Trizivir

Overview

About Trizivir

Prolonged treatment with Trizivir has the potential to cause diseases of the muscles. Be sure to tell your doctor about any muscle pain or weakness you experience.

If you also have the liver infection hepatitis B, there is a chance that it will get worse if treatment with Trizivir is discontinued.

Treatment with HIV drugs, including Trizivir, sometimes causes a redistribution of body fat, resulting in added weight around the waist, a "buffalo hump" of fat on the upper back, breast enlargement, and wasting of the face, arms, and legs. It's not known why this occurs, or what long-term effects it might have.

Possible food and drug interactions when taking Trizivir

Do not combine Trizivir with Epivir, Combivir, Retrovir, or Ziagen, since these drugs contain ingredients in Trizivir. Also avoid Zerit while taking Trizivir.

In addition, if Trizivir is taken with certain other drugs, the effects of either may be increased, decreased, or altered. It is especially important to check with your doctor before combining Trizivir with the following:

Alcohol
Atovaquone (Mepron)
Doxorubicin (Adriamycin, Doxil, Rubex)
Drugs used for bone marrow suppression and cancer therapy
Fluconazole (Diflucan)
Ganciclovir (Cytovene)
Interferon-alpha (Intron, Roferon)
Methadone
Nelfinavir (Viracept)
Probenecid (Benemid)
Ribavirin (Virazole)
Ritonavir (Norvir, Kaletra)
Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Septra)
Valproic acid (Depakene)
Zalcitabine (Hivid)

Special information if you are pregnant or breastfeeding

Trizivir has not been studied in pregnant women and should be used only if the benefit to the mother outweighs the potential risk to the developing baby.

Because the virus can be passed to a baby through breast milk, breastfeeding is not recommended for mothers with HIV.