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TRUVADA (emtricitabine 200 mg and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) is a prescription medicine used with other HIV-1 medicines to treat HIV-1 infection in people who weigh at least 35 kg (77 pounds).
TRUVADA does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS.
Talk to your healthcare provider about starting treatment and ask if TRUVADA is right for you.
Find out about another use for truvada
Learn more about another way TRUVADA may be used.
How to take TRUVADA
It's important that you take TRUVADA exactly as your healthcare provider prescribed it. Do not change your dose or stop taking TRUVADA without first talking with your healthcare provider. The usual dose of TRUVADA is one tablet once a day. TRUVADA is always used together with other HIV-1 medicines to help treat HIV-1. If you have kidney problems, you may need to take TRUVADA less often. There are three important things you should remember about taking TRUVADA.
Take as prescribed by your healthcare provider
Take TRUVADA at the same time each day
Take with or without food
Do not run out of TRUVADA. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare provider before your TRUVADA is gone. This is very important because the amount of virus in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time. The virus may develop resistance to TRUVADA and become harder to treat.
Important Safety Information
What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA?
TRUVADA can cause serious side effects:
- Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have HBV and stop taking TRUVADA, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.
What are the other possible side effects of TRUVADA?
Serious side effects of TRUVADA may also include:
- Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with TRUVADA. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking TRUVADA.
- Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking TRUVADA.
- Bone problems, including bone pain, softening, or thinning, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones.
- Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.
- Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark "tea-colored" urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.
The most common side effects in people taking TRUVADA to treat HIV-1 infection include: diarrhea, nausea, tiredness, headache, dizziness, depression, problems sleeping, abnormal dreams, and rash. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or don't go away.
What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRUVADA?
- All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis.
- If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRUVADA can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking TRUVADA.
- If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV can be passed to the baby in breast milk.
- All the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. TRUVADA may interact with other medicines. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
- If you take certain other medicines with TRUVADA, your healthcare provider may need to check you more often or change your dose. These medicines include certain medicines used to treat HIV and hepatitis B or C infection.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.1-800-FDA-1088.
What is TRUVADA?
TRUVADA is a prescription medicine that is used to treat HIV-1 infection in people who weigh at least 35 kg (77 pounds). Because TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1, it must be used together with other HIV-1 medicines.
TRUVADA does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS.
Find out about another use for truvada
Learn more about another way TRUVADA may be used.