Recently started triple therapy

[knoxtn]

I want to thank all of you for the information on this forum.  I am now on my 3rd week of the triple therapy.   The pegasys injections do cause me to run a fever and ache etx.   After about the first week i broke out in the horrible rash everyone warns about, but my GI was able to control it almost immediately.  Other than that, so far so good.  Just the run of the mill nausea etx that seems to be pretty common in everyone's posts.  The only suggestion i have for anyone is to most definately speak with your GI about everything.  My initial appointment was with my GI's Nurse Practitioner and she was of no use.  She could not answer any questions and referred me to the internet and home nurse to answer all my questions.  Once i was able to get an appt w. the actual GI everything changed.  He was shocked to know how his NP was treating his patients etx.  I have the hydroxyzine for the rash but the lotion he rx,d was the best it is triamcinolon .1%.  Also for over the counter nausea, the pharmacist gave me what they call "coca cola" syrup (dextrose/levulose) mixture.  It works very well.  Again, thanks for all the good information here and I wish all here good luck.  I go on the 14th for labs and the 17th for the first batch of results.  I am hoping for the best.  Thanks again to all.

[Dee1956]

ID has given really good advice.  I would try to only see the GI and try to get your blood work as regular as you possibly can.
Good that you are prepared with the meds you need and really good that your GI jumped on the rash.  Many people did not have that and so their rashes may have gotten out of control for that reason
I am now 10 months post tx have been UND since week4 and am very happy I did the tx.  Saying that it was very rough.  Please ask for help when you need it.
As you mentioned this fourm is a great resource and very supportive
Wishing you the best
Dee

[Idyllic]

Hey glad things are falling into place for you. Wow sorry the NP is not helpful. The one at my GIs office pretty much managed my care this time and I felt like she knew a lot. I did not get that rash so I didn't have to rely on her for the major Incivek sides but she knew her stuff in other areas

This means you might have to schedule your appointments when you know the GI will be there. Heck, we can search the Internet ourselves - I for one rely on the PA to confirm or correct what I learn on the Internet!

I guess one other thing you might want to keep in mind is your Hgb level. It seems as if there is a gap after the 12 weeks of Incivek where you don't have appointments as often and that is when many of us experience a drop in Hgb at that time. Of course it varies and this may not happen to you at all but you might want to ask the doctor how he plans to manage anaemia if your Hgb drops below 10 g/dL.
Here is a link:
http://www.incivek.com/hcp/management-of-anemia

Some manage it by decreasing your Riba dose, others use Procrit and still others wait for a transfusion. Sometimes it is a combination of all that. The point is it helps to know in advance about this so you aren't caught off guard.

Best of luck and keep us posted!!