Emtricitabine Tenofovir

Common Side Effects of Truvada

Tell your doctor if any of the following symptoms become severe or don't go away:

• Anxiety or depression
• Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• Unusual dreams
• Heartburn
• Mild itching or skin rash
• A change in skin color (especially on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet)
• Burning, pain, or tingling in the hands or feet
• Changes in the shape or location of body fat (especially in the arms, legs, face, neck, breasts, or waist)
• Weight loss

Serious Side Effects of Truvada

Tell your doctor right away if you experience any of the symptoms listed in the Warnings section above, or any of the following serious side effects:

• Swelling of the face, throat, tongue, lips, eyes, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
• Difficulty swallowing or breathing
• Hoarseness
• Difficult, painful, frequent, or reduced urination
• Bone pain

Tell your doctor about all prescription, non-prescription, illegal, recreational, herbal, nutritional, or dietary drugs you're taking, especially:

• Antiviral drugs such as Zovirax (acyclovir), Hepsera (adefovir), Vistide (cidofovir), Cytovene or Vitrasert (ganciclovir), Valtrex (valacyclovir), or Valcyte (valganciclovir)
• Other medications for HIV or AIDS, including Reyataz (atazanavir), Emtriva (emtricitabine), Epivir (lamivudine), Viread (tenofovir), Combivir (lamivudine and zidovudine), Epzicom (abacavir and lamivudine), Kaletra (lopinavir and ritonavir), Trizivir (abacavir, lamivudine, and zidovudine), Complera (emtricitabine, rilpivirine, and tenofovir) and Atripla (efavirenz, emtricitabine, and tenofovir)
• Videx (didanosine)

Truvada and Other Interactions

Truvada may make you dizzy.

Don't drive or perform activities that require alertness until you know how this medicine affects you.

Truvada and Alcohol

Alcohol may increase your risk of developing certain side effects of Truvada.

Talk to your doctor before drinking alcohol while taking this medicine.

Truvada comes as a tablet to take by mouth. It's typically taken once a day, with or without food.

Try to take this medicine around the same time each day.

Follow the instructions on your prescription label carefully.

Don't take more or less Truvada than is recommended by your doctor.

Truvada Overdose

If you suspect an overdose of Truvada, contact a poison control center or emergency room immediately.

You can get in touch with a poison control center at 800-222-1222.

Missed Dose of Truvada

If you miss a dose of Truvada, take it as soon as you remember that day.

But if it's almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and continue on your regular medication schedule.

Don't take more than one dose in a day, and never double up on doses to make up for a missed one.

Emtricitabine/tenofovir is a prescription medication used in combination with other medications to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It comes as a single tablet containing 2 drugs, emtricitabine and tenofovir.

Emtricitabine belongs to a group of drugs called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and tenofovir is a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NtRTI). These drugs work by preventing the virus from replicating.

This medication comes in tablet form and is taken once daily, with or without food.

Common side effects of emtricitabine/tenofovir include diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, and headache.

Tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions. Especially tell your doctor if you:

• have kidney, bone or liver problems (including hepatitis B infection). Be sure and tell your doctor if you are undergoing kidney dialysis treatment.
• are pregnant or breastfeeding

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. 

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

The FDA categorizes medications based on safety for use during pregnancy. Five categories - A, B, C, D, and X, are used to classify the possible risks to an unborn baby when a medication is taken during pregnancy.

Emtricitabine/tenofovir falls into category B. This medication has been evaluated in a limited number of women during pregnancy and postpartum. Human and animal data suggest that emtricitabine/tenofovirf does not increase the risk of major birth defects overall. However, there are no well controlled studies in pregnant women. Emtricitabine/tenofovir should be during pregnancy only if clearly needed.

If you use emtricitabine/tenofovir while you are pregnant, talk to your doctor about how you can be on the Antiviral Pregnancy Registry.

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding. You should not breastfeed if you are HIV-positive because of the chance of passing the HIV virus to your baby.

Also, it is not known if emtricitabine/tenofovir can pass into your breast milk and if it can harm your baby. If you are a woman who has or will have a baby, talk with your doctor about the best way to feed your baby.

• Keep emtricitabine/tenofovir and all other medicines out of reach of children.
• Store emtricitabine/tenofovir at room temperature 77 °F (25 °C).
• Keep emtricitabine/tenofovir in its original container and keep the container tightly closed.
• Do not keep medicine that is out of date or that you no longer need. If you throw any medicines away make sure that children will not find them.