sfpvguy41:
Well it's now going on two weeks and I think the transition is over. I don't feel much in the effects of the Edurant anymore except occasionally a little foggy/headache feel but it's not really noticeable anymore. I haven't had any especially weird dreams, a few vivid ones but nothing bad either. I felt like the first 10 days were slow and a little down/depressed feeling but I think that passed.
I can drink now fairly normally but it hits me harder so 2 is my limit for now.
I wish I could say some of the things I thought were bothering me from the Reyataz were gone but they don't seem to have changed, specifically the Histamine Intolerance. GI tract seems a bit more normal, certainly more firm, and I am definitely more hungry!
So now I wait for next labs which won't be til December to see if Edurant's doing better/worse/same as Reyataz...I do expect better on triglycerides and cholesterol.
sfpvguy41:
I wanted to put a coda on this thread, now that I had my first labs with Edurant after switching from Reyataz. Interestingly, my cholesterol and trigylceride #s were about the same as they were in Reyataz. The time those numbers really improved is when I dropped the Norvir booster when switching from Truvada to Epzicomm. So I blame the bad lipid effects more on Norvir than Reyataz. I switched to see if gut issues improved and they have a bit, with firmer stools, but not dramatically.
Interestingly, while my CD4s fell in actual #, my CD8s also fell a lot and the CD4% went up to 37% which is in the normal range. I think this is great, because my CD8s have often been high, often over 1000, and that is a sign of chronic inflammation which is supposed to have bad long term effects on aging-related issues. My doc also said sometimes on changing a med the CD4s drop a bit and restabilize again higher later.
I had a very bad few months work-wise and was very depressed. Not sure how much of this was from the Edurant, but I think it was partly to blame. I am now taking 5mg of Lexapro per day (a low dose) and seem to be back to pretty much normal. As I used to always take Wellbutrin (stopped due to anxiety problems) I am not unhappy about this and plan to continue on the Edurant. I like that it is one small pill instead of two big capsules (easier to store/swallow) and of course my bilirubin is back to normal.
So it seems like I'm happy on Epzicomm with Edurant after breakfast every morning, and we'll see how the next labs go. All in all I'd say it's a wash vs Reyataz, better than Reyataz with Norvir, and the dosage is ok...not a bad choice, but not a big win either so far.