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Viread (tenofovir)
Side effects
Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this medicine. Because a side effect is stated here, it does not mean that all people using this medicine will experience that or any side effect.
The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the drug's manufacturer.
How can this medicine affect other medicines?
It is important to tell your doctor or pharmacist what medicines you are already taking, including those bought without a prescription and herbal medicines, before you start treatment with this medicine. Similarly, check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking any new medicines while taking this one, to ensure that the combination is safe.
There may be an increased risk of kidney problems if this medicine is taken with other medicines that may have side effects on the kidneys. These include the following:
Where possible these medicines should be avoided in combination with tenofovir, however, if they are considered necessary by your doctor then you should have your kidney function monitored weekly.
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such as abacavir, emtricitabine, didanosine, lamivudine, stavudine, zalcitabine and zidovudine, are closely related to this medicine. They are associated with a side effect called lactic acidosis (excess of lactic acid in the blood). The risk of this side effect with tenofovir is low, but if you are taking any of these medicines with tenofovir your doctor will monitor you regularly. You should inform your doctor if you experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and stomach pain (see warning above), as these might indicate the development of lactic acidosis.
Tenofovir may increase the blood level of didanosine and hence may increase the risk of its side effects. Studies using lower doses of didanosine to avoid this problem have shown a high rate of early virological failure and emergence of resistance. For this reason, using tenofovir in combination with didanosine is not recommended, particularly in people with a high viral load and low CD4 count. If your doctor feels it is necessary to take these medicines together, your viral load and CD4 counts should be regularly checked, and you should be monitored for any possible side effects of didanosine, in particular pancreatitis and lactic acidosis.
There have been reports of a high rate of virological failure and the emergence of resistance at early stage when tenofovir was combined with lamivudine plus abacavir as triple therapy. This problem has also occured when tenofovir was combined with lamivudine plus didanosine as triple therapy.
The blood level of this medicine may be increased if it is taken in combination with lopinavir/ritonavir.
Other medicines containing the same active ingredient
There are no other medicines available in the UK that contain tenofovir as the only active ingredient.
Truvada contains tenofovir in combination with another anti-HIV medicine called emtricitabine.
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