POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: panda on February 17, 2009, 12:33:06 am
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hi, my dr. just switched the kaletra to reyataz + norvir.
Last time I had this combination I developed high bilirubin and my eyes became yellows.
I was told here this is only temporaty.
My question is :
1.Which one if the drugs cause for the yellow eyes? norviv or reyata?
2.How long does it take before the yelow goes ? last time I was on bilirubin 4 and then we switched but my dr says the drugs compay says with these drugs its ok untill having bilirubin 5
I would appreciate any of your experiense
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Hi Panda
The Reyataz is the culprit, I had the same thing, eyes and face turned a nice mustard color but it only lasted a 7/10 days, I wouldn't worry about it..as they say this too will pass.. ;)
Hugs
Jan :-*
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Hi Panda!
Yes, it's Reyataz! And please don't worry: Reyataz is a very good PI. Hardly any side effects; I never had any problems, while Kaletra was poison for my HDL, LDL, triglyceride - or whatever may cause a heartattack or a stroke. Believe me: It does most of the work for an old Swiss fag.
Bruno
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thank you so much .. I think last time my yelowness lasts more then 10 days. What was the higher level of bilirubin u got ? and did it realy fall down after ?
Is the kaletra cause also for the lipo ? i mean the fat accululation ?
My fat profiles looks horrible. I had to do this switch Only I am so scared to have this yelowness again and I hope this time it will pass...
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If you stay yellow on Reyataz this usually means you have high drug levels, and can try, with careful monitoring, dropping the Norvir. This may mean a higher dose of Reyataz, but should help with the yellowing. You can get PI levels tested.
Two alternatives are Prezista 800mg with 100mg Norvir, or Isentress.
It's the Norvir that causes lipids to go up. Kaletra uses 200mg/day.
- matt
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I had slight yellowing of the eyes for a little over a week. No one but me seemed to notice and I have big eyes. ;D
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If you stay yellow on Reyataz this usually means you have high drug levels, and can try, with careful monitoring, dropping the Norvir. This may mean a higher dose of Reyataz, but should help with the yellowing. You can get PI levels tested.
Two alternatives are Prezista 800mg with 100mg Norvir, or Isentress.
It's the Norvir that causes lipids to go up. Kaletra uses 200mg/day.
- matt
Hi - this is now more confusing.. if the reyataz is the cause for the yellow eyes - why dropping the norvir?
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also , how long it takes for the yeloow appear in the eyes since i started using it?
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Is the kaletra cause also for the lipo ? i mean the fat accululation ?
Nobody knows! At the beginning the PI's were made responsible for it. Then it was Zerit. Now my docs shrug their shoulders when I start to investigate. Instead they refer to a lovely cosmetic operation which our insurances pay for: They could operate bits of your bum (if it still exists) or thighs into your cheeks. Might turn you into "Scarface", but they'd be filled with something...
Bruno
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also , how long it takes for the yeloow appear in the eyes since i started using it?
I honestly do not recall exactly how long it took for my eyes to turn yellow. I'd guess within a week or two of starting them.
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hi, i am now a week and a day :=) i think for now there is no yellow... i am so scared... not easteticly. i am afreid it will hurt my health, i dont mind to have yellow eyes for a while as long as it ill pass at theend -
is it even possible to take the reyataz off and stay with norvir only ? my dr. told me that the norvir is fat friendly rather then the kaletra... ???
i read somewhere here someone who quit the kaletra and the lipo profile got much better and so is the lipo .. is it possibe ?
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The reason I mention Norvir is because this is a booster drug. It's used to raise the levels of PIs. It's not doing anything to your HIV. Normally, Norvir boosting is a good thing because it lets you use a lower PI dose and get the same effect on HIV. Some people have serious problems with Norvir boosting tho (Reyataz is a PI).
You cannot take Reyataz every other day.
The yellow is usually "cosmetic". It comes from an enzyme made by your liver called bilirubin. There are two kinds and Reyataz makes you make extra of a kind which just floats around in your blood and, well, colors you yellow. The yellow eyes thing passes after a few weeks as your body adjusts.
- matt
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thanks a lot for your very detail answer. I still have a question , is there a limit of bilirubim level that higher then that it is not good to continue? last time i had bilirubin 4 - i was yellow like the sun and my dr said that the drugs company approved i can continue using at least untill the level of 5 - but I didn't want to wait and quit. do u happens to know if this is right ? I mean its not dangerous untill it gets to 5 ? (u know unfortunately i dont trust the dr. and prefer always to do also my own research - the reason is cause 3 years ago i got the stiven johnson;s syndrom from viramune so since then... i dont take what the dr. says as obviously).
take now norvir 100 mg - once a day and reyataz 150 x 2 - once a day .. what do u thik about it ?
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Jaundice can be a sign of liver damage. But I was told by the doctor that Reyataz does not seem to damage the liver. That it is just one of those side effects that happen to some people.
Unless you have hepatitis I wouldn't worry about it.
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Hi,ts been 28 days since I quit the kaletra and started the reyata+norvir after my cholecterol jumped to 350 and trygl. 422 !! I took the blood test today, my tryg. dropped 237 and cholesterol to 243 (still high) - BUT like I was afreid the bilirubin is 3.2 (the higher raf is 1.2)I was already told I looked yellow - I am so scared as I hope the billirubin will dropped back down to the normal range and the yellowness with dissapear but what if it wont ? :-\
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Why don't you wait to start endless worrying after the 3 week window of yellowing that others described here and in other threads?
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Hi,ts been 28 days since I quit the kaletra and started the reyata+norvir after my cholecterol jumped to 350 and trygl. 422 !! I took the blood test today, my tryg. dropped 237 and cholesterol to 243 (still high) - BUT like I was afreid the bilirubin is 3.2 (the higher raf is 1.2)I was already told I looked yellow - I am so scared as I hope the billirubin will dropped back down to the normal range and the yellowness with dissapear but what if it wont ? :-\
Hey Panda,
A month after starting Reyataz, my bilirubin was at 3.6 (amazingly, I never noticed any yellowing of my eyes or skin). That reading is the highest that it has been. Since that time I have been in the 1.0-2.2 range. While some of these readings are, technically, out of the reference range -- keep in mind that the reference range wasn't developed by using people taking Reyataz. The fact is that "our reference range" is likely a bit higher. This increase in bilirubin is a benign side effect of the drug. If you really had something "bad" going on with your liver, there would be other liver enzymes that would be increased.
It will be interesting to see my next Bili result (not until May), as I just increased my Reyataz from 300mg/day to 400mg/day, due to also taking Atripla. Been 3 weeks -- still not yellow!
Mike
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thanks a lot - i also hope my bili will go down .. i will check again with in 2 weeks , I hope my fat profile will go more lower by then
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I turned so yellow everyone at my job kept asking me if I was ok. I switched meds and in a day the yellowing went away.
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Hi,
Me again ..
So I started with the Norvir and Reyataz on Feb 10,
This week - there was almost no one that didn't tell me about my yellow eyes.
I am realy frustrated...The Kaletra jimped my fat profile , it was too dg. But these yellownessin my eyes.. Dont know what to do..
What is the limited level ?5 ? 5.5 that allowed ?
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Everyone told you to expect this. It can last a couple of weeks so you just need to deal with it.