Email 67: Nevirapine Rash

Posted by Pozziepinoy on 6:56 AM
Hi, Sir!

First of all, I would like to thank you. Marami ako natututunan sa blog mo at higit sa lahat eh na-iinspire ako sa stories mo (I learn a lot from your blog and most of all I get inspired by your stories).

Kagaya mo eh isa din akong HIV positive. Nasa stage pa din ako ng acceptance pero kina-kaya ko naman ang laban. Kelangan ko lumaban para sa family ko, although hindi pa alam ng family ko ang situation ko.  (Like you I am also HIV Positive. Im still in the stage of acceptance but I am handling the fight. I need to fight for my family, although they still dont know about my situation).
Anyway, I was diagnosed August of this year at ang CD4 ko eh 338. I underwent series of lab tests and exams, fortunately negative naman yung sa sputum ko, etc. Btw, RITM ang HUB ko. 

I was on ARV trial, Lamivudine/Zidovudine at Nevirapine. Kaya lang on my 10th day, lumabas ang rashes ko, nag-headache at fever ako. Hindi ko kinaya ang sakit ng ulo kaya napa-inom ako ng paracetamol for 3 days kasi affected na din ang trabaho ko pero na stop ko din paracetamol. (I was on ARV trial, Lamivudine/Zidovudine and Nevirapine. But on the 1oth day, my rashes came out and I had a headache and fever. I couldn't stand the headache so I took paracetamol).

Almost 80% ng katawan ko eh nabalot ng rashes, kaya umi-inom ako ng antihisthamine.
(Almost 80% of my body was covered with rashes so I took an antihistamine).

Ang tanong ko sana or baka may ibang maka-basa na magkaroon ng side effects sa nevirapine. Gaano ba katagal bago mawala ang rashes? By the way, nung lumabas ang rashes nag-stop na ako sa nevirapine. Worried na kasi ako pang 11th days ko na mula nung lumabas ang rashes ko pero up to now may mga rashes pa din ako at may lumalabas pa din lalo na nung nag-stop ako ng pag inom ng antihisthamine. (My question is or maybe other readers had side effects from nevirapine. How long before the rashes go away. By the way when the rashes came out, I stopped taking nevirapine. I am worried because it is my 11th day when the rashes broke out but up to now I still have rashes and they are still coming out especially when I stopped taking antihistamine).

Isang buwan ba bago mawala? Sa ngayon kasi Lamivudine/Zidovudine lang ini-inom ko pero next week mag-start na ako ng efavirenz. at natatakot na din ako sa efavirenz, kasi baka magka-rashed ako ulit. (Is it one month before the rashes go away? Right now I am only taking Lamivudine/Zidovudine but next week, I will start taking efavirenz and I am scared of it because I might have rashes again).

Salamat po ng madami. Sana may mga mag-bigay din ng tips sa pozzie na kagayo ko na naka-ranas ng side effects ng nevirapine. (Thank you so much. I hope others can give tips who are pozzies like me who experienced the side effects of nevirapine).

Salamat ulit sayo. (Thank you again)

 XXX
POZZIEPINOY'S REPLY

 Hi XXX,

 Thank you for your email. Thank you also for reading my blog and getting some tips from it. That really is my purpose in writing so I can share information about HIV and to answer questions from PLHIV's.

 Regarding your question, the nevirapine rash can persist from 1 week to one month depending on the reaction of the body to it. Good thing that you don't have headaches, body malaise or vomitting which are also side effects of it. It is also good that you have stopped taking it which is I figured the advice of your doctor in RITM-ARG. That is the reason they have that trial period to know if your body has reactions to any of the ARV's prescribed.

 I talked to Maram Bartolome, one of the staff in RITM-ARG and she adviced that you drink a lot of water to flush out the effects of nevirapine. She said that the duration of the rashes really depend on the person's reaction to it. She said some patients would even seek consultation from their dermatologist to remove the scars produced by the rashes. 

 Don't worry about efavirenz. From my experience, it is not notorious for rashes (although I had a 3 day body rash before but completely disappeared) unlike nevirapine. According to Maram, among their patients in RITM-ARG, the most common side effect of efavirenz is fever so don't worry too much about it.

 For now, just follow her advice: drink a lot of water. If you can drink a glass of water every hour or every 2 hours, do so so you can pee the residues of nevirapine out of your body.

 I hope I was able to answer your question. Feel free to email me again if you have other concerns.
Stay healthy,
Pozziepinoy

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