No side effects

[LordBerners]

Well, I've been on Sustiva/Truvada for 3 days now, my third try with this combo, and have NO significant side effects.  Just dizziness at night for a few hours after ingestion, which makes tottering to the bathroom a risky affair, but none of the severe loss of appetite and exhaustion which accompanied my previous attempts.

Three days is not, I realize, definitive, but so far I'd say that all my previous problems were caused by the tuberculosis, not the meds. 

Alas, I'm now filled with worry that I may have made my virus resistant to Sustiva by stopping twice - the first time for two days without continuing the Truvada as a resistance-reduction strategy.  The chances of resistance under these circumstances are, as I understand it, very high.

What a shame.  I blame my doctors for not giving me enough information. 

[BT65]

You blame your doctors for you stopping the meds?  Come on, now.  My doctor doesn't ever tell my side effects etc. of the meds he prescribes unless I ask him.  I figure that I'm a responsible adult and can research them myself.

[LordBerners]

You blame your doctors for you stopping the meds?  Come on, now.  My doctor doesn't ever tell my side effects etc. of the meds he prescribes unless I ask him.  I figure that I'm a responsible adult and can research them myself.

No, I blame my doctors for not giving me the basic information regarding my treatment.  I'm astounded that a doctor would not take the 3-5 minutes required to vocalize the side effects of medications prescribed, or the additional few minutes to specify the nature of efavirenz's particular vulnerabilities to resistance. 

The point is that efavirenz is somewhat in doubt as an appropriate first line drug for treatment-naive individuals precisely because of situations like mine.

[Ann]

Efavirenz has been prescribed as a first-line therapy for treatment naive individuals for years, quite successfully.

I guess most of them probably didn't stop treatment without talking it over with their doctor first. Can't blame a doctor for not warning you when you didn't tell him what you were up to - until "the next day", at which time he DID tell you to continue on with the truvada.

I didn't respond as 1) I had laid off the meds and 2) I still felt shitty. So the next day i journeyed all the way to Bangkok and met with my doctors.   As I knew they would they recommended that I try to 'stick with' with combo as it is reputedly the best one.  They directed that I begin to take the Truvada again for a week in order to reduce likelihood of the Sustiva going resisted. Then, I can jump back into the full regimen or just stop, depending on how I feel. 

Anyway, I'm very happy for you that you're tolerating the combo this time around. Fingers crossed it's still effective for you.

Ann

[LordBerners]

Efavirenz has been prescribed as a first-line therapy for treatment naive individuals for years, quite successfully.

I'm aware of that, of course, but there has also been debate for years about whether it is wise to use a medicine so vulnerable to resistance in treatment naive individuals.  The obvious reason being that unforseen difficulties are so likely in persons in this category - for example side effects caused by unknown latent OIs.

[weasel]

You blame your doctors for you stopping the meds?  Come on, now.  My doctor doesn't ever tell my side effects etc. of the meds he prescribes unless I ask him.  I figure that I'm a responsible adult and can research them myself.

LORD Berners , you have posted  144 times  ,

 I AGREE WITH  BETTY TACY ! .

   I do not think you are dumb 

   My doctor tells me NOTHING  unless I ask 

  Did you think that playing with fire would not get you burnt ?

   Are you GUESSING ? , or are you RESISTANT !  

   I wish you the best of care , BUT  you have  access to the internet and ALL of the info you need ,MOST of it on these pages are of great value 


                                                      PLEASE FOLLOW YOUR DOCTORS ORDERS

                                                       I have never missed a cocktail and GOD knows there are days I wish I were dead
               
                                                       rather than have to have MED - BELLY

                                                                                    with love and a prayer  ,   Karl 

[Miss Philicia]

Common sense would dictate that if you are faced with a life-threatening disease and you halted your medication that you would discuss doing so with a doctor.  I'd say that this thread amazes me, but I'm often amazed by threads on AIDSmeds.

[LordBerners]

   My doctor tells me NOTHING  unless I ask 

   Are you GUESSING ? , or are you RESISTANT !  

The resistance is merely a possibility, nothing can be known regarding that for another few months.  Too bad doctors don't tell patients information about their treatment.. guess I've been fortunate enough to be well so far in life and didn't realize this.

[weasel]

dear lord berners ,

                            do what I do sometimes !   

                          BRING A BIG LIST OF EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW 

                         I present my doctor with a huge list once a year !

                        it is up to you to OPEN your mouth !

                             DO NOT BLAME YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS !


                                 Doctors have many patients ,BUT MOST will answer  questions !,just ask !

                                                               best of health for you , we are ALL blessed with new drugs ,
                                 
                                                                  But they have side effects ,so what 


                                                                  take your meds and be well ,

                                                                                                          Karl

[Assurbanipal]

milord its been a few days and I hope things are still going well for you as far as the side effects -- I know you had a tough time with meds before the TB was diagnosed.  Are you still doing ok?

Hoping things are going well

A

[LordBerners]

Thanks Assurbanipal, things are going very well - no side effects to speak of other than the usual dizziness at night and some increase in dreaming.  That's why I'm so concerned about whether resistance developed during the TB fiasco - the combo seems to easy to take now that the TB is eliminated as a factor.

[Assurbanipal]

Great!  Let's hope you've not developed resistance -- but even if you have, remember there are a lot of combinations available these days for folks just starting out.

But hope this combo works for you, since you are now comfortable with it.

A