After 13 failed combinations, due to mental and physical side effects, I have now changed clinics for a fresh start and hopefully better care. I was wondering if you could give me some advice on the combination my new Docter has put me on. The Combination is Atazanavir 300mg/day-Ritonivir 100mg/day- Tenofovir 245mg/day- Abacavir 600mg/day- and Lamivadine 300mg/day. This is taken once daily, all together. Is this a good salvage treatment for me or could it be to strong for my system, and is there anything else I should be aware of on this combo? I was diagnosed positive in 1990 and my latest labs were CD4 151 & Viral Load 48,700. I have also been taking Diazipan since I was 12 (I am now 39)@ 12mg/day Your help would be greatly apprecited. Yours SJ

Whether that regimen will work depends on many issues including how much resistance has developed. If your HIV in the past or presently has much resistance (PI and NRTI class) then the described regimen would often not be potent enough to suppress the virus fully. A complete review of all of your past treatments and RNA levels and resistance tests is key to sort out many of those issues. That regimen is once a day and fairly convenient and often is fairly well tolerated on the positive side. T20 and any other active drugs based on resistance testing need to be considered depending on your current CD4 count and other clinical issues to be discussed with your current HIV doc. KH