POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: northernguy on May 31, 2012, 01:54:53 am
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I was discussing with the clinic pharmacist my options for getting off Atripla, he suggested switching out the Sustiva component for Nevirapine or Etravarine. That kind of surprised me, as I thought it was saved for resistance cases. Anybody here on it, are there many sides?
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i am on intelence , not many side effects , just the usual ones (some belly ache , diarrhea etc) ... its just a HUGE pill , kinda hard to swallow sometimes
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he suggested switching out the Sustiva component for Nevirapine or Etravarine.
Etavirine is a newer NNRTI. Resistance to other NNRTI's doesn't seem to cause resistance to Etavirine so it is "saved" usually until you need it.
Nevirapine is an older NNRTI, it just became generic in the US (last week I think) so it would be much cheaper. It has some issues that need to be monitored for such as rash and hepatoxicity. However bigger concern is a study that showed a higher death rate in patients taking nevirapine versus those taking Sustiva.
http://aids-clinical-care.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2012/521/1
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I was on Intelence for about a year, until a few months ago where I switched to Edurant. I was allowed Intelence because of troubles with tolerating other first line meds, like Sustiva, Kaletra and Rayataz, and not because of resistance mutations. The first 2-3 weeks was a breeze, but slowly my tummy would start to bloat and I eventually developed constipation. However that was relieved by taking Lactulose, which softens bowel contents and helps the passage of stuff in your intestines. Besides from that, I didn't feel a thing - no side effects like headaches or feeling dizzy. The only thing that eventually started to annoy me, was the need for taking it with food twice daily. Oh, and then sometimes I would almost choke on the pills! They're big and chalky.