Victrelis

[moejoe200]

I am 55 yo male and a relapser. I just started peg/riba and will begin Victrelis in 2 more weeks. I'm already not feeling good. Is it gonna get worse and if so, could use lots of tips on how to deal with the fatigue,anemia, and nausea. also is it hard to get disability for this disease?

[garrygee]

Welcome to the best place on the net for real info on how to get through this.  I finish my 22nd week today and the best thing I can tell you about my 12 weeks on incivek is that it is only 12 weeks and possible to get through.  I discovered that gaviscon stopped retching for me mid-retch.  (A miracle, I thought at the time.)  I got my doc to Zofran (Ondansetron) orally disolving tablets, 8 mg early on and I really needed them for nausea.  The first time I went through treatment I was about your age.  I worked then but it was only peg/riba and at lower doses than I'm taking now.  I relapsed.  The incivek added a whole new dimension.  The dosing schedule interferes with your whole life.  Every eight hours you have to eat a fatty meal.  I've always loved to eat and had "fantasies" about all the tasty things, ice cream, butter, etc. I was going to get to eat.  The reality was I was left with what I could get down.  Breakfast turned out to be, not my fantasy of bacon and eggs and country gravy, but high fat Greek yogurt and granola.  I've drank non-fat milk for forty years but whole milk is 8gms/fat per cup, so that's what I drank.  Fried foods were out, though I always loved them.  I couldn't stand the smell.  My sense of smell seems to be altered and very, very sensitive.  I can't stand the smell of some of my wife's hair products.  I can't sit in a McDonald's because I can't stand the smell of the french-frier, even though a Mcfish san is 19 gm/fat.  It turns out it was almost impossible for me to eat bread and I haven't had a slice of whole wheat bread since the week I started treatment.  
People cautioned me about getting meds to have on hand for diahrrea but I had the opposite problem.  By the 4th week I had bleeding hemorrhoids from constipation.  I didn't have hemorrhoids before I started.  I still take stool softeners and will probably have to wean from them at some point.  I want you to feel free to write me at anytime as you get into treatment.  I had some people on this site help me so much, early on, that I know that real life experiences help more than anything the doctor has read about these side effects.  Good luck to you.  Garry

[Idyllic]

Greetings and welcome. It seems like it has been unusually slow lately. There are a lot of posts related to treatment with Victrellis on here if you check the search feature. It is a relatively new protease inhibitor so most of the info will be current.

I just finished 48 weeks of treatment with a different PI and I can say without exaggeration that treatment with three meds is way different than it was with just the Peg and Riba so hold on to your hat!

Since you struggled the first time perhaps when you post you can say what stage of fibrosis you are and maybe elaborate a little on your side effects. Speaking of side effects, Victrellis has its share of sides that are different from Peg and Riba. Since you are on the lead in maybe you can mentally prepare with what to expect.

Here are a few posts:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Victrelis-side-effects/show/1801304

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Triple-Therapy-w-peginterferon-alfa-2b--ribavirin--VICTRELIS-info--side-effects/show/1725252

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/End-of-tx-with-Victrelis-wrap-up/show/1644935

Side effects can often be made bearable if they are managed well. Be sure to ask for Zofran for nausea, take Tylenol on shot days and keep an eye on your labs (namely Hgb).

[can-do-man]

I was also on Victrelis, if you are already suffering with anemia the Vic will make it worse as this is the number one side effect with Vic. I would talk to my doctor about putting you on procrit once your HGB drops below 10. I did that instead of dose reducing. Nausea was a problem at times, depending how bad it is a lot of folks here take Zofran and that seems to help. The whole key is getting your doctor to stay on top of this before it gets to bad... Really I didn't feel much worse with the Vic added except the anemia......... As for getting on disability for Hep C alone that would be near to impossibe, now if you have other things then adding it altogether might give you a shot........... Welcome here, wishing you the best.