dear doctor Boyle,

I recently started on kaletra, videx and retrovir. I have a couple of questions regarding this combo: 1) I hear different things from my doctor and from websites; are the food restrictions ('take with food')for kaletra because of the drug absorption issues or is it just to alleviate side-effects? 2) for all three medicines, if I had to choose whether to take my pills at the scheduled time not following the food recommendations [without having food in my stomach for kaletra, retrovir or not having an empty stomach for videx] OR delaying the dose until the food 'conditions' are met, which one is less harmful/risky to the efficacy of the treatment?

I sometimes find myself in a bind, not knowing what would be best to do (of course, ideally both conditions can be met, but in reality, I sometimes find myself having to choose between having the pills now or later based on this dilemma.

Thanks a lot for your input! Larry

Kaletra absorption is significantly increased by taking it with food, Videx is signficantly decreased by taking it with food, and Retrovir is not affected by meals. So long as you don't delay taking the dose for more than a couple of hours, you should adhere carefully to the dietary recommendations since these may significantly affect absorption of the medications.