Efavirenz 400mg vs 600mg - as good as, less CNS side effects

Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits > Questions About Treatment & Side Effects

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friskyguy:
Hi Witch, just be careful in your thinking....... that just cause you are UD does not means that all is fine......the virus test of a blood sample is just one of the simplest ways of checking to see if the virus is being kept in check IN YOUR BLOOD only.

I seem to recall reading that HIV can infect our bodies through cell to cell transmission in our tissues including gut and add to the reservoir size while still remaining UD in the blood/lab tests. That's why its important to take the meds every day......potentially if you cut down on the daily meds intake there may be cell to cell transmission of HIV in your tissues causing issues (maybe resistance) but this may not appear in the blood and you may still remain UD potentially giving a false sense of security.

But as we are talking about dosage reduction and not missing dosages, maybe this TDM testing makes a lot of sense. As we are all of different bodies sizes and ethnicity/chemistry make-up, drugs would react/behave a little differently in all of us.

An analogy.....small framed women can get drunk more easily on one glass of wine when compared to a big burly guy who may need a couple of bottles. Same with the alcohol breathalyser test......alcohol readings all come out different for different body types even when they drink the same volume of alcohol.

So having the TDM test done to see what level/dosage of meds ur body actually requires to reach the optimal level of safety does seem to make sense.

oksikoko:

--- Quote from: witch on September 13, 2013, 08:29:18 pm ---Here is a recent example from my life. I was on Stribild for 4 months but it was causing anorgasmia and insomnia. I've read here on the forums that some guy was taking it without food and he was still undetectable. No food means probably that the absorption is reduced several times (by a factor of say 3-5 times).

--- End quote ---

Yeah, that would be me. I never eat with it, and so far so good, though who knows what's happening in this bag of meat I'm stuck in. But, um, emulate me at your own risk. I have very little to lose and take chances decent people really shouldn't.

Lee

mecch:

--- Quote from: witch on September 13, 2013, 08:29:18 pm ---I suspect many, if not most, of the anti-hiv drugs are overdosed by a factor of 2 to 10. The manifacturers do not really run proper studies of the minimal effective dose.

Here is a recent example from my life. I was on Stribild for 4 months but it was causing anorgasmia and insomnia. I've read here on the forums that some guy was taking it without food and he was still undetectable. No food means probably that the absorption is reduced several times (by a factor of say 3-5 times). So I run my own experiment - I took HALF a pill Stribuild for two weeks. This didn't reduce the side effects as I was hoping, but at the end of the two weeks I got my test results and I was still undetectable.

--- End quote ---

Two week experiment, "success" based on unchanged viral load after two weeks - does not equal a success, especially since you are trying to reduce side effects, and didn't!

2 x 10 overdosing claim, is pulled out of your hat, from thin air.... Its your hunch and that's it... Just saying... Not terribly scientific....

elf:
Here in Croatia there is no 200 mg efavirenz, only Stocrin (600 mg efavirenz) >:(
In my case, 3 mg melatonin helps (no CNS disturbances).

witch:

--- Quote ---Two week experiment, "success" based on unchanged viral load after two weeks - does not equal a success, especially since you are trying to reduce side effects, and didn't!

2 x 10 overdosing claim, is pulled out of your hat, from thin air.... Its your hunch and that's it... Just saying... Not terribly scientific....

--- End quote ---

Not terribly scientific but way more scientific than manufacturers without published studies of the correct doses. I've see this happening with other drugs - in 10 years it turns out the necessary dose is 1/10 of what they started with ... All these requirements for Complera and Stribild to take them with food were not studied properly, just some isolated "observations" and generalities that absorbtion is higher with food.

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