POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: sanduneboi on February 19, 2012, 04:10:37 pm
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Day 10 of my Atripla treatment and sure enough **BOOOOM** rash... It's not super itchy or anything, I do however have it on the palms of my hands and that's a little bit painful. Other than that the only real downfall is I look like a pink and white spotted leopard... Not cute... I am curious though from people who have use Atripla and have had the rash, how long does it last, and is there anything I can do to help it go away... Also does anyone know the EXACT reason for the rash, like what's going on in my body that causes it. Being that i's president's day weekend haven't been able to see my doctor and don't feel like going to the Urgent Cares around here seeing as work for them and know most of the people.. Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated....
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Hi Sanduneboi
i never had the rash when i was on it, but some have. You certainly want to let your doctor know when you get a chance. Sometimes it just lasts a few days and goes away, some folks get it much worse. Some folks are just very sensitive to the Sustiva in Atripla and your body has a reaction to it, just like it would if you were allergic to something.
go to the store and get some Aveeno oatmeal bath and soak in that, i've head that helps alot, take some benedryl. let you doctor know whats going especially if it gets worse.
mike
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Hi Sanduneboi
i never had the rash when i was on it, but some have. You certainly want to let your doctor know when you get a chance. Sometimes it just lasts a few days and goes away, some folks get it much worse. Some folks are just very sensitive to the Sustiva in Atripla and your body has a reaction to it, just like it would if you were allergic to something.
go to the store and get some Aveeno oatmeal bath and soak in that, i've head that helps alot, take some benedryl. let you doctor know whats going especially if it gets worse.
mike
Thanks mike.. Hopefully will get into the doctor on Tuesday and see what he says...
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One of the medications in the Atripla is causing the rash. I don't get the rash, but I can't sleep for crap on it. Last night, I got a whole four hours.
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One of the medications in the Atripla is causing the rash. I don't get the rash, but I can't sleep for crap on it. Last night, I got a whole four hours.
I was worried that was going to happen to me, but I get drowsy as all heck... I take it at 3PM everyday and by 6PM I am OUT. Works for me because I work graves... Does leave sorta groggy throughout the day, but it seems to be getting better, as the drugs build up in my system...
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My partner had a rash on his arms and torso after about 14 days on Atripla. He said it didn't feel as bad as it looked, but I got the feeling he wanted it gone ASAP. It went away for him in about 2 weeks, but after the first 5 days, it looked a lot better than when he first pointed it out to me.
Good luck. I hope it goes away soon for you.
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Hi Boi, welcome to the forums.
It's a bit unusual to have the rash on the palms of your hands - you should seriously get checked out for syphilis. Syphilis is one of the few things in this world that will cause a rash on the palms. (strange, maybe, but true)
Please promise me you'll do this. Don't think that because you never noticed a primary syphilis sore (called a chancre) that you couldn't possibly have syphilis. Chancres are painless and if you get one where you can't easily see it, it's easy to miss. It could be coincidence that you got a secondary symptom of syphilis infection right when you also got a rash from the Sustiva in your Atripla.
Get checked out - better safe than sorry. (you REALLY don't want neurosyphilis!)
Ann
edited to add... I just saw your second post where you say you were diagnosed with only 90 CD4s. It's possible that you are also experiencing something called immune reconstitution syndrome. When this happens, your body starts paying attention to underlying illnesses that it couldn't cope with before - and so you start getting symptoms of those illnesses.
This could be why you're getting the secondary symptom of syphilis - a rash on the palms of the hand and/or soles of the feet. You can have the rash in both places, or just one of them. Please, get checked for syphilis! As I said before, better safe than sorry.
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Her edit beat me to this. IRIS is god awful, because basically as your immune system comes back online you start getting "sick" from all the illnesses your body has been unable to fight off for all this time. Although any doctor worth their salt should be giving you an RPR as part of their initial round of testing once you've tested positive for HIV.
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I was tested for syphillis at the same time I was tested for HIV. Is it possible that I had it then but it just didn't show up on the test because my immune system was so blah?
In comparing my rash to pictures online it REALLY really looks like hives. I don't know though. So much going on with my body and not enough time to get educated on everything. Will just see the doc on tues and see what he says. Hopefully it's nothing MAJOR...
Hi Boi, welcome to the forums.
It's a bit unusual to have the rash on the palms of your hands - you should seriously get checked out for syphilis. Syphilis is one of the few things in this world that will cause a rash on the palms. (strange, maybe, but true)
Please promise me you'll do this. Don't think that because you never noticed a primary syphilis sore (called a chancre) that you couldn't possibly have syphilis. Chancres are painless and if you get one where you can't easily see it, it's easy to miss. It could be coincidence that you got a secondary symptom of syphilis infection right when you also got a rash from the Sustiva in your Atripla.
Get checked out - better safe than sorry. (you REALLY don't want neurosyphilis!)
Ann
edited to add... I just saw your second post where you say you were diagnosed with only 90 CD4s. It's possible that you are also experiencing something called immune reconstitution syndrome. When this happens, your body starts paying attention to underlying illnesses that it couldn't cope with before - and so you start getting symptoms of those illnesses.
This could be why you're getting the secondary symptom of syphilis - a rash on the palms of the hand and/or soles of the feet. You can have the rash in both places, or just one of them. Please, get checked for syphilis! As I said before, better safe than sorry.
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Syphilis shares a three month testing window period with hiv, so please do mention it to your doctor tomorrow. He may want to re-test just to make sure. Don't sweat it though.
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Hi sanduneboi,
What Anne said, but I want to add a bit more. After abbot 10 days on Atripla, I got the rash, and it was also on the palms of my hands and in between the fingers. But it only lasted a couple of days and it went away. My doc did keep testing for syphilis, and I was neg for that after all. But you want to keep on top of that.
The rash should go away, but do let your doc know. Show it to him at least. Take some pics as a record just in case.
This may sound weird, but take a cold tomato out of the fridge. Cut it in half and spread it over your rash. It kinda relieves the itch. And yeah, itchy palms are not very comfy. Keep us informed. Otherwise, I have nothing bad to say about Atripla. It has really worked wonders for me till now with no other side effects.
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Hey there. I got a hint of a rash on day 7 after taking a shower, and then woke up day 8 with it everywhere, including my hands. My lips were puffy and my ears were red. Ask your doctor to evaluate you for Stevens-Johnson's Syndrome. Also ask for prednisolone. It helped me. I had stage 2-3 rash, but the prednisolone and corticosteroid creme helped (cortaid). Do NOT use calamine lotion. It will make it worse, or Benadryl creme. Get clearance from the doc and then give it a couple of days. The prednisolone is a good steroid, and it blocks the histamine your body is producing. You should be back to wearing short sleeves and shorts within two or three weeks. Good luck man.
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I had rash on my day 9 with truvada and sustiva (separated version of your med). I began to notice some small spots on my chest then a bit on my uppe legs. Then it took about 2-3 days to get spread all over my upper chest, upper back, both arms and legs. I went to er and they gave me anti allergic med. And the following day my ID doc. suggested me to drop sustiva as the rashes are growing together and had potential to get thicker. Not itchy thu and it disappear after stop med for few days.
Hope thing gets better for you.