nevirapine

Brand name(s):

Viramune

What is the most important information I should know about nevirapine?

Nevirapine can cause severe or life-threatening effects on the liver. Call your doctor at once if you have any of these liver symptoms while taking nevirapine: skin rash, nausea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, low fever, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes). Nevirapine may also cause severe or life-threatening skin reactions. Contact your doctor if you have any type of skin rash. Even a minor skin rash could be an early sign of a serious reaction. Later signs include fever, sore throat, and headache with a severe blistering, peeling, and red skin rash. This type of reaction is a medical emergency.

There are many other medicines that can interact with nevirapine, or make it less effective. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor. Keep a list with you of all the medicines you use and show this list to any doctor or other healthcare provider who treats you.

HIV/AIDS is usually treated with a combination of different drugs. To best treat your condition, use all of your medications as directed by your doctor. Do not change your doses or medication schedule without advice from your doctor. Every person with HIV or AIDS should remain under the care of a doctor.

Taking nevirapine will not prevent you from passing HIV to other people through unprotected sex or sharing of needles. Talk with your doctor about safe methods of preventing HIV transmission during sex, such as using a condom and spermicide. Sharing drug or medicine needles is never safe, even for a healthy person.

What is nevirapine?

Nevirapine is an antiviral medication that prevents human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cells from multiplying in your body.

Nevirapine is used to treat HIV, which causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Nevirapine is not a cure for HIV or AIDS.

Nevirapine may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.

What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking nevirapine?

Before taking nevirapine, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:

liver disease;
kidney disease (or if you are on dialysis); or
if you have ever taken delavirdine (Rescriptor) or efavirenz (Sustiva) and they were not effective in treating your condition.

If you have any of these conditions, you may not be able to use nevirapine, or you may need a dosage adjustment or special tests during treatment.

FDA pregnancy category C. This medication may be harmful to an unborn baby. Nevirapine may also be more likely to cause liver damage in a pregnant woman. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. HIV can be passed to the baby if the mother is not properly treated during pregnancy. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. Take all of your HIV medicines as directed to control your infection while you are pregnant. Nevirapine can make birth control pills less effective. Ask your doctor about using a non-hormone method of birth control (such as a condom, diaphragm, spermicide) to prevent pregnancy while taking nevirapine.

Your name may need to be listed on an antiviral pregnancy registry when you start using nevirapine. The purpose of this registry is to track the outcome of the pregnancy and delivery to evaluate whether nevirapine had any effect on the baby.

You should not breast-feed while you are using nevirapine. Women with HIV or AIDS should not breast-feed at all. Even if your baby is born without HIV, you may still pass the virus to the baby in your breast milk.

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