD is 1 tablet once a day. If you have kidney problems, your healthcare provider may recommend that you take VIREAD less frequently.
***VIREAD may be taken with or without a meal.
*When your VIREAD supply starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. This is very important because the amount of virus in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time. The virus may develop resistance to VIREAD and become harder to treat.
*Only take medicine that has been prescribed specifically for you. Do not give VIREAD to others or take medicine prescribed for someone else.

[BM]

That is strange. The advice seems to be different in Europe. Here's what my leaflet says (the bold parts are in bold on the leaflet as well):


Taking Viread with food and drink

Take Viread with food (for example, a meal or a snack).


I thought the advice with Atripla was not so much not to take it with food as not to take it with food that has a high fat content.

[J.R.E.]

From the drug section ;

http://www.aidsmeds.com/archive/Viread_1587.shtml

What is already known about Viread?
The dose is one 300mg pill, taken once a day. Truvada, which contains Viread and Emtriva, needs to be taken once a day.
 
Viread can be taken either with or without food.
 
 Viread is not approved for children younger than 18 years of age. To learn about treatment options for children, click here.
 
Studies have demonstrated that Viread is effective for the treatment of HIV when combined with other anti-HIV drugs, usually at least one other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) and either a protease inhibitor or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). Viread should not be taken alone (as monotherapy) or with just one other anti-HIV drug.
 
For HIV-positive adults beginning anti-HIV drug therapy for the first time, Viread is listed as a "preferred" NRTI option—used in combination with Sustiva (efavirenz) and either Epivir (3TC) or Emtriva (emtricitabine)—by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in its treatment guidelines. Alternative ways to use Viread, in a first-time drug regimen, are also listed. To learn more about these recommendations and options, click here.
 
Viread is active against many strains of HIV resistant to Retrovir (AZT), Zerit (d4T), Videx/Videx EC (ddI), Hivid (ddC), and Ziagen (abacavir). There is also some data from studies indicating that HIV that has become resistant to Epivir (3TC) may be even more sensitive to Viread. The drug is also active against virus containing the Q151M mutation—a single mutation that results in high-level resistance to multiple nucleoside analogues.
 
Viread may be less active against strains of HIV that contain the K65R mutation in its reverse transcriptase gene. To figure out if your virus has this mutation, your doctor can order a genotypic drug-resistance test. "

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I still have food, when I take my meds .  It makes it easier on the gut.


Ray

[BM]

I think the main conclusion here is to take Viread with food when visiting the UK! 

[LTSurviver]

Well, My Walgreens pamphlet suggests taking Truvada with food if stomach upset occurs.

Hmmmmm.  Maybe that's why they say that in the UK?  A minority of people got upset stomachs after taking Viread (one of the drugs in Truvada)?

I always take my Truvada within a couple hours after dinner... so I've never had that issue.

[Inchlingblue]

According to aidsmeds.com,  "Reyataz should be taken with food, preferably a complete nutritious meal, to ensure proper absorption of the drug into the bloodstream."

[bocker3]

I take Reyataz/Norvir and Atripla -- You really should be taking your Reyataz with food -- the stomach acid produced due to the food will help increase the absorption to more effective levels.

Here is a small bit from the prescibing info:

Coadministration of a single 300-mg dose of REYATAZ and a 100-mg dose of ritonavir
with a light meal (336 kcal, 5.1 g fat, 9.3 g protein) resulted in a 33% increase in the
AUC and a 40% increase in both the Cmax and the 24-hour concentration of atazanavir
relative to the fasting state.

so you don't need a full meal, but a light one is recommended.  I do remember my doc telling me that in a pinch some peanut butter crackers is better than nothing.

Mike