Am a black African woman, have been on hiv treatment for 4yrs.started with sustiva + combivir, then now on kaletra+combivir. My skin color darkenes each day and not anyone who knew me before can recognise me. It is so dry and itchy that a day cannot go by without appyling cream.When some old friends meet me they ask 'Is it you or we are mistaken'! When you answer the next question is 'What happened to you?'.I have lost my self esteem. No cream seems to work(I fear using bleach creams incase I get worse effects). Is there any drug/cream to counter the effects, I think are caused by the combivir drug? Please help.

AZT particularly (part of the Combivir) can cause a darkening of the skin. Often than can be helped some by switching to an alternative drug (such as abacavir). You can discuss with your HIV doc. A referral to a skin specialist to see if any other condition is present that needs to be treated often can be helpful. KH