For the last three months, I have had joint, muscle tightness, tendon problem. I started Truvada-Issentress, two years ago. My VL UD, TC 363, 33%. My doctor thinks that Issentress may be causing some of these joint problems, and she would like to me to switch to Complera. Do you have any suggestion about this? When I became positive in 2004, I tried Sustiva and Truvada and I couldn't take the vivid dreams, and anxiety. I am afraid that I will experience the same with Complera. I have also would like to share that I visited a Rheumatologist and I became positive for Ankylosing Spondilitis. I hope this is not active, and it is causing all this pain. Do you have any data or information with patients HIV patients with AS. Please let me know.

Hi and thanks for posting.

Let's see, you have AS and new joint pains and your doctor thinks that this could be due to a side effect of a regimen you've been on for two years?

I'd find this to be pretty unusual, and raltegravir (Isentress) usually isn't associated with joint or tendon problems. It is known to infrequently cause inflammation of muscles (or elevated laboratory CPK tests).

If your viral load is undetectable and there's no prior history of drug resistance, you could switch to Complera- and monitor any changes in your symptoms. Certainly, you'd be continuing on two thirds of your current regimen (the parts of Truvada), and there are some reports of difficulty sleeping with the rilpivirine part of Complera.

We've reported on AS and HIV in the past.

Hope that this helps, BY