Hi

i am 29 years old and HIV+ for 4 years now.

My CD4 count is about 336. my viral load is about 0. I am taking Atripla 2 years now.

the last 6 months i have everyday diarrhea and the last 2 weeks, when i feel the need like going at the toilet, my belly lower part (over the pubic hair) is hurting me a lot.

after the toilet relief, i am in a perfect condition. but when i feel the need of the toilet i am in big pain until i get relief.

what can this be? is it atripla? is this something else? what can i do to help myself?

thank you

It would be unusual but possible to develop GI intolerance to Atripla after 18 months on the drug. More likely would be an infection (i.e. parasitic, C difficile or other) or some form of inflammatory bowel process. A complete history and physical examination by your HIV specialist might help point to a cause. A stool analysis and possibly colonoscopy would often be considered to work up the diarrhea. Food intolerances (ie gluten or lactose) can also develop so there can be causes other than infection or your HIV drugs. If work-up is negative then a decision would need to be made whether any of your drugs could be switched around to see if an offending drug can be identified (ie rarely patients have loose stools develop on tenofovir). KH