Author Topic: I just took my first dose of Atripla. (Read 5833 times)

Tar Heel · « **on:** June 06, 2009, 02:24:04 am »

What should I expect? I've been poz 4 years and just now starting meds.

Any words of wisdom??

Tar Heel · « **Reply #1 on:** June 06, 2009, 03:03:44 am »

come on.... someone tell me whats gonna happen next??

webontheweb · « **Reply #2 on:** June 06, 2009, 06:46:09 am »

well. odds are you are going to live a long life.

seriously though, read on the forum posts. everyone reacts differently, there is a period of a week to a couple of weeks where you might "feel" weezy, queezy, deezy. Think about it, the drugs have to work all the way down into your mitochondria to start working.
I do not know of anyone who has any long term effects from the drugs once they get used to them.
YOu should actually start feeling much better when the VL goes down and your cd4 goes up!
Good luck and stay with it! Same time every day if you can manage it. Do not miss a dose!

Cheers,
Eric

J.R.E. · « **Reply #3 on:** June 06, 2009, 06:48:47 am »

Hi,

It's hard to say what's going to happen next. Hopefully the drugs will kick ass on the virus !!Having never been on Atripla, it's hard for me to comment. Just remember, not everyone experiences the same side effects, with Atripla. You may be able to handle this drug quite well, as many do !

Hope your night went well.

Ray

hermes · « **Reply #4 on:** June 06, 2009, 10:26:45 am »

Tar,

Everyone's body reacts differently to the meds. However, I can tell you my experiences with Atripla. I've been on it for about 2 1/2 months now and am feeling great.

- Day one - difficulty sleeping, grogginess, some vivid dreams, tiredness and general blahness
- Day two - same grogginess and feeling 'high' during the day and also some cramping and diarreaha
- Day three to eight - continued vivid dreams, grogginess and stoned feeling but lessening each day
- Day nine-thirteen - broke out into a rash that were little red dots and turned into a bit of a sunburny type rash on my back, arms, chest and upper legs

From there, all I find now is I do still get some grogginess in the morning depending on when I take my pill at night (If I wake up in the night to pee, I feel kind of drunk) and also I find that I have some sensitivity to larger quantities of alchohol (makes me vomit sometimes)

And now the benefits - more energy, less feeling winded, higher sex drive, less of a general blah feeling.

Hope it goes well for you! Make sure to check in every so often...:-)

Scott

hermes · « **Reply #5 on:** June 06, 2009, 10:31:33 am »

Tar,

One other thing -- these meds really work.

After being on Atripla for only one month my VL plummeted from 340,000 to 2400. My doctor was pretty impressed with the 2+ -log drop.

Scott

clsoca · « **Reply #6 on:** June 06, 2009, 02:22:45 pm »

You should expect to be undetectable and much healthier.

Tar Heel · « **Reply #7 on:** June 06, 2009, 05:34:53 pm »

Not bad at all! I'm relieved. A little more groggy than usual this morning, but that went away after my coffee. I do feel kinda stoned today- but a functional stoned. And I did have a heck of a vivid dream; I moved to Charlotte and rented an apartment and the neighbor was snorting cocaine... it was just a strange dream.

Overall assessment of Day 1..... not near as bad as I had feared!

jayjax · « **Reply #8 on:** June 06, 2009, 06:55:44 pm »

Tar Heal

Glad to hear you started Atripla -- Every day gest easier. Keep up the meds daily. Its part of your normal routine now so please try to attach it something that you do every day, like brushing your teeth before you go to bed, etc ....! I had a couple of vivid dreams the first couple of nights and the dizzy stoned feeling if I get up to use the bathroom. That's it .... Atripla works for me and hope the same for you too.

Keep us posted.

Jayjax.

shypoz · « **Reply #9 on:** June 06, 2009, 10:05:52 pm »

Quote from: Tar Heel on June 06, 2009, 02:24:04 am

What should I expect? I've been poz 4 years and just now starting meds.

Any words of wisdom??

Tar Hell -

For the first two weeks that followed my starting treatment with Atripla, I spent 80% of my time in bed. I ran a constant fever (according to my doctor, due to the massive genocide of HIV virus going on in my body), I had no energy and barely any appetite at all. I was able to work, but would crawl into bed as soon as I got home and would not get up much until the next morning. And let me tell you - it was worth it. After hanging in there for those two weeks, I have come to a place where I don't have any side effects. The only thing I had to be careful about was the time I take my Atripla. I learned pretty quickly that taking it too late in the evening made me feel doped throughout the entire next day.

I'm in my second month of treatment and I feel great. I haven't had any blood work done since I started Atripla, as my next appointment is in July. But I have my energy back and I feel like myself again. I'm very thankful that the medication seems to be working, because I know so many of us struggle to find a combination that is helpful. Hopefully, this will be the right choice for you as well.

Matt

Tar Heel · « **Reply #10 on:** June 07, 2009, 03:01:36 am »

I just took my 2nd dose. Wish me luck!

I have a dumb question.... What 3 meds are in Atripla??

J.R.E. · « **Reply #11 on:** June 07, 2009, 04:35:08 am »

Quote from: Tar Heel on June 07, 2009, 03:01:36 am

I have a dumb question.... What 3 meds are in Atripla??

Those would be :

1--- Sustiva 600mg

2--- Viread 300 mg

3--- Emtriva 200mg

http://www.aidsmeds.com/archive/Atripla_1577.shtml

Ray

WillyWump · « **Reply #12 on:** June 07, 2009, 11:08:52 am »

So Glad to hear your doing well with the Atripla!

It's a magical drug, after my rough start I started to feel better than I had felt in a year! It gave me so much energy, hopefully it will do the same for you! I'm now in my 3rd week and all of the side effects have gone away, except for the very slight dizziness immediately after taking it.

Keep us posted!
-WIll

Pozibilities · « **Reply #13 on:** June 07, 2009, 06:05:24 pm »

Congrats Will and all!

I have great energy and low viral load now before the meds, so I am hoping the energy doesn't decrease because of the Atripla. That would be disappointing.

Tar Heel · « **Reply #14 on:** June 07, 2009, 08:00:54 pm »

Thanks JRE.

Night 2, no bizarre dreams and just a little groggy upon getting up.

stpetecoyote · « **Reply #15 on:** June 09, 2009, 04:24:27 pm »

In my case it was just a few groggy mornings and crazy dreams but those tapered off pretty quickly (within a week)...I still have fun dreams on occasion but not so often...Sometimes I miss those fun dreams. :-)

GoTGuy · « **Reply #16 on:** July 18, 2009, 06:54:39 pm »

I am really glad I came across this thread.

I am on day 3 of Atripla and have been feeling very drained and no energy with occasional fever. Even my legs feel "wobbly". I got a sense of hope after reading that most people get their energy back and side effects go away. I also have been taking Dapsone for about 15 days now which I'm sure is contributing to my overall feeling of BLAH!!! The first two nights the dizziness was pretty bad

, but last night I woke up about an hour after I took it and it wasn't as severe as the first two nights were. I hope that is a good sign. My T-Cells is 44 and my VL is 40,000 so I hope this Atripla works.

physicsguy · « **Reply #17 on:** July 18, 2009, 07:05:53 pm »

Feeling like you have no energy should go away. I've been on Atripla since it came out (and sustiva/truvada before that) and after ~ four years I feel fine and have no trouble hopping on my bike and going for a fun 30-40 mile ride.

mecch · « **Reply #18 on:** July 18, 2009, 09:05:14 pm »

Energy boost.
Feel like you're taking control and fighting virus down to dormancy. Then a normal life.

justaguy · « **Reply #19 on:** July 20, 2009, 12:34:20 am »

Quote from: GoTGuy on July 18, 2009, 06:54:39 pm

I am really glad I came across this thread.

I am on day 3 of Atripla and have been feeling very drained and no energy with occasional fever. Even my legs feel "wobbly". I got a sense of hope after reading that most people get their energy back and side effects go away. I also have been taking Dapsone for about 15 days now which I'm sure is contributing to my overall feeling of BLAH!!! The first two nights the dizziness was pretty bad , but last night I woke up about an hour after I took it and it wasn't as severe as the first two nights were. I hope that is a good sign. My T-Cells is 44 and my VL is 40,000 so I hope this Atripla works.

My first few days were like that too, it gets better. I was so scared that it would be my "new reality", but I feel better now (3 months after starting) than I have in a year. My CD4 has gone from 136, to 255, to 247. VL is not quite undetectable, but oh so close. I have forgotten to take my dose at 11pm on two occassions since beginning in mid April, and woke up suddenly both times at 4am, jumped out of bed and ran to take it - on those times, I noticed that I was dizzy the next morning. Even more reason to remember to take it at the right time. Some people here say they can take it in the morning - more power to them - but it's just not for me.

Good luck!

AboutToStart · « **Reply #20 on:** July 20, 2009, 11:00:48 am »

Tar Heel,

Good for you for starting.. you are now taking measures to show that virus who's the boss of your body (at least that's how I look at it..). I started atripla only a week ago (I "celebrated" my first week anniversary last night - LoL) so I'm not that much ahead of you. But - side effects DO subside as all the senior "veterans" here promise

Mine were/are dizzyness and groggy/weakness, but they don't last all day long (usually morning-noon) and I try to work out/ exercise once they're gone and before taking the next dose. I can only do 50-75% of my work outs as I still don't feel 100% strong, so I don't push myself too much (what's the rush??).

Bottom line: keep it up! You're doing good (for yourself...)

GNYC09 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 20, 2009, 10:06:44 pm »

Congrats on starting-you can feel good knowing that the Atripla is kicking the HIV virus' a*s! The fever may be a sign of that (that is what my doctor told me when I started Atripla and became feverish). I've been on Atripla and Dapsone for nearly 3 months now and honestly am feeling better than I have in a really long time. You will feel better in time. Good luck with your t-cells and with getting the virus undetectable!

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Author Topic: I just took my first dose of Atripla. (Read 5833 times)