Add one more pill,, Jim

Jim, I am starting to get very excited,, I am only taking 800mg of riba, with only 3 more weeks to go do you think it would do any harm or maybe some help to go up to 1000mg for my last 3 weeks. Thanks Pam

[NYgirl]

I don't think it would make any difference whatsoever at this point. The first 12 weeks are the most crucial - adding an extra riba right now could cause you some anemia problems that you don't need. That was my mistake, I took way too much riba (like candy).

At week 46 Dr. J. took me down from 1,000 to 800.  

That's just my situation and I'm not "Jim" LOL!

[jmjm530]

Some of our members have been known to "bump the riba" from time to time during treatment, including near the finish line. As NYGirl says, it could cause more anemic symptons depending on what your hemoglobin was/is and how you've been tolerating treatment. Ordinarily, I'd say "ask your doctor" but since you're in a study, your doctor may be bound to 800mg/day per protocol. How is that for an ambiguous answer :) Congratulations on nearing the end!

All the best,

-- Jim

[APKhaos]

You're there, girl! No need to bump the Riba.

My HGB has been bumping along the bottom either side of 10 for most of tx. It dropped well into the 9's a week ago, which rang alarm bells at the center who were talking dose reduction, then dragged me in for a second CBC. Surprise, surprise - HGB bumped up to 10.8 - highest its been since about week 4.

[GrandOak]

As one who suffered through anemia while on tx, , even with boo koo amounts of Procrit, all I can do is confirm that a Riba bump can affect you Hgb in a relative short time period (i.e. a few days) which seems to be the biggest concern one might have if it is done.

If your Hgb is not at an extremely low level already, this may be a non-issue for you.  However, if you are already low then you may want to look at the ramifications of going lower, in particular any long term effects which may result.


As Interferon is what kills the virus, the only benefit of upping the Riba is to further slow or halt viral replication while the interferon slays them.

Something to think about.

[jmjm530]

From what I've read, even the experts are uncertain of the exact mechanism by which ribavirin works, other than it works. Commonly accepted theory here is that ribavirin is most important early-on in treatment, however, anecdotally I have heard of it being raised later in tx by some doctors who know their stuff although I don't know if it was effective.

[jmjm530]

By "here", I didn't mean *here", but here in the United States medical community :)

[jordie47]

Does anyone know, if you received an undetectable level by week 12 on a lower dose of Riba because of anemia problems should you continue longer on treatment to make up for the lower doses early on in treatment. Does this make sense? I can't seem to find any studies done on this, only if you were a late responder
they seem to recommend going longer.

[Cindy10]

Not quite sure but my doc says if I am undetectable at 12 weeks
he may want to extend from 24 weeks to 48 weeks (really he already wants me to) because I did not get UND at 4 weeks. :-(

[gauf]

I want to thank you for that explanation. That really explains how treatment works in concise, easy to understand language. Well done.

[scubadiver30]

See what I mean?
This is why I love this forum :-)
I can't stop learning.

[sallyo]

Sounds like the ribaviron is the Trojan Horse. The HCV wants it(Guanisine) so it lets it in. Then the army (Nucleoside) jumps out to Divide (mutate) and conquer (interferon). Do I kind of get it?

[orphanedhawk]

You bring up a point that hit my conspiracy theory button. Why is Hepatitis C so silenced in the media? Why does everyone know about AIDS but not about Hep C? I wonder about these things. I wonder if it isn't because of the way the military spread it during the Vietnam era? Or is it something more insidious than that?

[GrandOak]

From the studies I've read, the medical community is not really sure how the Peg-IFN/Riba works except that the Peg-IFN kills the virus and Tiba neuters/spays it from replicating.

Interestingly enough, these meds work in such a way that they also seem to keep the virus baffled as well so that it has not mutated to become resistant to them, as it does to your normal immune system when it invades your body.

This is also why so much research is being done into the polymerease (like VX950) and protease inhibitors to augment current tx meds because they know how these research meds work to inhibit viral replication (see http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/1331521.html).

[jordie47]

I don't know if I was undetectable or not at 4 weeks because my doctor never checked. I have only had 1 PCR test since treatment and that was at 12 weeks. I am now at 26weeks I ask about another PCR and he said it's not necessary.