This interaction has not been studied. However, co-administering is not recommended. Alcohol contributes to several side effects which can be worse with the use of antiretroviral medicines. Ask your doctor to assess your health before taking this substance with darunavir.
Darunavir is an active substance in Prezista and a highly potent antiretroviral medicine used to combat HIV replication in the patient’s body [1]. It is administered in combination with other ARVs to fully suppress the viral load, boost the CD4+ cell count and strengthen the patient’s immune system.
As a protease inhibitor, darunavir must be administered with certain other meds like cobicistat or ritonavir to boost the levels of darunavir and make it work better in keeping the virus from infecting more T-cells. Continual use of this medicine makes the patient stronger, healthier, and they can live longer.
There is no clinical study on the interaction between the two substances. Each medicine has its own negative effect on the body, and drinking too much alcohol can potentially increase the chances of major negative effects that might be life-threatening.
In fact, all levels of alcohol intake increase the mortality rate of HIV patients. Alcohol is also known to cause a major impact on other health conditions such as the risk of cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular disease among others [2]. This substance can also weaken the immune system making it unable to fight any external opportunistic infection [3].
Prezista can cause liver problems [4] and the combination of these two products is not recommended as the effect can cause major liver damage and other related conditions.
Before co-administering, it’s necessary for the doctor to assess the patients’ health for the presence of liver problems and other conditions that might result in possible harm to the patient.