tea and meds

[spoon]

After a year of being poz I started taking Atripla a couple of weeks ago. The pharmacist at my doctor's office mentioned that certain teas can decrease the amount of the drug in one's system. She mentioned yerba matte and green tea, both of which I drink regularly. Anyone else get this warning?

[hope_for_a_cure]

Thats the first I have heard of it.  I will ask my doc about this for sure.  I love green tea sweetened with just a little bit of honey and now that it is boiling hot outside, I drink it with ice.  I will say that my health is getting much better and I have been drinking this stuff all along. 

[Matty the Damned]

There are substances in green tea which are thought to have some anti-HIV activity. I've not heard anything about yerba matte or these things reducing the levels of drugs in the bloodstream.

That said, if your pharmacist has told you to take care with such things, you would be wise to heed the advice. That's what pharmacists are for.

MtD

[veritas]

spoon,

I know green tea can interact with some cancer medications (velcade), however a quick search found nothing about hiv meds. As matty says, there are anti-hiv properties in green tea (I drink it myself). If you could ask your pharmicist to clarify (direct you to a particular paper or study), i would like to read it. I'm sure many here who drink green tea would be interested.

Thanks,

v

[BusyDame]

My Dr. did advise me to reduce avoid coffee and reduce on tea. I had no problems quiting coffee because it always unsettled my stomach in one way or another, but tea I must confess I still drink in large qtys. Green tea I indulge even heavier. Will ask exactly why no tea on my next visit.

[tommy246]

coffee is good for your liver no ?

[Granny60]

Husband has been on Atripla 3 years and drinks caffine  free tea all day every day.  The Atripla has done it's job.  Insomnia is a problem so maybe your doctor wants to eliminate the caffine? Doctor advised caffine free everything because caffine causes hydrocells in the testes  and some women in the breasts.  They did go away a few months after he quit caffine which sure beat the hell out of the alternative surgery. I find nothing about it on my copy of the  product label. You should ask you doc or pharmacist why. st. John's wort is listed as a no no on the product label, and there has been one reported interaction with ginko.  I find that most herbals have not been tested for interactions.

[Hoover]

Grapefruit juice has a long list of interactions, but I have not seen anything about the HIV meds listed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit_juice

Drugs that may be affected include oxycodone, midazolam, ciclosporin, lovastatin, methadone, dextromethorphan, simvastatin, pravastatin, felodipine, sildenafil (Viagra) and caffeine, as well as a number of antihistamines including astemizole and terfenadine.[11]

It potentates Viagra   

Hoover

[newt]

Any commercially marketed tea, including herbal and fruit tisanes, is gonna do diddly squit to Atripla's effectiveness. Same is true for coffee. If there's research which proves otherwise I'd like to know about it.