Abacavir
Abacavir is an HIV medicine sold here as Ziagen 300mg tablets on their own and Triumeq 600/50/300mg tablets that add dolutegravir and lamivudine to the same ingredient.
Ziagen and Triumeq: two ways to take abacavir
Ziagen is abacavir on its own: a 300mg tablet, usually taken twice a day. Triumeq puts abacavir together with dolutegravir and lamivudine in one tablet taken once daily; its 600/50/300mg figures run abacavir, dolutegravir and lamivudine in that order, so abacavir's share is 600mg. Both sit in the HIV range here. Swallow the tablet with water, aim for roughly the same hour (morning and evening for the twice-daily one), and a meal either side makes no difference. An oral solution of abacavir exists for children, dosed by body weight; the tablet is the form sold here.
What abacavir does in HIV treatment
HIV attacks the cells that organise the body's defence against infection, and untreated it wears the immune system down over years. Abacavir is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Inside cells it is converted into an active form that the virus's copying enzyme mistakes for a building block of viral DNA, so the chain being built stops and no complete new copy of the virus is made. The amount of virus in the blood — the viral load — falls over weeks and months, and a test may eventually find none at all. HIV is not cleared from the body, so treatment runs long term; short courses are also used after recent exposure to lower the chance that infection takes hold. At an undetectable viral load, HIV is not passed on through sex.
The reaction to watch for in the first weeks
Most people take abacavir without trouble, but a few react badly, usually within six weeks of the first tablet. A blood test for a gene variant called HLA-B*5701 shows who is at much higher risk, and people who carry it are generally not given abacavir. The reaction announces itself through symptoms in two or more of these groups: fever; rash; stomach upset (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or pain); a heavy, aching tiredness and feeling unwell; and chest symptoms such as cough, sore throat or breathlessness. Two groups together need urgent treatment. After one episode abacavir is never restarted, because a second exposure can bring a worse reaction.
Common side effects and rarer problems
Headache, nausea, loose stools, tiredness and trouble sleeping are the ones people notice most in the early weeks, and they usually ease as treatment continues. Lactic acidosis (a build-up of acid in the blood) and liver trouble are rare. Abacavir is not processed by the liver enzymes that most drug interactions run through, so its interaction list is short; the main thing to avoid is another medicine that also contains abacavir. In Triumeq, the dolutegravir part binds to antacids and mineral supplements, so those are best spaced a few hours away from the tablet.
Sources
- Abacavir: MedlinePlus Drug Information — National Library of Medicine
- About HIV - CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Is Abacavir available to order in Hong Kong?
How are Abacavir prices shown?
Each of the two abacavir products has its own price per pack, shown on its page in HKD or your selected currency; larger packs usually cost less per unit.
Do I need a prescription to order Abacavir?
PockDose does not ask you to upload a prescription when you order abacavir. See the ordering FAQ for details.
What brand names does abacavir have?
Ziagen is a brand name of abacavir. Here, abacavir can be bought online as generic Ziagen. These are generics, not the original brand.
What is the difference between Ziagen and Triumeq?
Both contain abacavir. Ziagen is abacavir alone as a 300mg tablet, normally taken twice a day. Triumeq adds dolutegravir and lamivudine to 600mg of abacavir in one tablet taken once a day, so three HIV medicines go in with a single dose.
What does 600/50/300mg mean on Triumeq?
Those are the milligrams of each medicine in one tablet, in order: 600mg abacavir, 50mg dolutegravir, 300mg lamivudine. The abacavir total matches what two 300mg tablets of abacavir alone would give over a day, but here it comes as one daily tablet.
How long does abacavir take to work?
The viral load starts falling within the first weeks of treatment and often becomes undetectable within several months. Abacavir does not cure HIV, so the tablets continue long term even when a test finds no virus; stopping lets the virus multiply again.
Is abacavir used after possible HIV exposure?
Yes. Short courses including abacavir are used after recent exposure to HIV to reduce the chance that infection takes hold, always with other antivirals rather than on its own. That is separate from long-term HIV treatment, where abacavir forms part of a daily combination.
Can I take abacavir with food?
Yes — breakfast, dinner or an empty stomach all work the same. What helps is keeping to a fixed time: the twice-daily Ziagen schedule fits around morning and evening meals, while Triumeq suits any single hour that you can repeat each day.