HIV POSITIVE Treatment
Protease Inhibitors & You

Are there medications you should not take with protease inhibitors?

Some drugs can cause problems (interactions) when they are taken together. Interactions might make your drugs less effective, or they could make you sick. Even some of the drugs that you might be taking to treat an infection or to keep you from getting an opportunistic illness (prophylaxis) should not be taken with a protease inhibitor. Your doctor may say that taking those drugs together is contraindicated. For example, rifamycin drugs (rifampin and rifabutin) which are used to treat TB (tuberculosis) or MAC (Mycobacterium avium complex) can interact with protease inhibitors. In this interaction, the rifamycin makes the protease inhibitor less effective, and the protease inhibitor increases the chances of rifamycin side effects.

If you have HIV and you also have either TB or MAC, you should talk to you doctor about these options:

  • stopping the protease inhibitor during treatment including rifampin and other anti-TB/anti-MAC drugs;

  • stopping the protease inhibitor during treatment including rifampin and other anti-TB/anti-MAC drugs, then stopping the rifampin, but continuing the other anti-TB/anti-MAC drugs and the protease inhibitor;

  • taking the anti-TB/anti-MAC treatment with rifabutin instead of rifampin (only if the protease inhibitor is indinavir (Crixivan));

  • taking one-half the usual dose of rifabutin (only if the protease inhibitor is nelfinavir (Viracept).

Also, if you have not yet started a protease inhibitor, the recommendation is to finish treatment with rifampin and other anti-TB/anti-MAC drugs before starting the protease inhibitor.

Check the table, Medications That Should Not Be Used With, to make sure you are not taking drugs together that are contraindicated. Be sure to talk to your doctor before stopping or starting any drug.

Usually, your doctor can prescribe a different drug that will help you avoid an illness or treat a symptom.

Go Back

Continue

Go to the Protease Inhibitors & You Menu

Go to the Treatments for HIV/AIDS Menu

Go to the Treatment Menu

Go to the HIVpositive.us Main Menu













74