POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: mccowboy on January 02, 2007, 04:29:14 pm
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Hello, new here. I started Atripla Sunday night 12/31/06. I took it at 10:00pm and went to bed. I had some very off the wall dreams when I could sleep which was not much. Today day 2, I again had very strange dreams, and now its about 3:00 in the afternoon and I feel like my body is crashing. I feel drunk, and unable to focus my thoughts. I am also having a hard time remembering conversations with people, while having the conversations. I am a corporate accountant and this might not be a good thing. Will these effect pass quickly? What else do I have to look forward to on this pill?
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The worst bit is what you're going through now (the beginning)... it's your body adjusting to the meds. Sustiva (one of the drugs in Atripla) gets into the CNS, and that's what makes all the craziness go on up there.
Don't worry, the symptoms settle down in a while... usually a couple of weeks. It was about 8 or 9 days of misery for me, and then all of a sudden, over the course of a day, they just stopped... and now it's all back to normal.
Coffee really, really helped me during the day to keep my thoughts together... you might wanna try it.
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Thanks. I apreciate the help. The worst I guess is feeling drunk, and angry. Hopefully that will pass fast.
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It will pass. I can almost promise you that.
I got really angry and depressed too... mostly because of the drunky feelings that wouldn't go away... once they went away, I felt great.
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ok, now a new issue with it. the Rash. for the last two days my entire body felt like it was on fire. I woke up this morning and I have this nasty little rash all over my arms, legs, back and butt. (thank god I am single). is this an allergic reaction, or will this too pass?
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You should report this to your physician immediately. If this is an allergic reaction to your
medication, it could be serious, even possibly life-threatening.
Regards,
Henry
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This is the normal rash we all get, it could last up to two weeks, if it makes you feel better see a doc, otherwise take benedryl, pills, and cream or lotion, calamyne lotion, aveeno bath, in time it will go away, nothing to be scared of.
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well either its life threatning or nothing to worry about? hmmmmm. It does not itch. however, my entire back is now red. I have blured vision, like a film is covering my eyes, and my neck hurts. I have a DR appt on the 9th. so should I call now, or wait till then. By the way. the coffee does help the drunk feeling, and I am getting used to the vivid dreams.
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My experience has been no rash after 6 weeks or so, but my doctor did say it does occur and that if it did it probably wouldn't itch. I have seen posts in different threads here that are all over the map as far as side effects and when they occur and how long they last and how bad they are.
That being the case, if it were me, I'd call my doctor and report in. Even if my doctor told me to wait awhile and see if the rash goes away, at least it would ease my anxiety if nothing else. And you and your doctor are the only ones who have the complete picture of your health, meds etc.
Hope it is resolved soon and glad at least it doesn't itch, cuz that would be a pain in the butt, and everywhere else I guess!! :) Let us know how you're doing too, okay?
Kevin
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well, just called the doc. They said that it is an allergic reaction, and to stop immediatly. My issue with that is the cost of this crap. I have over 2000.00 in medicine in my cabinet that I can not take. What to do now.
I am breathing fine, and really dont know what to do at this point. Do I continue taking this and try and work through the issues, or stop this and start something over yet again. I have been on so many different regimins since I was diagnosed 1992 that its getting on my nerves. litterally.
Why do some people say that the rash will go away if this is an allergic reaction?
My skin is turning red, and its like little red pin spots.
Is this normal, or should I just stop all the meds again...............
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Update- The rash is not bad. I took benadryl, and it helped alot. My DR said just make sure that I can breath ok. Today is better, still have the rash of course, but not itching as bad. I do have blurred vision a little, and my right hand and forefinger keeps going to sleep. I guess this will pass to. Thanks everyone for the input. It is helping me from going crazy.
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Its really heartbreaking to hear about your difficulties with Atripla. I've been taking it for 3 months now without any side effects, even in the first days, and have only had the disappointment of not experiencing vivid dreams. I truly hope your doctor will see you through this.
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cowboy, you still taking it? i hope so, hows it going? the rash gone? hang in there.......how'd the dr. visit go?
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I have been in Atripla for since December 28th 2006. Never been on meds since I got infected in June 2006. The first two days of taking this med. I had the drunken feeling. But it went away. Never had the vivid dreams. Too bad, I wanted to experience them. lol But this past Sunday I started feeling very tired and by Monday I had lower back pain, knees and leg muscle pains as well as pain in my arms specially around my elbows. It felt like I was having fever. Called the doctor and he told me to stop taking Atripla immediately. Have an appointment with him this Friday. Now I'm having the rash all over my neck, chest, belly, arms and back. It's scary. It does not itch which makes it weird. Hope these side effects will go soon.
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I have been on sustiva and truvada for 5 days and have not experienced any bad side effects. The difficulty concentrating comes and goes, but nothing like you are experiencing. I heard that it takes about 2 weeks for side effects to subside. I take ativan to sleep with these meds and it really works.
rob
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Ok, I have gotten worst as day's pass after the doctor told me to stop taking atripla. Since the muscle and body aces, now I have fever that jumped yesterday to 105.5. My entire body is swollen. I look like a monster. I spend the entire day yesterday at the doctors. Almost got hospitalized. What I'm experiencing is a severe reaction to an ingredient in the Atripla medication. This ingredient is Zigen. The doctor said that I f I had keep taking this med I could have died. I can no longer take atripla or any other medication that contains Zigen. So if you are experiencing a rash, you get swollen, have body aces, and have fever, you should see your doctor immediately, or this could be a serious complication. I'm telling you. I have never felt like this in my life.
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TLG -
Very sorry to hear you are feeling so bad and thanks for passing on that info. From all I had read I didn't know that Atripla contained Ziagen (aka Abacavir)
For anyone interested here is the info on it from Aidsmeds: http://www.aidsmeds.com/drugs/Ziagen.htm
Good luck Tampa - hope you are better soon.
Kevin
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Atripla does not contain abacavir (Ziagen). It contains: efavirenz (Sustiva) + emtricitabine (FTC, Emtriva) + tenofovir (Viread).
Atripla (http://www.aidsmeds.com/drugs/Atripla.htm)
If people have an allergic reaction on Atripla, it's most likey down to the Sustiva. This often causes a rash, and sometimes, yes, this can become serious, cause blisters, raise a fever, affect breathing etc, just like its sister drug Viramune (nevirapine) does. This is rare, but it does happen (as it does with medicines of all sorts for all kinds of conditions).
- matt
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Hey guy's, it's me again. Just got out of the Hospital. Was there since Thursday. Still battling the allergy with steroids. Feeling a lot better now. Will keep you posted of any new developments.
All my best
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Hey,
Glad you are doing better.
rob
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I feel so lucky after reading all these posts. I have been on Atripla since July of 2006 and had a very MINOR reaction to the meds. The first day I took it I didn't go straight to bed. My (now ex-) boyfriend and I went out to the Wal-Mart for about an hour. When we got back home I started to feel the dizziness. I fell into the bed and closed my eyes and saw strange shapes dancing in front of my eyes. It was almost like a trip... but since I have never done drugs I had nothing to compare it to. Since then, no dreams, no rash, no problems. I do still get dizzy about an hour or two after I take it, but usually I take it right before bed so it's no big deal.
I do get random issues like constipation and problems concentrating, but it could just be due to unrelated issues. Who knows.
Good luck to all!
Falkore
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I began taking Atripla 12/20/06 and thus far (3 months) into it have been pretty OK with it. I can't say that I've had the acid-trip dreams that some people report...but I can say that my dreams have been stronger....much stronger than in the past. I actually like the dreams...it's like watching TV for me. So much so that the reason I don't want to get up in the morning is because the dream I was having was so vivid and wanted to complete it!
I have noticed that if I stay up after taking my Atripla, about 1.5 hours in, I will get a little excited and 'high' and that goes away after awhile.
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Hello,
TampaLatinGuy, I'm glad that you're out of the hospital and doing better. I am curious, though, you didn't mention later which drug in Atripla made you react. I know you said it was Ziagen, and someone else pointed out that it doesn't contain Ziagen. I had never heard of Atripla before myself and looked it up, and saw that it contains: Sustiva, Emtriva, and Viread. Do you know now which one it was?