If you're at serious risk for heart disease because of things like smoking or existing heart problems, you may have to stop the HIV drugs you're on. After a while of not taking any anti-HIV drugs, your doctor may want you to try a different combination. For any person with HIV, a thorough medical check-up is a good idea before starting protease inhibitor treatment. Blood tests can be done that check the health of the liver and other organs. These tests look for problems, such as hepatitis infections, that could effect how the protease inhibitors work, or increase the chance of side effects.
Protease inhibitors can effect the absorption of other drugs by the body.
These are called drug interactions. Your health care provider should go over any potential drug interactions with you when starting a protease inhibitor. It may be necessary to change or alter the dose of certain medications to make sure that the protease inhibitor can work properly. Newer protease inhibitors are being studied . For nutritional considerations see the APLA facts sheets .