So how am I doing it? I just followed the packet in the box that comes with it... take it on an empty stomach! My doctor from SAGIP before said an empty stomach means having your last meal 4 hours prior to your intake of efavirenz, and she was indeed right! I just followed her although my previous ID, Dr. T said 2 hours is ok. Even Dr. D said 2 hours is still ok but still I stuck with 4 hours. It really helps lessen the side effects.
I researched on this before and I found out that an 'empty stomach' medicine is absorbed not in the stomach but a little past that, like in the small intestine. So if your stomach is empty, the efavirenz won't be dissolved there since there is no gastric juice present (which is triggered by food) but will just slip off past the stomach. If there is any activity in the stomach (eating prior to taking it), efavirenz will surely will be digested in the stomach by the gastric juices and out comes the side effects.
There was a research too that cold water is best to take efavirenz with since hot or warm water can also trigger the gastric juice release. Well, I didn't come to that far yet but I always take it with what water is in our dispenser.
It is making sense up to now because I can stay up late past my 10 pm and don't experience anything. My last meal is 6pm and I am already used to it for 6 months now. Although at first it was hard for me to not eat in the evenings but somehow, I got used to it and I believe it is paying off. Tag and I can watch late night movies on DVD's, watch concerts or watch a movie in a movie house and I don't experience any dizziness. So efavirenz is not a hassle to me anymore.
Maybe it is just me. Maybe it is just working like this with me. But you guys can try it.
So are you still dizzy with efavirenz? Well, I am not!
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