Question:

My partner has been on Sustiva+Truvada regimen for 6 months and on his last bloodwork, the CD4 had dropped from 307 to 198. Resistance to Sustiva was confirmed and now he is switched to the Reyataz+Norvir+Truvada regimen.

Question #1: How effective is this combo with respect to drug to drug interaction?

Question #2: Are there new clinical trials to support the effectivity of this combination?

Question #3: How would this react to his other medications...Protonix which he takes in the mornings, and Xanax in the evening?

Thank you very much for the support and information.

Answer provided by:

Donna Sweet, M.D.
Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita

In response to your questions, the Reyataz+Norvir+Truvada regimen is a very good one. However, the Truvada/Norvir/Reyataz combination is the subject of a number of ongoing (but yet-to-be presented) clinical studies, but in my experience, the combination has worked well and is well tolerated by patients.

There is one drug interaction that needs to be addressed with his medications that you have listed. Your partner should not take any medications that are proton pump inhibitors like the Protonix he takes. It can significantly reduce the efficacy of Reyataz. You need to speak with your physician about alternative medications to take instead of Protonix as soon as possible. There is no problem with using Xanax and this combination.

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