my dr told me the new drugs may have worse side effects

[hexanowl]

My Dr told me the new drugs probably have a shorter treatment time but that the side effects may be more rather than less. I do have time to wait before treatment but i worry about this. Also I am dealing with the whole pain in joints stuff so I am trying to figure out if waiting is better or treating is the right choice. Does anyone here have any info from their Dr's about the new drugs being worse or hopefully better on the side effects? thanks Hex

[Andiamo1]

I can say from experience that the new drugs have more severe side effects.  I still think the shorter overall duration and the higher probability of SVR with the new drugs make it all worth while.

[epiphiny]

I am not sure which particular new drugs your Doc is talking about but I was on a trial for a very new drug in May last year (Polymerase Inhibitor Phase 1) and I had no increased side effects during the study drug period.  It is too soon to know whether there have been any long term consequences.

There a several other people here in the forum who are on trials for 'new drugs', I am sure they will chime in with more info...

[can-do-man]

I can only speak on boceprevir, i treated with SOC (peg/riba) and relapsed, now treating with both them and boceprevir, sides have been no different. If you read the latest trial results very few have any added sides...........Good luck to you

[Marcia2202]

Just wanted to add to this that the new drugs are still going to be taken in addition to the current drugs. Instead of treating with two drugs, a third drug will be added to the mix. So theoretically the side effects are the same or even more, with an added drug.

The upside is that treatment will be shorter, so all in all the time of exposure to the drugs will be less.

[jacksonblue]

treated numerous time in past i am on teleprevir the only additional side i had on ist 12 weeks of study drug was more itching and a faster time to anemia well worth less treatment time about 10 percent will get bad rash

[Rockerforlife]

The only recorded extra sx with taking the SOC/BOC in previous trials were the same as the SOC effects...no exta rash was seen....just a iltlle extra  more SOC  sides...not much more tho...and not in all patients...you doc is correct....but they are not any more severe...just slightly

[Rockerforlife]

In general   the boceprevir trials are well tolerated...

[copyman]

just finished 12 weeks of one of the new drugs Telaprevir and had no major / different side effects. I actually feel worse since I stopped and now on just the regular drugs peg & riba.

[Emilio44]

I was on the roche polyermase inhibitor R1626 earlier this year for 12 weeks and didn't notice any additional sides to subsequent SOC. Emi

[desrt]

The studies show triple therapy gives a higher rate of sustained response in a shorter time,but also a higher rate of patients discontinuing treatment due to side effects. The FDA will have to make the decision on whether the payoff is worth it. Any one patient's particular tx experience is an interesting datum, but only a small part of the decision on whether to release these new drugs onto the market.

[desrt]

As for your joint pain, it might be useful to find out if it is due to an autoimmune condition like RA. Interferon can aggravate existing autoimmune problems, so the source of your joint pain can play a part in your decision on whether to treat and for how long.

[Marcia2202]

Some of us have had joint pain before treatment and it went away during treatment. I had myself checked before treatment and nothing came up in all the blood work. I was diagnosed with 'reactive arthritis' caused by hepatitis C. No AI disease. A few weeks into treatment the pain (I only had very little pain), stiffness and also the swelling which I had had in one of my fingers disappeared. It hasn't come back until now.

I still have some kind of joint pain now and then, but I can feel it comes from the meds, as it is a different sensation than I had before.