I have been poz for 5 years. I stared on Atripla soon after diagnosis and have had great results (undetectable and CD4 of 746 as of last week). Once I got past the initial side effects, all has been good. My partner has been poz for 8 years and has had stable numbers but both us and his doctor feel it is time to start (the delay was financial since he does not have insurance and had to wait to get into a program). My success with Atripla has us considering that but my partner is also epileptic. He takes Depakote at least twice a day and has not had an attack for over 4 years. What is your opinion of Atripla based on this or is there another med that might have less of an neurological affect on him?

Generally would be OK to use Atripla with Depakote. I have had a modest number of patients on that combination without discernable problems. Often there may be more of an issue if a boosted protease inhibitor based regimen was used in a patient stable on Depakote (Depakote levels may go down). KH