I was diagnosed in September 2007 and due to my CD4 count going marginally below 350 on 3 consecutive occasions my doctor prescribed Atripla for me 3 months ago. My viral load before medication was around 100,000 copies and my last blood test after being on Atripla for a month had reduced that to 724, however the side effects are quite hard at times and I have mood swings and some feelings of low depression. I visited my doctor yesterday and she has recommended that I go on a clinical trial for 6 months with Etravirine (TMC-125. Everything seems to be moving rather fast and I'm unsure what to do next, do you think that Etravirine (TMC-125)will be a better alternative for me even though I will need to take 6 tablets a day instead of 1?

Etravirine can be effective after failing efavirenz based therapy depending on the resistance picture. Use of etravirine may be one reasonable option as would a switch to a boosted protease inhibitor based regimen depending on your entire treatment and resistance history. KH