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Ask the Experts about Managing Side Effects of HIV Treatment
I am on Reyataz and Norvir for 3 years. I have had HIV for 21 years and never been ill. I have yellow skin due to the medication. I would like to know if drinking alcohol helps the yellow skin appear.
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Response from Dr. Henry
If you have jaundice (yellow color) while on Norvir/Reyataz then your elevated bilirubin (yellow pigment in the blood) is possibly due to the Reyataz. Your HIV specialist should check blood levels of bilirubin and also other liver tests to sort out if anything else is contributing to the problems (such as a form of viral hepatitis or cirrhosis). For some causes of jaundice drinking alcohol would worsen the situation whereas for Reyataz related jaundice it would not help it and might aggravate it in some cases (often little effect for moderate alcohol use). I usually switch patients to a different treatment (off the Reyataz) if they experience jaundice due to Reyataz (seen in about 3-5% of patients on ritonavir/Reyataz). KH
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Response from Dr. Henry
