Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
February 08, 2025, 10:25:11 am

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 775865
  • Total Topics: 66647
  • Online Today: 3419
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 0
Guests: 2943
Total: 2943

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: A possible change of HIV therapy  (Read 1379 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline mrdad90

  • Member
  • Posts: 6
A possible change of HIV therapy
« on: January 30, 2025, 11:34:12 am »
Hello everyone. I am HIV positive since 2015 .I am now using Genvoya before I used Stribild and I am currently undetectable. With Genvoya I have experienced two problems: increased cholesterol maybe due to cobicistat or diet or some antidepressant medication I use. I take Rexulti and Trilafon and also Laroxyl. I feel tired physically with Genvoya, if I switch to Symtuza or Triumeq could I feel better? And also the cholesterol problem now I am taking Berberol, which is a cholesterol supplement. I would like to know your experiences on Genvoya, Triumeq and Symtuza. Has anyone been well with Triumeq or Symtuza. What do you say is it worth changing to a better therapy? Thank you very much ❤️👋

Offline Jim

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 23,355
Re: A possible change of HIV therapy
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2025, 01:23:10 pm »
Sorry to hear you are feeling tired. hugs.

Quote
I am now using Genvoya before I used Stribild and I am currently undetectable. With Genvoya I have experienced two problems: increased cholesterol maybe due to cobicistat or diet or some antidepressant medication I use.

Stribild: elvitegravir + cobicistat + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + emtricitabine
Genvoya: elvitegravir + cobicistat + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine
Symtuza: darunavir + cobicistat + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine

The only difference between Stribild & Genvoya is you swapped TDF for TAF*.

In short, TDF suppresses weight and cholesterol, when you switched you lost that, so that's one potential reason you are now seeing the cholesterol issue, as for treating/managing this now you have lost that suppressive bonus, that's a different story.

Quote
I feel tired physically with Genvoya, if I switch to Symtuza or Triumeq could I feel better?

Prehaps, if the meds are the cause or interacting with your other meds. However, I have to point out you have had this issue since at least 2013. Anyhow, Symtuza (see above), contains largely the same drugs as you have been taking so far including TAF.

Symtuza would not be much of a switch and Triumeq contains ABC, it's no longer a first-line treatment due to cardiovascular concerns. The DTG in Triumeq in a few people has worsened pre-existing issues such as depression, nothing major but something to keep an eye on and discuss with your healthcare provider should you change to a combination that contains DTG.

Have you discussed options with your healthcare provider? Is Symtuza or Triumeq something they recommended? How about Dovato "DTG + 3TC"?

Quote
Has anyone been well with Triumeq

Yeah, I've been taking this since 2015 and I am fine. I take it in the morning to avoid insomnia and vivid dreams, no heart attack yet and my thoughts are mainly homicidal, not suicidal, so that's okay with me. However, what works for me, doesn't work for others, same as with any drug.




https://www.poz.com/article/morning-dosing-tivicay-may-ease-insomnia-side-effect

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5321108/

2022 Approximately 1 in 200 people taking abacavir suffer cardiovascular events each year
https://www.aidsmap.com/news/oct-2021/large-international-study-finds-40-higher-risk-serious-cardiovascular-problems-people

2018: The Causes of HIV-Associated Cardiomyopathy: A Tale of Two Worlds
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26885518/

2014 Cardiovascular risks associated with abacavir
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910369/



The lipid-lowering effect of tenofovir/emtricitabine
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25870325/

TDF to TAF rising cholesterol levels
https://www.aidsmap.com/news/may-2020/people-switching-tdf-taf-experience-rising-cholesterol-levels

https://www.aidsmap.com/news/apr-2024/switching-taf-tdf-leads-weight-loss
Quote
Switching from tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) to the older formulation of tenofovir disoproxil (TDF) resulted in modest weight loss in people with HIV in the Swiss HIV Cohort, researchers report in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Switching from TAF to TDF also brought benefits in the forms of reduced cholesterol and triglycerides.

In contrast, switching from TAF-containing treatment to a two-drug combination of dolutegravir/lamivudine or injectable cabotegravir/rilpivirine did not lead to any changes in weight.

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/taf-versus-tdf-difference
« Last Edit: January 30, 2025, 01:58:42 pm by Jim »
HIV 101 - Everything you need to know
HIV 101
Read more about Testing here:
HIV Testing
Read about Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) here:
HIV TasP
You can read about HIV prevention here:
HIV prevention
Read about PEP and PrEP here
PEP and PrEP

Offline Loa111

  • Member
  • Posts: 385
Re: A possible change of HIV therapy
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2025, 04:45:29 am »
I can only share my own experience with  Genvoya. My ID Doc started me on  Genvoya when I found out I was poz with an advanced AIDs stage diagnosis.

I did not get on with it well at all. I experience terrible wind in my stomach/intestine so bad it felt like there was a little man in my stomach or intestine punching the walls of it very hard all day long. I was letting massive farts non-stop & wind/gas was racing around inside me like a hurricane 24x7.

All of these terrible side effects  was very disturbing as mentally & emotionally I was trying to process have been told I had aids & was quite advanced.

Also I had increased readings from my liver blood tests.

ID Doc could not figure out if it was the  Genvoya or the antibiotic I had to take which is given to those of us with advanced HIV stages.

He switched me from  Genvoya to a combo of Tivicay & Descoy, & also changed me to a different antibiotic. Everything settled down immediately & no more violent stomach gas & powerful farts. My Live panel returned to normal after a few weeks. I also had to go to the ID Clinic every week or two for blood tests for nearly 2 months until it all calmed down.

I was glad to get off  Genvoya! :)

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2025 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.