POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: vanlefar on October 25, 2008, 06:01:09 pm
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Hello everyone, this is my second post since my partner and I learned we are both HIV positive September 10th, and he had a t-cell count of 14. Anyway, he is currently taking Atripla at bedtime, azithromycin after dinner and septra in the early part of the day. The side effects of Atripla; like the vivid dreams, hangover headaches, depression have all subsided, however he is covered in a rash of red bumps which are so unbelievably itchy he has to take Doxepin, Benadryl and Lorazepam to sleep at night. I’m wondering if anyone might have input or experiences that were similar. The doctor told us it could be “rip van winkle effect aka a manifestation of I.R.I.S. Please excuse the lengthy message it’s just so hard to watch him go through this and I’m desperate for some tips. Thank you..
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Rip van Winkle, indeed, a doc with a sense of humour. But good point.
It could be a Septra allergy too. Dunno if this figures. It's faily common. If you've used it before you will obviously know etc.
- matt
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Thank you for your response. I thought that if he was allergic to Septra, that the reactions would become potentially fatal as he continued to take the antibiotic. Hmmm I need to look into this Septra situation a bit more . Thanks
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IRIS tends to lean more towards the general inflammatory symptoms, but i would not rule it out. Remind me sometime to discuss my own experiences with IRIS this August.
It can be really, really, serious. I agree with Newt though, that this sounds a lot like possible allergy to Septra (known here in the US as Bactrim). I'm allergic to the stuff myself, and can't take it (or other sulfa drugs). This rash needs to be closely monmitored, however. Allergy to Septra can be serious.
But with a CD4 count of 14, the first couple of months of treatment will cause some fascinating and potentially scary things to manifest, as the body finally resumes the fight against pathogens.