Hello,

I started meds 6 month ago (no side effects so far). I'm on Epzicom, Raytazz and Novir. My question: With these newer drug cobinations, how likely m I to have problems with lypodystrophy? Recently I saw a few people who have been on meds for a while and most of them have those holow cheeks. I know there is no alternative to meds, but how likely are people today, who recently started the newer and combi doses of drugs, to get these kind of side effects? And also, when would that start to show?

Thanks for your answer. You guys are wonderful. :o)

Thanks for your post.

I'm happy to hear that you're doing well on your first-line boosted PI regimen.

The regimen that your taking isn't well studied in prospective studies, but makes a lot of intuitive sense to me. Based on extrapolation from other studies, it's fair to estimate that the risk of developing body changes (lipodystrophy) on this regimen is quite low.

Indeed, since the treatment community has abandoned wide-spread use of d4T (Zerit), there's the sense that the frequency of new cases of lipodystrophy is less that before.

The key thing about lipo is to be proactive about it-- avoid the medications that seem to be associated with increased risk and to consider switching medications at the early (rather than late) symptoms of the syndrome.

Take a look at TheBody.com's Lipodystrophy Resource Center for additional information about lipodystrophy, including a very lengthy podcast interview with yours truly.

Best of health to you. BY