Anti-HIV drugs can cause side-effects in anyone. The type and severity of side-effects can also vary between people.

But that doesn’t mean that it is inevitable that you will experience side-effects – in fact many people who take HIV treatment do not have any side-effects at all.

Other people find that although they have side-effects, they are mild and that they can live with them, without them causing any distress or inconvenience.

Some people find that they initially experience side-effects that then become less severe or go away completely.

However, a small number of people find that side-effects are a permanent feature of a particular HIV drug and affect their quality of life, even going so far as causing physical or mental illness.

Your risk of developing some side-effects can be affected by a number of factors related to who you are.

One such factor is race. For example, it is known that people of northern European origin are more likely to have the gene that causes allergy to abacavir.

Whether you are a man or a woman can also affect your risk of side-effects. As noted above, women should not start treatment with nevirapine if their CD4 cell count is above 250 and men should not start treatment with this drug if their CD4 cell count is above 400.  It is also possible that the body-fat changes (lipodystrophy), that some people who took older HIV drugs developed, are more severe in women than in men.

And how you live your life might also affect your risk of some other side-effects. Some anti-HIV drugs, for example, can cause increases in blood fats, and this could be made worse if you eat a lot of fatty foods. There is some concern that treatment with some anti-HIV drugs might increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, and this can be a real concern for people with other risk factors for heart disease such as smoking.

Other HIV drugs have been linked with liver problems, and these can also be caused by drinking too much alcohol or using recreational drugs. Being infected with hepatitis B or hepatitis C can also mean that you have an increased risk of developing liver problems if you are taking certain anti-HIV drugs.

So there are actions, many of which have other health benefits as well, that you can take to reduce the risk of developing certain side-effects. These include eating a balanced diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and not too much fat, taking exercise, not smoking, and not drinking too much alcohol.

Talk to your doctor or another member of the healthcare team at your clinic if you would like advice on changing your diet or stopping smoking, or if you want to talk to someone about your alcohol or drug use.

If you have other risk factors for side-effects, for example a family history of heart disease or infection with hepatitis B or C, then it is important that your doctor knows about them. This should mean that you and your doctor can find the most suitable anti-HIV drugs for you.