Hello,

I just started a new cocktail and have been experiencing very bad bouts of Diarrhea...

I am currently taking Truvada/Kaletra... I was currently taking Truvada/Viramune however I built up an immunity to the Viramune over two years. I did have the geno type test done.

My t-cells are 320..vl%20 and my cd-4 is 400...my t-cells have fallen for the fourth time in a row and so did my percentage... My doctor suggested I switch to Kaletra. I have been on my current med's for one month now and-the dirrhea is almost everyday... Should I consider changing med's again or give it somemore time and should I see my doctor again for the Diarrhea??

I have been on med's for almost two years now however I do experience quite a bit of stomach distress with all of them. I have K.S. however the meds have it in check after eight rounds of chemo. I am sure the diarrhea it is from the Kaletra from the research that I have done.... Any suggestions, on diet, etc. ?? Any suggestions would be appreciated..

Thank you,

Danny

Diarrhea is a big problem for a subset of patient taking Kaletra. Taking with food is often very important. Taking fiver supplements helps some patients. Taking with a calcium supplement (such as Oscal-D) also helps some patients. Mild antidiarrheal meds such as loperamide or lomotil also can be quite helpful as can use of yogurt supplements. Some patients have lactose intolerance in which case lactase supplements helps. Many other conditions can contribute to loose stools so often a GI workup is helpful. No one approach is typically helpful so a trial and error approach is often needed but most patients do find some relief (gut problems due to protease inhibitors often will improve over the first several months). If nothing helps then consideration of an alternative boosted PI or other agent is warranted. KH