Will start treatment can I still go on business trip

[johnny679]

Hello will start the triple treatment , teleprevir , ribavirin and pegylated interferon september 6 in melbourne australia . My biopsy result one year ago showed I have stage 11 fibrosis so time to get rid of this .
I have a business trip coming up in the first week of november for about 5 or 6 days in asia can I still
travel while on this treatment ? I can take my pills while I am in asia and have my injection before I leave while that okay ? I forgot to ask the doctor yesterday as I was suprised he told me start in about 2 weeks I thought I would of had to wait a few months . Any advice would be most appreciated .

[johnny679]

Thank you all very much this is a great help I will call my doctor early next week and delay the start of treatment for 6 to 8 weeks .
I think it will be better just in case I have bad side effects .
Better I am home and I can deal with whatever happens .
I am genotype 1 , which I was told with peg rib I have a 20 to 30 % chance of cure with my type of hep c cannot remember the  exact type of genotype of 1 a or c anyway was also told with the 3 combined , teleprevir , rib and peg I have a 70 to 80 % chance of cure sounds great to me . I thought treatment would be 1 year but doctor said to me should be around 6 months but if my viral load does not drop alot in one month they will take me off the treatment altogether as there is little chance to clear .
I am confident I will clear , thanks again and I wish you all  the best of luck

[johnr1]

howdy
my vote would be to delay treatment if possible.
At week 10...I was at the hospital getting a transfusion for severe anemia.
The thought of that in Asia is scary for me(and the flight too)
I think my side effects were worse than a lot of people ...but not the worst I've heard of.
I wish you all the best for successful treatment.

[flcyclist]

If you do decide to delay tx, be sure to coordinate the start date carefully with your doctor and the specialty pharmacy if you are using one.  

I should also add to my response above that I was on Inf/Riba and not Telepevir.  I'd suspect that with the addition of Tele, it would have much more challenging.  I was able to do most things, but with little enthusiam and a cloudy mind.  I didn't miss any work at all, but given the choice, I prefered to avoid people and large crowds.  Maybe just me, but the though of being social was very low on my list.  These meds are both physically and emotionally challenging.  Best of luck.

[srw920]

Good morning - I am on triple tx with Vic.  At week 11 I traveled from Pennsylvania to Settle Wa. for a wedding Thurs to Tuesday.  Very busy with wedding, tourism and a ton of family. The hardest was the 3 hr. time chg.  But I had access to plenty of bottled water.  I traveled well but was beat up when it was over.  Seems like you have a modified plan in place however the delay takes you into the holidays when you have would been finished with teleprivir.  Best wishes as you start the plan.

[Idyllic]

Aack. No way would I have been up to hosting guests from out of town. I personally would have offered to get them a room! Don't get me wrong you may very well be able to do most of the normal stuff you do on a daily basis as far as business, family and leisure but the two events you mention are rather serious. I think your rescheduling your treatment sounds like a good idea. Most doctors assume we want to treat ASAP. It sounds like holding off a few weeks will give you the chance to plan on your terms and be mentally prepared :)

[ceanothus]

Do postpone your start date if that is possible. There is NO WAY I could have traveled anywhere once the Incivek started building up in my system. I couldn't even drive myself to the grocery store! Now I'm on week 43 out if 48, and I'm still to sick for any big trips. I do have pretty bad side effects, but I'm far from the worst. Best wishes for an easy treatment and SVR!

[orphanedhawk]

I think it is wise to postpone tx until the wedding, guests and trip is over.
It's much better to do so than find yourself unable to function due to side effects.
Hopefully you will have an easy tx.

[johnny679]

I appreciate your advice very much , to be honest I have a family wedding in october and I may have some family staying with me for a few days .
After reading the above maybe I should delay starting my treatment until say october 25 th instead of septemberr 6 , that way I am free for the family wedding and guest coming from overseas october 7 and I can change my date fro the business trip and go to asia for 5 or 6 days october 18 and start treatment around october 25 what do you think ?
To be honest I have feeling I will have not many side effects but then who knows right ?  I think it may be better as I will be myself for the wedding and business trip

[Idyllic]

Hmmmmm....
Thursday, September 6, 2012
To and including: Thursday, November 1, 2012

It is 57 days from the start date to the end date, end date included

Or 1 month, 27 days including the end date

57 days can be converted to one of these units:

    4,924,800 seconds
    82,080 minutes
    1368 hours
    8 weeks (rounded down)
_______________________________________

There is no real way you can reliably predict how you will feel on week 8 of Teleprevir. I agree with the others that you might want to have a Plan B just in case you don't feel up to travel.

I traveled internationally with Peg & Riba the first time I treated so as much as it seems dicey - it usually goes off without a hitch.  You should have no problem traveling abroad with your meds or the timing of your Peg shot. Plus you will have a routine by then and hopefully have any possible rescue meds you might need for side effects (that you may or may not have).

_________________
Having said that a few months ago I ended up backing out of a two week leisure trip to UK/Germany when I was on the Teleprevir. I had no where near the side effects some people get. I had occasional nausea, no diarrhoea, no skin problems and the closer it came to going on the trip the more reluctant I was. My Hgb was dropping and I would have missed two weeks of labs and ugh. Everything just felt like a huge hassle. I am so glad I was able to change the travel dates at the last minute without losing any money. I should have listened to my instincts (and the people on the forum).

You might be able to work full time while taking the Teleprevir but I agree with the others: if it were me and it were that important I would treat after the trip. I can't imagine walking around factories and dining out while I was taking the Teleprevir. All that sounds kind of interesting now and I could handle it now that I am no longer taking the Teleprevir but like I said, I personally would not have been at my best during that time.

As far as coordinating a treatment begin date when you treat is up to you, not your doctor. I bet if you let your doctor know your schedule and obligations you can coordinate a treatment date where you are both ready.

Take care and keep us posted♫

[Advocate1955]

I would recommend that you investigate ahead of time: travel requirements for meds, how to manage scheduling meds with time/date change, and what prescription or over the counter meds you might need to manage any side effects that might occur while you're traveling.

[his3707]

If It were me I would wait to start treatment until I got back.  If it were me.  Best wishes to you

[pooh55811]

If you are going to be gone only 5-6 days, the weekly Peg injections should work out as long as you start them on a day so that the injection will be due on the eve before you leave for your trip.

You may have few side effects and may be fine traveling. However, if I were you, I would have a plan B set up in case you find you cannot travel.

Here are some of the side effects that may interfere with traveling. You may not get them, but you won't know until you get on treatment which side effects you will have and their severity. Plus the side effects change from day to day and from week to week so one has to be prepared and hope for the best:
Explosive Burning Diarrhea (and/or bad hemorrhoids, severe internal rectal pain, raw butt)
Severe  Anemia
Nausea and Vomiting
Bad Rash and Itching
Severe Fatigue and/or Weakness and/or Light Headedness
Brain Fog
Possibly others

In addition, the Incivek must be taken on time, every 8 hours within 30 minutes AFTER eating a meal that contains 20 grams of fat. This regimen is crucial so as not to allow resistant strains to appear and get strong. The fat is needed for better absorption and efficacy of the Incivek.

You will need a programmable watch (with an alarm) set for your pill times or you will probably forget some doses or be late with doses. If you are like most of us on treatment, you won't remember 5 minutes after taking the pills whether you took them or not. Plus, a person is quite fatigued on treatment and without an alarm, a person can easily sleep right through the pill time or completely forget to take them even during the day. So a person needs a foolproof system for remembering to take the pills.

Hopefully your side effects will be mild and few. But it is best to be prepared for all possibilities.




I was on triple med treatment with Incivek, Pegasys, and Riba. I could not have taken a business trip.

[johnny679]

Thank you very much for reply , my trip will be mostly to see new products not very demanding , a few dinners with suppliers and visit factorys , I think as it will ony be 5 or 6 days it will be okay but I just need to time my peg shots so that I dont miss a dose . I worry more about the peg injection timing

[flcyclist]

It depends on how demanding your business trip will be.  If you have presentations, need to run meetings and be able to deal with difficult situations, this might be a struggle to handle 2 months into treatment.  Some have very few sx, but most experience fatigue at varing levels.  Other sides such as nausea and rash wouldn't be fun to deal with away from home.  Not saying it will happen, but if so, its best to be in a familiar environment while dealing with it.  

I put off beginning tx for about 4 months for the same reason.  I had travel, meetings, presentations, that I knew would be best done prior to tx.  I'm glad I delayed the start.  I was able to get through meetings and presentations during tx, but it was a challenge. Talk to your doctor and see if they have any problems with putting this off until you get back.  Just my opinion.  Good luck.