Yes, current treatments (including regimens that include the once vilified protease inhibitors) can be very potent and simultaneously well tolerated.

For persons taking atazanavir (Reyataz)-based regimens, make sure to take your regimen with food and avoid stomach acid-lowering medications. Both measures are important to ensure that you have adequate drug levels.

**Your statement** "the once vilified protease inhibitors". Why are/were PI regimens villified, and what has changed? Are there serious side effects? Thanks, Scott

Scott, thanks for your post.

By "vilified", I refer to the first generation of unboosted PIs, such as Norvir (ritoanvir, 600 mg twice daily), Crixivan (indinavir, 800 mg every 8 hours), etc....

In this first era of HAART, regimens were potent, yet very complicated to take with high pill counts (as many as 16 daily, just for the PIs), dietary restrictions and frequent side effects. Many patients would "rather die, than suffer from their side effects", quoting one study.

We now have much easier to take, more compact PI regimens. PIs, like atazanavir and fosamprenavir (and most recently, newer formulations of nelfinavir and saquinavir) have much lower pill counts(as low as 2-4 per day); fosamprenavir has no dietary restrictions. Side effect profile and toxicity (such as cholesterol) have also been dramatically improved. BY