Protease Inhibitors and Liver Damage

Saw this article on the side effects of Protease Inhibitors. I was under the impression the PI's were supposed to help, but this article is making me a bit nervous...

"Liver Toxicity - Other less common side effects caused by protease inhibitors include increases in liver function tests, which can indicate toxicity to the liver. Anyone taking a protease inhibitor should have his or her liver function closely monitored. Blood tests can be done that check the health of the liver and other organs. These tests look for problems, such as hepatitis infections, that could effect how the protease inhibitors work, or increase the chance of side effects. Protease inhibitors can make hepatitis worse, so it's important to know if you have hepatitis B and/or C before starting a protease inhibitor.

Keep in mind that in order for protease inhibitors to be effective, they need to be taken on time, and at the right dose. It is important to tell your doctor if you are having trouble sticking to schedule because of side effects. There are ways to manage these side effects. Your doctor may reduce the dose, or switch you to another drug".

Link is here:

http://www.aegis.com/factshts/network/simple/protease.html

Magnum

[Trinity4]

Interferon and ribavirin can pretty much cause the same symptoms.  For some they prove to be very toxic to the liver.

We can do this Mag, ain't gonna be no problems.

Trin

[djbn13]

We are gonna be the next graduating class.
It's gonna be your time to shine, all of our times.

Donna

[nygirl7]

Look at the people whos enzymes go up like crazy when they start peg - I'm sure it's the same thing you will be FINE.  I'm sure they are totally on top of it and mean it as a general warning (dont you see them on tv for just about every med out there these days?)

Hang in there Magnum do not get discouraged not this late in the game!!!!!!!

Next year we are gonna have a party - can you imagine all of the forum guys who need the PIs starting at the same time?  This is going to be WILD and you know the first people in line will be you guys who are educated - it's going to be like a straight month of RED SHOES PARTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Diane12855]

I read the article that you refer to. It is talking about protease inhibitors that are now available for HIV treatment, and the effects after taking them for 5 years.

Ok... I admit that the brain fog is pretty bad today so I may have read that wrong, but that is what it looks like to me. Before it got to the liver toxicity part it said, "Less commonly....."

It really doesn't look any more scary than the insert in my Pegasys or Ribavirin. Don't give up hope.

Diane

[mikesimon]

I actually agree with you on this.

Mike

[Diane12855]

GLORY GLORY HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diane

[22hamilton]

To everyone of us waiting on the new PIs- WE CAN DO IT !!!!

[pcds]

Liver problems are noted on SOC, but not usual.  There isn't an organ in the body or side effect known to mankind that is not noted on current meds.  A friend with HIV on PI for long long time now has liver damage.  Luckily the new drugs will not be taken very long.  Luckily none of the posion combination is taken too long.  I only wish is was shorter tx.  This stuff is toxic, no question.  The shorter the tx the better.  It's so hard to get rid of this virus.  We really need to kill it, sooner rather then later.

[Trinity4]

I expect 36-48 weeks of treatment having relasped.  I would not be comfortable with anything less.

Trinity

[FlGuy]

Assume for a minute that the following is true:

"If you had mild (Childs A )cirrhosis or anything less in fibrosis score, after SVR it should all go away. Your liver should return to normal." (Dr. D. Dietrich)

Also, assume that HCV-oriented PI's might do some damage to the liver (I don't think that's been established)

Then it seems reasonable to consider that any addtional collateral damage to the liver would, at most, be temporary and eventually be reversed in the absence of HCV due to the liver's ability to repair.

That's a pretty good return on investment for PI treatment which gives a higher cure rate in shorter time. Good deal.

[pcds]

The final protocols are not yet established.  Let's see the final results and rec from FDA.   Who knows?

[evangelin]

Just anecdotally, my husband has cirrhosis and tried TX 3 times.  The first time was 13 weeks on high -dose Peg-intron (Ideal trial).  The SX were horrible for him but his liver seemed to be functioning better than before after some recovery time.   The next time was 13 weeks on Infergen and although his SX weren't as bad as the first time, (this might be explained by using anti-depressants for the next TX) his liver function was worsened after he had to quit( again for non-response).  His labs looked really lousy and he felt bad until we found HR's supplements and gradually things improved over the next 6-8 months.  The last try was 15 months on TX with Pegasys, for about half of that time and Infergen for the other half.  Once again, his time on treatment seemed to help. In summary, 2 out 3 treatments seemed to make things better.  I have no idea why the 2nd one turned out so bad and it made us afraid to consider trying again, especially with Infergen, but I'm glad we did even though he still didn't clear the virus.  We are using HR's supplements from Hep Tech and Joe seems to be maintaining.  He had an MRI today to check his liver and esophagus.
I don't know why this little story would help anybody but I spent years trying to collect enough information to make good decisions so I thought I'd add what I could.  My story probably just adds more confusion but it is what happened so there you go.
Ev

[Magnum]

The second try was with Infergen. As you may have read in my past posts, it nearly killed me after 4 months. I think it should be considered dangerous at best. My Gastro will not prescribe it anymore...

Magnum