Is consistency important for taking Riba with food/ fats?

[lalapple]

many studies have shown taking fats with Riba can significantly increase Riba absorption in the system.  and i understand that there have been many threads on this topic, however i have a somewhat different question regarding the consistency we should or should not take Riba with food/ fat.

i was previously, vaguely, told by hepa to either take Riba with food, or to not take it with food at all.  i wonder if this has anything to do with consistency.  from the beginning of tx, i kept myself to take Riba with enough fats, or at lease enough food (1 pretzel stick, chips, or etc)  for my morning Riba.  But now i get so lazy in the morning to only wake up to take my Riba and go back to sleep.  is this a bad habit considering that i used to take Riba with food, but now discontinued the process?  

the idea of possibly less Riba absorption bc i stopped taking Riba with food in the morning scared me when i woke up today, so i quickly popped a Ferrero Rocher in my mouth after 15 mins of taking my Riba.

do you guys think it is better and important to be consistent when it comes to taking Riba with food or taking Riba with fats?  i think i might restart taking Riba with foods now that i took so much time to think through this.

thanks, you know your thoughts are always appreciated

[nygirl7]

I also gave mine away, but for a different reason. I'm MARRIED
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I  kept mine until I got divorced..........then I no longer needed that heavy pan for hitting anybody upside the head any longer.

[Marcia2202]

lol.... we got them after we got married....


I take my riba with liquid coconut oil, but started gagging after a while. Tx makes your taste buds turn funny. So I started putting the container in a cool spot so it turns to coconut butter instead. I take a big spoon bury the riba into it and gulp it down with some water. In the morning with a piece of fruit or breakfast and in the evening with a meal.

[GreatBird]

I'm married too, and he does almost all the cooking. He doesn't use cast iron, so it was a long time before I really missed them.

[can-do-man]

I had heard that too, about the cast iron skillets, and after dx I gave mine away.
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I also gave mine away, but for a different reason. I'm MARRIED

[GreatBird]

I had heard that too, about the cast iron skillets, and after dx I gave mine away.

My doctor thought I was nuts when I told him.

Several years later I began to think I was nuts because there are certain things that just cook better in a cast iron skillet (tortillas for one). So, I bought myself a new skillet and I use it without worrying too much. I do not eat anything that is iron fortified (no cereals, etc.). I don't get iron in my vitamins. I just get it out of food, and maybe a little bit from my skillet.

[jmjm530]

GB: (Coconut Oil) It was also recommended for seasoning my cast iron skillet...)
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A lot of us were told not to cook with cast iron because the iron can leech into the foods, and additional iron is not good for the liver.  

[GreatBird]

P.S. That's assuming you like coconuts.

It was also recommended for seasoning my cast iron skillet. A bonus!

[GreatBird]

I was skeptical about the coconut oil myself, but it actually tastes delicious. You should try it!

[lalapple]

it's really interesting how the content of fat you ingest with Riba can affect the dosage level.  

[lalapple]

i see, most of you have been sticking to the food with Mr. Riba.  i always take mine 12 hours apart.  i woke up early this morning and took it with a couple of chips and went back to sleep.  that's what i did for my morning Riba before i got lazy and skipped the food.  for the evening Riba, i take it more often with food bc it's around my dinner time and usually have sufficient amounts of fat bc i usually have meat in my dinner.

some of you have suggested yogurt, i've been having my daily yogurts since tx made me lactose int.  and i eat at least one banana a day which has also helped tremendously.  others have suggested taking Riba with oil like coconut oil?  i'm scared to do that bc i might get more nausea from the oil.

thanks all for sharing, i learned a lot from this tread :)

[nygirl7]

Bummer. I was hoping that failure to ingest fat with the Riba was one of the reasons that my SOC treatment was not effective.

More likely it was a lack of high serum level of concentration of riba than any actual 'fat' issue but definitely take it with the fat next time so the riba will bind to the molecules and increase absoption.  It's not that having a 'meal' inside you helps it is is that it is critical for the riba not to be eliminated.

Did you have any issues with anemia? Not that that is definitely an indicator but it does seem to have relevance. It's almost like the worse you feel the better it is working?

Do NOT take riba with any sort of fiber - that will get rid of it asap.

[burned74]

Bummer. I was hoping that failure to ingest fat with the Riba was one of the reasons that my SOC treatment was not effective.

Anyway, next time I will take with fat just in case then.

[Rockerforlife]

I take MISS RIBA with one teaspoon coconut oil ,one  choclate whey protien shake and one green powered drink mix...(all organic)

I take my BOC with one egg and a cup of tea at in the morniing and evening....at nite i take my BOC with one serving of raw cocoa and Goji berries.

makes me look forward to the ritual

[IAmTheWalrus]

I have been  following Jim's advice. That is, I always take my Ribavirin with a meal (if it is low-fat, I at least drink some milk with it for the fat).  I don't worry about the timing, i.e. whether it has been exactly 12 hours between doses, but give leeway of a couple of hours in favor of taking it with the food.

The insert that comes with my Ribavirin states that you should take it either with food or without, but whichever you choose, stick with it. I have no idea why this is. My doctor recommended taking it with food and mentioned the suggestion that it MAY be more effective when a high-fat meal is taken with it. There was also a statement to the effect of the possible advantage of eating a high-fat meal with the dose in the insert literature as well.

[copyman]

i take riba with a glass of whole milk in the morning and with a meal in afternoon. I was told the food was to help with nausea but i have heard many here say fat helps absorb the riba. I hope the "whole" milk is enough fat.

[Deb_c430]

Exactly as I said the food keeps away nausea is usually fatty which binds the riba.  Which hold stomach contents together.  Absorbing the riba,   I missed some the other day, opened my little thing    and there were two sitting there, I thought oh oh. Just took them when I saw.

I agree with trin on timing.  that doesn't stress me as much as forgetting it totally. If I can sleep I do.

[epiphiny]

Lol, that's funny cos the one time that I nearly missed my riba was over Xmas as well!  All our schedules and routines go out the window in the silly season!

Lala, there's one of the best reasons I can think of for consistently taking riba with food - so we don't forget to take 'em...  You could just have a banana those mornings when you want to sleep through, or you could just sleep an extra couple of hours and then get up and having something to eat with your riba. I've done that a few times.  

You could even put a banana and the riba by your bedside the night before so you don't have to get out of bed...

[Trinity4]

I misunderstood what you meant by consistency.  I thought you meant each dose must be taken exactly at the same time everyday to ensure levels remain theraputic. I take my riba at breakfast and dinner primarily because I can remember it.  Otherwise I would probably have missed many a dose.  I've missed 1 evening pills in 43 wks.  Jumped out of bed at 2:00 am the next morning frantic and then said to hell with it, I missed a dose cause I've got enough riba in my to choke a horse.  That was over Christmas when I went out to eat with the office.  Not a bad track record.  
Trin  

[epiphiny]

I agree about the timing not being as critical due to long half life and I often vary within a 2 - 3 hour window of my dose time but I would have thought that consistently taking it WITH food would be important?

[Trinity4]

We crossed Jm, my opinion is the same.

[Trinity4]

There is a build up of riba in the body so it not critical to take riba exactly at the same time every day.  Yes, it important to take it as close to the same time but 2-4 hour time span between isn't going to make a difference.

[jmjm530]

I think the "fat" versus "no fat" issue has been covered, with my personal opinion to take with fat. As to taking ribavirin "without food", this type of advice does not speak well for the doctor who gave it.

As to the actual question -- consistency -- I don't think one has to be as consistent as with meds that have a shorter half life. Riba has a very long half life so basically (within limits) you can take your doses pretty much any time of the day -- and relatively close together -- if you want, and still end up with a therapeutic serum riba level. Taking the riba exactly 12 hours apart -- as some suggest -- is not borne out by either the pharmakentics of the drug or what I've been told by both a couple of liver specialists as well as a riba researcher. Personally, I often took my two riba doses as close as 4 hours apart to coincide with my meal schedule. In other words, I preferred to take the riba with my largest meals as opposed to take it on a time schedule.

-- Jim

[epiphiny]

Just following on from my previous post: logically it appears to me that dosing consistency is VERY important as one of our goals while treating is keeping the serum levels of the medication at a consistent level.  

As taking riba with food increases absorption then it logically follows that when you take it without food you are going to drop your levels so there will be a see saw effect.  

Best to keep it steady!

[GreatBird]

Wow. We are all so different. I think I would die without breakfast. Because I have an egg every day, it's the perfect accompaniment to the riba pills.

I'm still figuring out what to do with those blue suckers.