"JRRRRRR" Switch to Tivicay/Descovy or Genvoya

[JRRRRRR]

I went from stribild to tivicay/descovy.  I'll take it again late morning/lunch time to ease it back towards an early morning dose. 

The secondary reason is I'm a grapefruit junkie.  Some of you may remember the conversation zach and I had after my diagnosis and how heart broken I was. 

I have been on Stribild since my diagnosis back in 2014.  The only side effect has been this "out of body thick" feeling, more profound when taken on an empty stomach.  The Truvada component is the "old" type with bone density reduction problems.  Three years later and my recent bone density test was abnormal my ID physician thought it best to send me either towards Genvoya or, even more radical, change to Tivicay/Descovy.

It makes me slightly uncomfortable to go from Stribild with known side effects into uncharted territory with Tivicay/Descovy.  I would really like to hear from anyone who has made this switch and their personal experiences with side effects.

I, too, miss grapefruit!  Are you telling me that, by switching to Tivicay/Descovy, I can return to using it as a breakfast fruit??

JRRRRRR

[Mightysure]

I switched from Stribild to Genvoya to Tivicovy (Tivicay + Descovy).
I don't think the switch your doctor is proposing to Tivicovy is radical. They're in the Tivicay is in the same drug class as Elvitegravir. And the tenofovir in Descovy is reformulated.
The only real change is Tivicay. It's not that uncharted. They know the side effects. It's not that big of a deal. I'm actually very happy with the change.
But my question is why were you taking Stribild ok an empty stomach? It's supposed to be taken with food.

I'd say Tivicovy is the best, but if you're apprehensive about drastic changes, go with Genvoya.

[JRRRRRR]

Thanks for the response!  I'm hopeful this change will be a none event for me.  Stribild has had very little side effects and hopefully Tivicay/Descovy will too.

For the record, I never took Stribild with an empty stomach!  Wierd "out of body" side effects when I did.  I also tried to take it with a higher fat content meal so that the uptake would be faster.  Not sure that was necessary but that's how I roll.   

[Jim Allen]

I would not call it uncharted or radical at all. On the switching to something that replaces TDF for TAF it makes sense.

I never took Stribild with an empty stomach!  Wierd "out of body" side effects when I did

Maybe I am also just reading this wrong, but it sounds like in your 1st and 2nd post you got weird out of body effects when you took the meds without food. Sorry if I am misunderstanding.

Anyhow you should not be settling for something that is causing you problems in this day and age of HIV meds, so replacing TDF for TAF makes sense and if you have been having issues it makes even more sense to switch to something that is better suited to you.

Whatever you decide to switch to I am wishing you all the best.

Jim

https://www.poz.com/article/TDF-TAF-switch-27580-6994