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NAME
Abacavir sulfate |
BRAND
Ziagen |
CLASS
Nucleoside analog (also called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, NRTI or nuke) |
COST
$4,615/yr., $384/month |
STANDARD DOSE
One 300 mg tablet twice a day, with or without food. Strawberry and banana-flavored liquid. Take missed dose as soon as possible. |
POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS
Hypersensitivity (allergic reaction) can be fatal. People experiencing hypersensitivity must stop taking Ziagen and cannot take it again (called rechallenging) because of life threatening and in at least three cases, fatal reaction. Hypersystentivity usually occurs within six weeks of starting therapy, get progressively worse and resolves quickly after permanent discontinuation. Approximately 5% of people taking Ziagen experienced hypersensitivity during clinical trials. The primary symptom is low-grade fever with multi-organ symptoms: muscle ache, nausea, vomiting, or other gastrointestinal upset (including abdominal pain) malaise (running down feeling, as with the blahs, fatigue, or flu) respiratory symptoms (cough, difficulty breathing and sore throat) and possibly mild rash. Hypersensitivity might be confused with flu during flu season. The manufacturer recommends that people with symptoms of acute respiratory disease consider hypersentivity even if other diagnosis such as pneumonia, bronchitis or flu is possible. If hypersensitity is suspected, stop therapy and contact your doctor immediately. There should be no problem with this if you miss your doses a few days and did not have an allergic reaction. Black box warning strengthened last year when hypersensitivity wasn't recognized and people went back on Ziagen, becoming seriously ill. Other potential side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, fever, rash, anorexia (loss of appetite) high blood sugar and high triglyceride levels (fat in the blood) rare but potentially fatal toxicity with all NRTIs: pancreatitis (signs include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain that often spreads to the chest and back); lactic acidosis (seen mostly in women, especially obese women; greater risk for people with underlying liver disease; signs include deep muscle fatigue, especially in legs and difficulty breathing) and enlarge, fatty liver (called heptamegaly with steatosis; check for tenderness below the ribs on right side.) |
POTENTIAL DRUG INTERACTIONS
Alcohol increases Ziagen levels and might increase its side effects. The interaction between Ziagen and ethanol was studied in 24 HIV-positive me. No clinically significant interaction was observed. Females have not been studied. |
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