Hello, I was wondering if you could shed some light on this. I am currently taking atripla with good results except tcells slow to recover. My boyfriend who is also poz is taking meds that i don't quit understand the difference between our meds and doctors choices. He is taking kaletra, combivir, isentress combo. As these meds are expensive I keep asking him to ask the doctor if he could take atripla. Or better yet, why hasn't my doctor ever discussed taking other combo's to help tcell count more. Is my boyfriend taking more meds than necessary?

Your boyfriend likely has some drug resistance such that Atripla would not be very effective but would ask his doctor at upcoming visit.The CD4 recovery with Atripla is usually similar to other good regimens-there is no data that other regimens result in better CD4 recovery. CD4 recovery is quite variable with age, genetics, CD4 nadir, status of thymus gland, degree of immune activation, and many other factors influencing degree of CD4 recovery. KH