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What are helper drugs?

What are helper drugs? What are the names of the helper drugs and what sx's are you treating with them? How much does treatment cost and is anyone having problems with their insurance?

I know this is a lot to ask of you guys but I like to be in the know so I'm not suprised by anything.

Hope everyone is doing well today. :)

Kim
17 Responses
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1748829 tn?1338037041
The scope is probably doing more damage then good basically what I was told was the medicine messes with you kinda like antibiotics can make you have a yeast infection and we can have those anywhere in your mouth its thrush or that's what they told me moine was and scope just takes the good bacteria away and helps the bad grow so you get bumps and nasty tongue stuff! But they said its common for people with hepc and hepc on treatment ! The nystatin mouth wash is what helps the best!
Cas
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,
Dexamethasone and Stevia triturate 0.03%. How many mgs of dexamethasone is in 100 mgs of triturate. I want to  know the strength of this triturate.
Thanks
Gurinder
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
these help me-ad's;pain meds;sleeping pills  and potent buds........yogurt,salads,soups,ICE CREAM,lots and lots and More Water,fresh-squeezed juice.......music,movies and THIS FORUM.......bed,couch,sofa,futon,pillows.......telling myself and being reminded Here that This Too Shall End!!!!!! this is what'Helps Me make it Through the Nite'; yesterday is up and gone;hope them vruses have too.......
Helpful - 0
105924 tn?1217607949
are you being naughty.............

or maybe am i thinking naughty..........

suck...calories....same sentence.....hmmmmmmmmmmm
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Do you know WHAT mouthwash for the mouth bumps (and hey I am being serious no need to make FUN of me ;-)

I started using SCOPE thinking well hey that kills germs...but it didn't really work so now I've been rinsing with some peroxide, water, baking soda combo and THEN using the Scope. It's toooooooooooooooooooooooooo dreadful but the mouth bumps HURT so much and I'm WAY too skinny already from this whole experience

Although the ice cream sure DOES make them feel better it's a good thing we have frozen yogurt machine here at work it's my lunch every day now.

Gotta suck up the calories somehow you know?
Helpful - 0
105924 tn?1217607949
Are the mouth bumps from the interferon or the riba?
Just curious :)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sorry to hear you're having a rough time! Here's the "recipe" for Magic Mouthwash

Base:
Dexamethasone/Stevia triturate 0.030%
Nystatin Powder 0.280%
Diphenhydramine HCI Powder 0.125%
Xanthan gum 0.200%
Stevia Powder Extract 0.200%
Sodium Saccharin USP 0.100%
to:
Simple Syrup 100%

Optional Additions:
Acylovir 5%
Misoprostol 0.0024%
Lidocaine 1%
Lidocaine 2%
Tetracycline 1.25 %

I think you have to have a script for it, not sure though. but its called magic mouthwash
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Just have your doc call a script in for it, or call your drug store to see if you need a script. Since im being nice today and feel sorry for my ny sweetheart i won't. But you know its hard for me as i could have some fun with this one.

you said...Gotta suck up the calories somehow you know?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have another minute (at work now) so I thought I'd explain - because we take the Ribavirin we have a good chance of getting "hemolytic anemia".  This is about the biggest side effect that causes people to STOP treatment - which is a shame because it IS able to be handled by the "rescue" drugs Epogen (or Procrit).

When it happened to ME (mine was pretty drastic so not everybody's results are so bad) in only a little over a week my hemoglobin (part of the red blood supply that I think carries oxygen around inside you) collapsed from 15 to 9.  Now 9 is a bad number but not incredibly drastic...happens to a LOT of us but the bad thing was how FAST it went down.

Not only was I "lethargic" but I kept passing out when I tried to stand (literally, one day I passed out in the shower lucky I didn't kill myself) found it almost impossible to even walk more than a couple of feet - had horrible "ringing" in my ears (head) constantly - my heart was bang bang banging away like I just ran 50 miles or something.

I couldn't believe how much energy it took just to hold my eyes open.  I went to the doctor and they gave me a CBC right away and then put me on the Epogen. The drug works FANTASTIC but it DOES take a few weeks to kick in. During that time you just have to keep telling yourself I WILL MAKE IT! Once you are over it (my hemo is now up to 11 - if I do the shot twice a week it gets TOO high so now I am only doing ONE a week) which is tolerable.

I can't speak to the Neupogen like I said my whites are at about .9 so I have some leeway left.

(Typed this a half hour ago and just getting to send now hope none is a repeat of someone else)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
or maybe am i thinking naughty.......... Or maybe your not. But anyone in here knows what kind of decent stand up guy i am. Oh the shame. I feel so dirty. To even think i would go  the gutter route. GEEZ

Oh that was hard to type, HAHAHA  Hope your doing ok today, you gave me a good laugh.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm crediting the Riba for my mouth bumps/sores but am really not sure. There are dozens of recipes for so-called magic mouthwash, many of which call for Rx ingredients. The one I got seemed to work for 45 minutes on the pain and maybe helped the swelling from the mouth sores but did not eradicate them. They have been gone for the past several weeks though:) The one I have contains the following:

         30% Lidocaine Viscous 2%
         50% Mylanta
         20% Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) 12.5mg/5ml liquid

After paying my $10 copay for the stuff and trying it for several days I wondered whether I might have been better off with my own less-expensive concoction:

         2oz bottle of Benzocaine solution
         half a box of crushed up generic Sominex and.....
         16 oz of Haagen-Dazs French Vanilla

But........I'd never do that to the Haagen-Dazs.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Happy Friday everyone!  Sorry to hear about your situation nygirl?  How much weight have you lost as a result of tx?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The first time around I didn't have any rescue drugs.  My counts fell fast just like nygirl.  I passed out in the bathroom with my kids in the next room.  I should have had some kind of rescue drugs, but my doc cut the rx instead.  I didn't know any better then.  Thanks to this site, I do now.  I did clear close to the end, but relapsed within 2 months.  My new doc. thinks I relapsed cause the rx was cut.  I'm gonna re-treat starting April 21st.  

The only other bad sx I had were migranies, brain fog, loss of appetite (lost 25 pds), and the mood swings.  It was like PMS for 48 weeks straight!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It's always that get us with the HGB.  I'm doing 24 weeks as I'm 2B, I don't know how you lasted with the weeks you did.   Jim said he did the riba a week past the peg.  If I need another trans, so be it, as long as I finish meds.

Hope your doing well,

Barbara
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Procrit and neupogen are the main ones. But not everybody needs them. Andideppressants (AD'S) for depression, which is more common. Then things like tylenol, sleep aids, something for the riba rash. Might get some mouth sores, but they have a mouth wash for that.

Everybody is different though, so far i've just had the rash and needed tylenol at times. Best going forward.
Helpful - 0
85135 tn?1227289772
The Pygasus and copygasus cost about $2600 a month. YMMV
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Well for example when you get anemia as I did I was put on EPOGEN - each vial costs $600 a vial and I needed two a week for months to get my hemoglobin level back to where I was able to FUNCTION. It doesn't really get up to where it was but...it enables you to feel as if you won't die.

Each box of ten costs $6,000.  It costs me the regular $7.50 deductible. It was hard to get insurance to approve but WORTH IT.

Someone else will come in and talk about Neupogen for your WBCs...I have not had to take that so I don't know what it costs.

Helpful - 0
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