Starting Sovaldi + Ribavirin on Sept 1st

[IbJustSteve]

GT2 57 year old and Starting Sovaldi + Ribavirin on Sept 1st, a bit nervous and wondered if there was any advice to coping or even if I should be nervous?

[IbJustSteve]

Yea I did read about avoiding St Johns Wort but I didn't know why, that would be the last thing I would want is to lessen the effectiveness.

[crossroadsec]

You've gotten some great advice. Talking to your doctor about how they will "rescue" you in case you have side effects is important.

I had every side. I even took ambien on treatment and procrit shots for low hemoglobin. I'm older and have end stage tho.

You're smart to get your ducks in a row and it sounds like you're ready for whatever comes up. Endurance is truly the key and you can do this. It will be a distant memory soon.

All my best to low side effects n strong endurance!
Karen:)

[klonny55]

Hi Steve,

Make sure you clear any supplements or medications you take with your doctor. Make sure you do not take anything with St John's Wort in particular. It is known to reduce the serum concentrations of Sovaldi in your system and can affect it's effectiveness.

[IbJustSteve]

So I had to Google HGP to to know what that means..lol.. is there any way to monitor that other than a blood test? And what is the ways to counter that drop? The advice is much appreciated Jo.

[IbJustSteve]

Good to hear that Nursehepc, I too have insomnia already and know that can cause it's own set of problems all by itself. I don't take any prescribed meds anymore for sleep. I had a doctor prescribe Ambien a few years ago and I had no idea just what it was. After a couple years I read about the addictive nature of it and decided to quit. They warned me about going cold Turkey and wanted to ween me off with high doses of Valium. But stubborn Steve said nope and I went cold turkey. That was a scary time of my life, that stuff if taken to the point of addiction was one of the hardest things I have ever done when I quit. Nightmares, panic attacks and just not a good time, but that is another story. I now take melatonin and valerian root, I also read enough peoples experiences to figure that when you take ribavirin is crucial. So reading your experience helps, anyone with insomnia knows you don't want to go down that road during an important time like this is. The interaction on this web site has calmed me a lot, Monday is fast approaching and I believe I am ready. Thanks

[nursehepc]

Re: Insomnia:

I have insomnia even without the meds and was worried about this as well.

I was told that ribavirin (which is the drug associated most with jitteriness/insomnia) does not need to be taken in split doses 12 hours apart (you will take ribavirin twice a day). I took mine at 7 am and 4 pm (early enough in the evening not to disturb my sleep more than my baseline problems). I experienced no increase in my insomnia compared to my baseline.

Good Luck. Jo

[dkus]

I too had concerns about sleep yet has not been a concern after all. Sleep very well and give myself an assist with melatonin 5mg. This is a natural sleep aid non addictive. Since your wife is into yoga and also a vegetarian, she will most probably know all about this sleep aid. Good luck. You are going to be great. I am half way through and my 4 week blood work results showed my viral load at <15 negative. You are going to be great!

[IbJustSteve]

Thank you all for your responses, I have been reading peoples experiences all day on several web sites and kind of got myself worked up. I guess my biggest worry is sleep, I fight with that already so it concerns me. I have tried to educate myself about this whole thing and the biggest thing I have learned is that I am “lucky” to have Gen2 and no other issues. So for that I feel like I shouldn't complain about anything as I have certainly read about folks a lot worse off than poor me. I was planning on waiting until January since here in Dallas the first 12 weeks of the year are when I ride my motorcycle the least….priorities right? But the girl at my doctor’s office was just supposed to find out the process with the insurance company, and low and behold I get an approval letter in the mail from the insurance company. The next day I get a coupon from the Sovaldi Company and all said and done the treatment if free. I went to my doc Monday and here I go, meds will be here Friday…happening kind of fast. My wife is a vegetarian and seriously devoted to yoga, so I think this biker needs to surrender a bit and follow her lead..haha. I am not much on sharing and talking about things and have never posted anything like this but I must admit posting here and reading your experiences seems to really calm things down a bit. I do believe I will hang around for the next 12 weeks or so.
Thanks again

[Livelife777]

Hi Steve and welcome. Lucky you being  GT2, as they currently have a high cure rate for the latest Meds.   I'm also GT2, and began treatment in Jan 2014, and ended up becoming cured....YES!    The Riba tends to get a bad rap, but it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be.   Fortunately you are only on it for 12 weeks, and it is very doable.  I pretty much breezed thru, but will say the meds are accumulative and towards the end the fatigue kinda hit me.  Def hit the bed for some major zzzzzzzs near the finish line.
As everyone said, drink lottsa water, eat often, and try to exercise as best you can.   You want to eat protein with your meds as that will help to keep your blood sugar steady, and energy level up.  Some have no side effects while others limit their activities.   It seems females and cirrhotics have a few more sides then the norm so being a male, you should be better.
We are all so grateful that the day has finally come to cure this horrible virus.
I would take these meds for life if I had to just to get rid of Hep C.  Eliminating this virus is the most rewarding and wonderful event that has happened in my life.   It really is a life altering event, and now feel incredible.  You will too once your also cured.
On this forum we have all become friends and have helped each other with questions and thoughts during our treatment.  We welcome you and will be with you thru your entire process if you have concerns or just wanna share your own journey.
Congragulations on getting started Sept 1, and there is no reason to be worried or nervous.  You will be so excited once you become Undetected, and finally cured.  12 weeks really does fly by.
Take Care
....Kim

[dkus]

am in 6th week of 400 mg sovaldi & 1000mg ribavirin. First week lost weight caused by nausea, was corrected the following week with added protein drink daily, nuts & dried fruits. Foggy thinking erupts periodically. Had an experience with riba rage and curbed that quickly by not placing myself in emotional situations. sleep is not disturbed. The heart& mind racing seem to be a by product of tx. Continue to work with ease. Exercise is necessary! Do what you love and do it regularly. My practice is yoga & golf 3x week. Drink copious amounts of water. Drink half your weight in ounces of water. So far this has been a cake walk. Note: I am treatment naive, so I have nothing to compare this with apart from what others have told me about previous treatments. I feel our timing for treatment could not be more right.

[klonny55]

Hi Steve,

I was also a gen 2 and finished my 12 weeks of sovaldi/ribavirin on April 22 and got my very welcome SVR12 news about a 6 weeks ago. I basically had no side effects at all and was able to continue my exercise, and even did a 100 mile bike ride while on treatment.

Not everyone has as easy a time as I did but as Jo mentions most do very well with this treatment. Best of luck!

[cheflady]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Hubby was on the old regime with the triple tx with interferon & incivek but i just wanted to say hello & good luck. You will find and get some amazing advice and the support of everybody regardless of what tx they are on or had been on. Kind regards Jules

[nursehepc]

I finished the same treatment on August 15th. I worked and exercised throughout treatment. The first 2 weeks I felt off, jittery, with mild headaches (no more than 200 mg of Ibuprofen taken during all of treatment). I had a 4 point drop in my Hgb in those first 2 weeks and they dropped my Ribavirin to 800 mg, and everything felt better after that.

-I left work early during treatment once (3:30 instead of 5).

-Did yoga throughout treatment (even hot yoga - note that I had a regular practice already, however).

-Had to modify my cardio some (because of the Hgb drop) and reduced the intensity of my exercise routine in general.

-Some intermittent traveling mouth sores - used peroxyl, biotene products.

-Overall dryness (keep hydrated, moisturize...).

That said, I felt pretty normal 95 percent of the time. Some folks feel normal 100% of the time and others feel awful. That said, most find it quite tolerable. It appears that if you have compounding health issues (cirrhosis or other health issues), you MAY have more sides.

I definitely would not be scared. If you look around the forum posts, you will find lots of people who have shared their experiences during treatment and have provided tips for any sides you might have. Your health care providers should also be monitoring you.

I was REALLY relieved at how easy it was frankly.

Good Luck!!!!  Jo