Atripla and food

[walkingpoz]

Hey I just read in a different forum that if you take Atripla with food it can cause HIV to mutate. Is that true? I thought more severe side effects were the only reason why one shouldn't take it with food. I'm not experiencing any side effects effects even if a take it with a snack but if my taking it with food can cause resistance I would stop it.

Also, if I want to take change the time I take Atripla from midnight to the morning, is it ok to take Atripla one hour late every day for a couple of days until I have reached the preferred time? I already did this when I switched from Isentress+Truvada to Atripla 3 weeks ago and changed the time from afternoon to midnight. I want to change it to the morning now because I want to see if Atripla causes my morning tiredness.

[Jeff G]

Its not true . Taking Atripla with fatty foods can impact and increase the nasty CNS issues but does not impact effectiveness . 

[Niceguy2013]

My doctor recently told me that taking with a meal could negatively affect absorption. However most things I read online said it will only result in more side effects. I haven't found a definitive answer.

It's not always possible for me to wait the full 2 hours before taking it, but I try to wait at least an hour to be on the safe side. I also usually have a small snack before bed. My numbers are still good.

[darryaz]

I've been taking Atripla with a snack every night for nearly 7 years.

My CD-4 is over 700 and UD has been consistently undetectable.

[bufguy]

Having food in your stomach when taking Atripla raises the efavirenz levels in your blood which could create CNS issues. It will not lower the effectiveness of the medication.
Some people have side effects with Atripla. For those that don't its a great medication because of the extremely long half life of the efavirenz component. This makes dosing very forgiving allowing a flexible schedule for taking it.