Infergen

[garde]

Anyone out there been on Infergen?  (if so, what kind of side affects). My Hep wants me to start this because the Pegintron I was on has not eliminted my viral load after 9 months.   My gastro guy cut me back to maintance does, but my Cryoglobulinemia is coming back already.

Hepo says the Infergen is for non responders, and has a greater success of eliminating the viral load.

[fadedjeenz]

I wanted to update anyone that had read about Infergen.  I am Kathi , I will be as brief as possible, with my experience.  Snook is a very good friend of mine, so I am replying to his post.  I have treated #6 times  4 awful alpha's  18 months Pegasys&copegus  cleared in the 10th month.  relapsed right away after it was over.  Waited 2 months and went straight into 700 shots in 700 days of Infergen, I cleared the virus in 5 weeks  mono. Doc added Riba gradually , had to stop it.  Stayed clear for the duration on Maintence dose 7 1/2  daily.  As soon as Infergen was stopped I relapsed again. I really feel that  being clear for the 23 months bought some precious time for me. I would do it again if the doc would let me.  If anyone would like to know more feel free to come to the site.  hep c out of bounds .org  I am the co Host with Lou and we are dedicated to helping anyone that needs us. Chat is open everynight 9:00 est  hope to see you there !   sincerely yours;  Kat

[hondapatches]

Hi Garde, Well I started infergen Aug 31, I have taken the interferon and the peg but did not respond to neither. So this is my third try with the infergen and riba. I hope your doing alright with it. I have just had headaches and nosebleeds. The first night was really bad I had 104 fever, chills, aches and pains, I thought I was going to die. My teeth were chattering so bad I thought I was going to break a crown, lol It was not fun, but that is the only night I really had a bad night. I take my shot a nerve pill and an ambien and I'm good to go to sleep. Working everyday, Taking effexor for depression. So far its all good, can't wait till the Dr. checks to see if its working.
So hang in there,
Live, Love, Laugh
hondapatches

[fadedjeenz]

  HI This is Kathi from hepcoutofbounds.org  I was wondering how you are lately ?  I keep looking for more posts !  My 6th TX  the 23 months of daily Infergen wasn't too bad to handle , but then again I have had the worst TX's in the past. The one I did in 2000, was 20 million units a week of Alpha interferon  crystals you mix and 6 Ribavirin a day for 48 weeks. That almost got the best of me. It took 5 years before I would go see any doctor again !  LOL  So let's say I have been there and done that,  Pegasys and co pegus was a breeze compared to that.  Then Infergen mono sometimes combo.  I hung in there until the doc  stopped me.  I have begged him to put me back on it but he says no. I have had problems with chf and enceph  added to the mix now so he is afraid it will finish me off.  Yah Yah and I'm also on oxygen now if I can sit still long enough.  I am extremely busy on the site and the DEL site as well, so just try and get in my way  lol  Kidding, but I am very very busy that keeps me 1/2 sane. If anyone has a question for me here I will be checking it weekly !  Love to all that have hep c , You are in my thoughts.   Kathi (Fadedjeenz)

[Myown]

I just read my posts in this thread written 4 months before I started tx. Very prophetic. Its too bad too cause this so called doctors still haven't sent me to someone that knows how to perform a cryo test. But here I sit waiting for my results of my poorly performed cryo test as the pains are now shooting up my leg. Maybe the more symptoms I get, they will THEN try to find someone to do the test correctly for me..

[Marl37]

I just finished 6 mts tx on infergen after doing 14 wks on interfon.  Daily shot started at 15mg which they had to drop to 12mg and 600 mg Riba which they had to drop from 800mg and weekly procrit shot.  Neither treatment worked and treatment was stopped last week.  My side effects were not good.  I mentioned the new tx's currently in trials and he said they're not ready yet and they don't know when they would be.  Without saying it, I got the impression he was saying if my side effects were this bad, it would probably be even worse with more meds thrown into the mix.  He did mention the way to go may end up being a liver transplant.  I'm going to make an appt with a hep dr who comes highly recommended.

[fadedjeenz]

  That sounds pretty tough, did you respond at all during the 6 months?  Are you 1A ? I have cirrhosis and it is still compensated, my Dr. C is one of the leading hepatologists in the country, and he said no more Interferon for me either. Bummer, I wanted Infergen again. The protease thing involves riba and interferon added to the mix , I know I don't handle riba well. So it is up to the newer things that are going on right now. Scientist's will come up with the answer, I just hope it is soon enough for all of us.  Never Give Up !  Love  Kathi