POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: Dan J. on February 08, 2007, 04:25:36 pm
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I need to know if there will be any new NRTI's available in 2007. Currently there are not any that I can take due to the fact that I am either allergic or resistant to what is currently available. I need a new drug because Invirase & "new" Kaletra isn't keeping me undetectable.
Dan
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The Body has a comprehensive list of drugs in development, I guess "new" here means in Phase 3 or poss late Phase 2, and therefore perhaps available for compassionate access, or as part of a trial. On NRTIs the short answer is no, none of significance.
http://www.thebody.com/treat/newdrugs.html
I really encourage you to get your Doc to explore Maraviroc, because it seems to have few interations with exisiting drugs, few toxicities/side effects, a very strong effect on viral load and is now available on expanded access.
- matt
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Dan, what did Hermans Dr, from Belgium said about your treatment?
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I am going to stop treatment & give up. I have gotten to the point that just can't deal with HIV everyday anymore. Feeling like shit all the time, feeling dirty, you all know what I am talking about. This hiv looser is checking out. Hope it comes quick, cause I am ready to go. Now I am not saying I am going to take an overdose or harm myself in anyway, but I am ending my hiv treatment & letting things take their natural course.
I actually feel blessed to have the power to make this decision. & It is MY CHOICE.
Dan J.
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hey Dan
In a way i know exactly how you feel..feeling tired..exhausted even to the point of thinking im going to pass out..having the runs on a daily basis..and just tired of the emotional stress living the daily life wondering if this is how the rest of my life will be..But feeling sorry for myself isnt going to get me anywhere..Kaletra is hell on my body..even noticed changes in my body..but im still gonna fight this thing even if every day will be a struggle cuz every day i get through is another day of being a stronger person..and the longer i hold on..the more of a chance i will get to see the day when there might be a better regiment of medicines..or who knows .,.even a cure..but i'll never know if i throw in the towel now..You just have to learn to become a fighter!
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inmontreal wrote: "You just have to learn to become a fighter!" Dan J. knows how to fight, if he determines to do that. Maybe he's just reached a point where he's sick and tired of being sick and tired.
I can relate Dan J. There are some days that I get so damn tired of being fatigued--despite all the things I've done to lessen it. Quit smoking. Vitamins. Excercise. Get on this forum and have a laugh. Get on this forum to express opinion. Kiss & hug my partner. Kiss & hug my dogs. Kiss & hug my llamas. Kiss and Hug my pig. (gross, eh?)
I wish you wouldn't just stop like that. It sucks. Sometimes a radical change is needed. Move to a new area of the city. Get a boyfriend. Lose a boyfriend. Change a med. Get a radical haircut. Stop drinking. Start drinking. How about another pill to swallow? I take 5 mg. dexedrine 1 tab/once a day -- but choose to do so only those days that seem extra difficult. It helps, too. It's not covered by med cards since it's not considered approved treatment for HIV. (I think to myself, well, no.....it's for the related fatigue, bozos!)
I hope and pray you are having a bad hair day, only.
xxx,
Mike
( Edited: I feel the complusion to correct every little mistake I make in my posts. )
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i cant speak for everyone..but i think we're ALL sick and tired of being sick and tired...I dont think any of us find this a picnic..granted there are some who have it much worse..But i see more people trying to get through it then to just throw it all away..maybe what im saying is cold..and im sure the future might hold something more scarrier for me (so i might regret what im about to say)..but sometimes you just have to snap out of it! you do what ya gotta do to survive..none of us have it easy
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Hi Dan:
Just an FYI... We keep track of all antiretrovirals -- including the nukes -- in phase II and phase III development. Just take a look at the list of drug classes (http://www.aidsmeds.com/List.htm (http://www.aidsmeds.com/List.htm)), click on the class you're interested in, and look for the italicized drugs (these are the experimental agents in phase II/III development).
At the present time, I'm not aware of any nukes gearing up for approval in 2007. However, as Matt suggests, a drug regimen -- especially for those with drug-resistant HIV -- need not involve a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; you may be able to cobble together a new regimen using PIs, NNRTIs, entry inhibitors... and even an integrase inhibitor.
Tim Horn
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Dan,
maraviroc is worth exploring.
I have a lot of resistance, & some pretty serious renal and liver problems. The details are all quite boring.
Despite this, we have "cobbled together" a combo. It's not perfect, it has involved a fair amount of dosage alterations, but for the moment, it will do. Undetectable viral load, yes, that is the ultimate goal for most people. Sometimes though, I think you have to be realistic about achieving the best result, for you and your overall health, right now. That may mean setting a slightly different set of goals - for me, it's about keeping my viral load as low as possible, and my immune function/quality of life as high as possible, until different treatment options come along.
Ultimately, yes, it is always your choice...but I do hope you feel able to talk to someone you trust about your thoughts on this.
kate
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Other exciting new classes of medicines currently in human clinical trials and preclinical trials for HIV include the following:
16 new integrase iinhibitors,
44 entry inbibitors,
including
CCR5 gp120,
gp41 blockers
scsr4 blockers,
8 new maturation inhibitors,
19 non nukes,
18 nukes,
8 new protease inhibitors, and
the following completely new classes of meds;
alpha intigrins,
regulatory protein inhibitors,
CDK inhibitors,
rev inhibitors, tat inhibitor, CDK9 inhibitor,
ATM kinase inhibitor, glucocorticoid antoagonist, nuclear location viral matrix blockers, erg1 gene activators, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor blockers, p38 inhibitor, capsid inhibitor, rev-tat inhibitor.
All of these attack the virus at different points in its lifecycle and any one of these could be the next breakthough treatment. Twenty years of scientific work and billions of dollars are paying off in the HIV treatment area bringing hope to sufferers.
My personal favorite is the ATM kinase inhibitor, it also stops you from using the ATM, LOL
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DAN J
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dan j
you remind me of my best friend jak, he missed the good meds that came out in 1994 by one year, he could have made it, we are so so close to amazing new meds
what city are you in? can you get on integrase inhibitors or maturation inhibitors
in a year or two there will be triple cocktails with entirely new meds
integrase inhibitors
integrase is an enzyme that does not exist in human body, so when you inhibit it it does not have all bad side effects
all the others, nuke non nuke, protiese they exist in body as enzymes that need to fcn so inhibiting them causes more side effects
see if you can get in a gene therapy or vaccine trial
listen i am new to hiv just exposed ... it scares me, stay alive and take your meds to help support me emotionally
i need it
of course your body is your choise
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My hiv doc told me at my last appointment that he doesn't know what to do with me. He mentioned something about going to Nashville to the 12 doc pannel that makes decisions about hiv health care in Tn. He said maybe they would have an idea of what I need to take. This is frustrating for me because I never miss a dose but my numbers are not good. I just don't have much fight in me anymore after living with this crap for 21+ years.
I never thought I would live tihis long after finding out in 1986.
Dan J.
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Dan, I was in the same boat: on Kaletra and Invirase and my VL would not go below 25,000 though my cd4's were not shoddy. This went on for years. If you can handle doing fuzeon shots I'd suggest that in combination with the newly approved Prezista (TMC-114). You'll have a norvir booster low dose, and I'm also on Truvada though I don't know how that latter one fits with your resistance profile. My results were instantly amazing.
Sorry if this has been suggested elsewhere and for some reason you can't take these drugs.
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I can't take Prezista because it has sulpha in it. & I can't take Truvada anymore because it makes my kidney function #'s go through the roof. My doctor is reluctant to start me on Fuzeon, says he doesn't want to "do that to me." I might be able to take Viramune. My problems aren't resistance, it's tolerance. I am allergic to many medications, & not just HIV meds.
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My doctor is reluctant to start me on Fuzeon, says he doesn't want to "do that to me."
And what, pray tell, does that mean? I'd say after being diagnosed for two decades you can handle a needle.
Odd, I often have sulpha reactions or I did years ago when on Bactrim, and I've not had any problem on Prezista. Maybe I'm not really allergic to sulpha.
What ever was the outcome of the Belgian fiasco? Was he any help?
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the doc in Belgium wasn't much help. She recommended a drug I am allergic to.
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Heres some info :
http://www.tpan.com/publications/pa/07_01/editors_note.shtml
Ray
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Hi Dan,
I came across the following in the PozHealth Yahoo group. It was in response to someone asking whether he should take Aptivus or Prezista.
I'd recommend Prezista. I started on that back in November. The only issue is that it is somewhat sulfa based and I'm allergic to sulfa drugs. I had a reaction to the Prezista (breakout of hives/rash), but with some OTC antihystamines and patience, I was able to work my way through the reaction and now have no problems with it.
I wonder if the same strategy might work for you with regard to your allergy to sulfa drugs. If you can combine Prezista with Viramune and Fuzeon, that might be a good combination. Or, even better, if you can get on the expanded access program for the Merck integrase inhibitor, you could do that instead of the Fuzeon.
Fuzeon is no picnic; I know because I was on it for over three years. If you do go on Fuzeon, just realize that within the next six months or so you'll probably be able to switch to one of the entry or integrase inhibitors that is in the drug pipeline.
Allan
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Fuzeon is not picnic, but it's also not as bad as people think. I was mortified of doing it at first: NEEDLES NEEDLES. And mind you I do not freak out when doctors take blood or inject me with shots, but it was the idea of doing itself.
However, I will say using the Biojector 2000 needless mechanism alleviated this for me. I do not understand why more people aren't using this, though perhaps because it is new insurance isn't yet covering it. I obtained mine through a local trial.
http://www.bioject.com/biojector2000.html
I'm not sure it has been officially FDA approved yet.
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Fuzeon is not picnic, but it's also not as bad as people think.
philly267 is right. I didn't mean to give such a negative impression of Fuzeon. Even though the injections and the reactions were sometimes unpleasant, I knew that this stuff was keeping me healthy, and that's what kept me going. There were plenty of times that I was tempted to skip a dose, but in three years I never did.
The good news is that anyone starting Fuzeon will probably not have to remain on it for as long as I did.
Allan
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allan wrote: ...The good news is that anyone starting Fuzeon will probably not have to remain on it for as long as I did.
Please clarify. Fuzeon is a drug that is used to bring numbers up but then discontinued because of the harsh side effects?
Is it discontinued due to difficult method of self-administering the drug? ??
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I discontinued Fuzeon a week ago when I got into the Merck integrase inhibitor expanded access program. The integrase inhibitor is an oral drug that has had very good results in its clinical trials. I'm having new lab work done in four more weeks. I'll have the results about 10 days after that, so I'll know then if I made the right decision.
After more than three years on Fuzeon, my injection site reactions seemed to be getting worse. Even so, if I had not gotten into the expanded access program I would still be on the Fuzeon.
Allan
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My doc is sending the paper work in for me to start taking the new integrase inhibitor made by Merk. I did not want to take Fuzeon & my doc thought it would be hard for me to take by myself. So here I am waiting to know if I will be approved or not.
Dan
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My doc is sending the paper work in for me to start taking the new integrase inhibitor made by Merk. I did not want to take Fuzeon & my doc thought it would be hard for me to take by myself. So here I am waiting to know if I will be approved or not.
Dan
Good luck being approved to start on the integrase inhibitor. I have the feeling that in a few years we will all be moving to integrase and entry inhibitors.
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Dan,
What other drugs would you be taking with the Merck integrase inhibitor?
I'm not sure what your doctor meant when he said that Fuzeon would be too hard to take by yourself. Most people who inject this drug do it by themselves.
Allan
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allan wrote: ...The good news is that anyone starting Fuzeon will probably not have to remain on it for as long as I did.
Please clarify. Fuzeon is a drug that is used to bring numbers up but then discontinued because of the harsh side effects?
Is it discontinued due to difficult method of self-administering the drug? ??
No, it's saved for salvage. And I've not heard of anyone having side effects. It's been the most non-side effects (well except for the injection site reactions, which I find manageable but many do not) like nausea, headaches, rashes, certainly no digestive issues because it doesn't go in that way. That's what is so great about it. There are NO absorption issues like with pills.
So, for example, my doctor wants me on this for 1 year total which will end in May, and then he will take me off it and on one of the new things that will be out by then. Then fuzeon can always be kept in the closet and re-used if my number ever drop. There is little danger of resistance with it for some reason, or that is my understanding. Really, it's a great drug. I honestly think they should give it to more people. It's REALLY expensive though.
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Dan,
What other drugs would you be taking with the Merck integrase inhibitor?
I'm not sure what your doctor meant when he said that Fuzeon would be too hard to take by yourself. Most people who inject this drug do it by themselves.
Allan
Yeah, I did not get that. And it's not the first time seemingly his doctor has said something quite odd. Are you sure this guy is good, Dan?
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Hang in there Dan, Merck's MK518 looks like it's going to be approved by the FDA before the end of 2007, see http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070223-16025400-bc-italy-aidspill.xml.