Side effects of antiretroviral medications

Antiretroviral medications can have many side effects. Some can be very serious, even life-threatening, such as liver failure or inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis). Most are not serious but may reduce the quality of your life. Some people who don't have any symptoms of HIV infection may feel worse while taking the medications if they have side effects from the medications.

Because highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) requires the use of 3 or more antiretroviral medications, some side effects are likely to occur, including:

• Nausea or vomiting.
• Diarrhea.
• Abdominal pain.
• Severe fatigue.
• Muscle aches.
• Rash.
• Fever.

Common long-term side effects of antiretroviral medications include:

• Redistribution of body fat.
• Increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

For information on side effects of specific antiretroviral medications, see:

• Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, also called nucleoside analogs, such as zidovudine (ZDV, formerly AZT); stavudine (d4T); didanosine (ddI); lamivudine (3TC); and abacavir; or the combination medications zidovudine and lamivudine; abacavir, zidovudine, and lamivudine; or tenofovir and emtricitabine.
• Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), such as efavirenz, nevirapine, or delavirdine mesylate.
• Protease inhibitors (PIs), such as saquinavir mesylate, ritonavir, indinavir sulfate, nelfinavir mesylate, fosamprenavir, lopinavir/ritonavir, or tipranavir.

Report all side effects to your health professional at your next visit. He or she can adjust your dose or give you other medications to reduce side effects. Some mild side effects, such as nausea, improve as your body adjusts to the medication.