POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: Miss Philicia on November 16, 2007, 01:13:53 am
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I've now been on Isentress for an entire week and have the following report: there have been no side effects. Zilch. Not a bit of nausea, no headaches, no diarrhea.
I've been on almost every HIV med on the market at one time or another, and each has always been touch and go the first month, some more than others. Generally my body would adjust after the first month and I actually tolerated most meds pretty well, with the exception of all PI's which gave me massive amounts of diarrhea necessitating not the more common 1 or 2 imodiums but daily intakes of, at times, 20mg of imodium.
Prezista, which I began a year and half ago, was the first HIV med to have the least amount of side effects for me, and those were most likely more due to the Norvir booster (diarrhea, though minimal compared with other stuff). I still get some occasional nausea from Truvada though it's not a big deal, and it also give me bad gas maybe once each week. Still overall this entire combination of meds I'm on are the absolute best, and have delivered marvelous lab results. I have no worries about what my labs will be after the Isentress switch.
So finally, after 14 years of treatment I'm rather content. Also, my ISR's from past Fuzeon use have no mostly disappeared on my abdomen with the exception of two knots, but they should be gone in another 3 days.
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I remember you saying that yoou would start taking Isentress after the drug was approved. So you take it in combination with Truvada? My doc told me he would probably prescribing it for me at some point in the near future. I can't take Truvada anmore so I wonder what he will combine the new drug with for me.
Thanks for the update & I hope it continues to do well for you.
:-*
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Congrats, Philly....Onward and Upward... :-*
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So you take it in combination with Truvada?
Yes, but also with Prezista and Norvir. So basically that's four HIV meds. Well, not five I guess because Truvada is actually really two meds in one pill.
It's still lots of pills when you figure that I *still* take imodium daily, and my pancreatic enzyme. Oh, then a blood pressure pill and PN medication.
*sigh* that's till 23 pills each day :( I think a few years ago I was taking 35 or more so that's still an improvement for me!
* mother's-little-helper pills not included
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Congrats & good luck with the new combo, onwards & upwards as Queen said!
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Glad to hear it's working well for you, Philly. I hope things continue to go so good!
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Glad to read you are reasonably content after 14 years of sticking with harsh-as-hell drug regiments. Bet you are glad you waded through those tough experiences and didn't become disheartened enough to give up. A testimony of encouragement to newbies and old timers alike.
Isentress replaces the shots of Fuzeon, is that correct? Say "Hallelujah!" sista-man. :D
Must be a BIG relief not to have to stick yourself everyday, David. Good luck and continued success with the new drug.
xxx,
Mike
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this is good news philly. glad to hear it. But god that's still a shitload of pills.
Any news from Rab? How's he doing on it? Anyone else here on it? How are they doing?
robert
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Glad to hear Philly...
It's good to get a read on the newer meds if I ever do have to explore new options down the road.
:)
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That's great news! I love to hear that there are NO side effects ! It's amazing really...
Hope you continue to do well with it.
hugs, Alan
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Must be a huge relief for you! It's also very reassuring to know easier and better tolerated meds like Isentress are becoming available.
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Great news Philly... ;D
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David
I know injecting yourself is no fun. So it must be a big relief to be able to take this in pill form. Congrats!
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Philly - great news!! Enjoy your holidays!!
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That is great news, for you and others looking at some of the new drugs as therapy. Congrats :)
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so glad to hear the good news Philly, felicitaciones :)
mucha suerte y que todo siga bien!!!
Juan Carlos
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That's pretty cool, Philly. Now you can use poppers again :o
Milker.
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Great news to hear all around! Glad to hear it.
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great news philly. you must be pleased.
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So, I finally received my first labs since beginning Isentress almost 2 months ago and I'm still undetectable, and I also had a not-shoddy +160 cd4 bump.
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So, I finally received my first labs since beginning Isentress almost 2 months ago and I'm still undetectable, and I also had a not-shoddy +160 cd4 bump.
No new side effects or insights?
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Oh, I commented on the utter lack of any side effects in the first post in this thread but that was at the end of the first week. Nothing changed after that -- absolutely NO side effects. Amazing drug.
If you've not read up on Isentress it's in an entirely new class of HIV med -- integrase inhibitors. Because it blocks integrase which HIV needs to insert its viral genetic information into infected cells. I'm not a brilliant scientist, but it's my understanding that integrase inhibitors are so promising because this method of attack is happening more at the beginning of the whole HIV cell infection cycle than other existing HIV meds, though perhaps someone smarter than me can clarify this.
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I mentioned Isentress to my doctor because I was thinking it would be nice to take a liver break from protease inhibitors but he feels uncomfortable about its unknown interactions with cellular DNA and the implications of what could be turned on/off. He said I need to wait and see - besides, I'm having no issues with Prezista. I am thinking it might be a good option in the future because I do believe its important to not constantly block the same liver enzymes with Ritonavir. I am fortunate enough to have a strong enough NRTI susceptibility to do a switch like this when there's more data.
Thanks for the update and for being on the forefront of this treatment.
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Congrats on the numbers, and glad you are still doing so well with it.
No side effects......wow that seems almost too good to be true. Enjoy it!
hugs,
Alan
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Glad to hear you are doing so well. One question, though...How did you get on Prezista a year and a half ago? My DR said it just recently became available....
I'm on both also. I love not having to "Shoot up" twice a day...Keep up the good work man!
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No, Prezista was FDA approved in June, 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darunavir
I began Prezista on a drug trial, but only a couple of months before FDA approval. Isentress is the one that was just approved.
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I get my first labs since I've been on Prezista and Isentress. I am kind of nervous, because my numbers on Kaletra and fuzeon were so good.
I hope I have the same good results you have had!
My Dr is convienced that Kaletra may be the reason for my recent diabetes diagnoses...Looks like I should have been on Prezista a bit earlier. Damn.
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Hey Philly
I'm really happy you're doing so well on Isentress. My clinic nurse told me that it's looking so good that it might be the standard of care for treatment naive patients in a couple of years...
Long may it continue!
Matt.
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Good to hear, Philly
Here is to good number and good health in the coming year.
Pete