question on first shot

[niki12]

am taking my first shot tomorrow evening. I have a function to go to first. Just wondering if I take the pills (2in am and 3 pm) will I feel horrible at this function. Or if I am going to have any sides will it be after the shot? I wish I could just cancel this function but I can't and I don't want to have a bad side from the pills and not be home.

[jmjm530]

Adhering to the treatment drugs for first 12 weeks is critical to success. I think you therefore have to set priorities. Take your pills in the morning and evening as it will help the interferon work.

No one can tell you how the pills will effect you although on the first day, in the majority of cases you don't feel anything until after the shot.

-- Jim

[Dale_Ray]

I had no ill affects of the riba on the day of my shot. After the shot that night it was a little weird but remember some of the wierd is because you are introducing something new to your system and it has to figure it out. I think you'll be fine at the social outing but I wouldn't stay out too late the riba could catch up to you. This is my personal experience only and I bet they vary all over the map. I know you will hear more from the folks. Dale

[Dale_Ray]

THE DECEASED DOG

Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company. One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, "Father, me dog is dead. Could ya be sayin' a mass for the poor creature?"

Father Patrick replied, "I'm afraid not; cannot have services for an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there's no tellin' what they believe. Maybe they'll do something for the creature."

Muldoon said, "I'll go right away Father Do ya think $5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?"

Father Patrick exclaimed, "Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn`t ya tell me the dog was Catholic?"


TWO SCOTTISH NUNS

Two Scottish nuns have just arrived in USA by boat and one says to the other, "I hear that the people of this country actually eat dogs."

"Odd," her companion replies, "but if we shall live in America, we might as well do as the Americans do."

Nodding emphatically, the mother superior points to a hot dog vendor and they both walk toward the cart. "Two dogs, please," says one.  The vendor is very pleased to oblige, wraps both hot dogs in foil and hands them over.

Excited, the nuns hurry to a bench and begin to unwrap their 'dogs'.

The mother superior is first to open hers. She begins to blush and then, staring at it for a moment, leans to the other nun and whispers cautiously, "What part did you get?"


DONATION

Father O'Malley answers the phone.

"Hello, is this Father O'Malley?"

"It is."

"This is the IRS. Can you help us?"

"I can."

"Do you know a Ted Houlihan?"

"I do."

"Is he a member of your congregation?"

"He is."

"Did he donate $10,000 to the church?"

"He will."


BROTHEL TRIP

An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would like a young girl for the night. Surprised, she looks at the ancient man and asks how old he is.

"I'm 90 years old," he says.

"90!" replies the woman. "Don't you realize you've had it?"

"Oh, sorry," says the old man. "How much do I owe you?"


PEST CONTROL

A woman was having a passionate affair with an inspector from a pest-control company. One afternoon they were carrying on in the bedroom together when her husband arrived home unexpectedly.  

"Quick," said the woman to her lover, "into the closet!" and she pushed him in the closet, stark naked.

The husband, however, became suspicious and after a search of the bedroom discovered the man in the closet.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm an inspector from Termite Busters," said the exterminator. "I'm investigating a complaint about an infestation of moths," the man replied.

"And where are your clothes?" asked the husband.

The man looked down at himself and said, "Those little devils".


CONFESSION

An elderly man walks into a confessional. The following conversation ensues:  Man: "I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitchhiking. We went to a motel, where I had sex with each of them three times."

Priest: "Are you sorry for your sins?"

Man: "What sins?"

Priest: "What kind of a Catholic are you?"

Man: "I'm Jewish."

Priest: "Why are you telling me all this?"

Man: "I'm telling everybody."

[Mister beagle bailey]

I agree with Jim and Dale on this.  For me the first shot was the worse with fever, chills, flu like, etc.  But the first ribas had no sx's.  As your taking the first shot after the event I believe you'll be ok.

Bob

[NYgirl]

Please dont DRINK at the function - there is evidence that the alcohol will negate the Interferon and make it not work. No sense to take treatment if you are cancelling it out!

The Riba will give you NO immediate side effects - they are more from the cumulative effect once you reach a serum level.

On treatment...taking the meds as close to the correct time every time is crucial.  I take my riba at 7am and 7pm so that I can eat - it's best to take them with FAT because they bind to the fat and are absorbed into your blood stream. If you can't eat make sure to have soemthing like a yogurt shake or some ice cream at night with them.  I take my Interferon at 6:00pm on the dot every week. The ONE week I changed the schedule I ended up forgetting and I took it AGAIN. I guess that's better than NOT taking it but it was a rough night.

Make sure you drink lots and lots of water (if you weigh 120 pounds drink 60 ounces of water...if you weigh 140 pounds drink 70 ounces of water) during the day. This stuff will TOTALLY dehydrate you so bad...you need to make sure you follow that.  It will help you to feel much better.

PS Coffee, tea, soda all dehydrate you - it really does need to be WATER or like gatorade stuff.

Best of luck remember - don't drink.

[NYgirl]

The first few shots may be the worse, personally I had NO sides AT ALL from the shot (no flu at all) but I fell asleep HARD for 14 hours because I worked myself into a nervous wreck.

Remember - even the chills and fever...this isn't something that you can't live through how many billions of times have you ever been sick like that?

It is doable and I wish you the best.  I can't wait to see you post on Saturday and let us know you are fine.

Remember: you will be fine from the pills don't sweat it just don't drink at the event.

[niki12]

After listening to everyone.  I will take the pills in the am and PM and shot when I get home. I want to do this treatment right and hopefully will only have to do this for 48 weeks and be done.  My fingers are crossed.  Don't worry I won't be drinking.  That is something of the past.  I miss a couple of glasses of wine, but hey maybe if I clear in a few years I will be able to do that again.

You are all so wonderful and I know you will all be hearing me whine and ask many questions.  You are all a great group of people.

Thanks,

[NYgirl]

LOL why should YOU be the only one in here who isn't a whiner?  LOL do you think you'd fit in with us if you didnt?  ;-)

Part of the reason that I love this forum is that everyone UNDERSTANDS...and that is why it's so easy to whine. I mean we can whine at home but nobody REALLY understands what RibaRash feels like! Just knowing you aren't alone...makes you feel so much better.

Make sure you take the pills on a regular basis after this night. The reason you want to especially at first is they have to build up in your body. Since their function is to stop the virus from replicating ..... it's one thing you totally want in your system!  :)  WOO HOO kill those suckers and stop them from making new ones! Now that is how you slay the dragon! Too bad it's not as easy as it sounds!  :)

Keep on posting with questions and stuff - when I came here I knew NOTHING quite literally and bombarded the guys with probably the stupidest questions they EVER heard...but it really helped me get a handle on this disease and the more knowledge you have the more powerful you feel over it!

Remember drink drink drink (water that is LOL) I miss wine too but like you said...maybe SOMEDAY ;-)

[amommy]

You have received great advice here!  Stick around.  For me, the anticipation of the first shot was SO MUCH WORSE than the reality.  I was sick worrying about it.  I got very fluish and felt terrible, but at least I knew what I was dealing with and it was no longer a question of what if's.  Go out tonight, enjoy yourself and when you get home, do your shot and crawl into bed!  Please update us when you are up to it to let us know how your first shot went!

[FlGuy]

thanks for a dose of the good medicine

[MrsOckert]

Ethel and Myrtle were rocking on the porch one fine day.  Ethel says "Myrtle all I hear about these days is mutual orgasm this and mutual orgasm that!  When your husband was alive did ya'll have mutual orgasm?"

Myrtle mulls it over a bit and says "nope, think we had State Farm."



As far as taking the riba, my dr said it will cause the insomnia and to take it late afternoon.  Said it was a cumulative effect and did not have to be taken exactly 12 hours.  I usually take mine at 7:15 and 4:30 pm.

Is everyone else taking it at exactly 7 and 7?

[Dale_Ray]

Well you know your in good hands with Mutual of Orgasm. Like a good neighbor. Like a rock.

I take the riba at 7am and then again at 8pm. I wait later because I like to gag on all of my medicines at once before retiring or expiring. I take 1200 mg per day (total of 6 pills). I always eat a little something to hold the indigestion down (burping). Doctor told me first thing in the morning with breakfast and then 12 hours later.

Funny thing happened today the mail order pharmacy sent my one month supply one month early of Pegasus and Nupogen, They usually make the mistake the other direction and it requires 10 phone calls. Maybe my lucks a turnin. Dale

[dyce]

Welcome . I take my riba at 6 am. and at 5 pm . It has such a half life I don't think it matters if taken exactly 12 hours apart. The 1st shot caused high fever, chills ,headache along with body aches. It sucks but it is managable. I new what to expect , everyone here filled me in. If I had no fore knowlege of the sx's ,I may of went to the emergency room. So you see knowlege is power and here you'll get that.

Good luck with the 1st shot,  Dyce

[lilmoma]

Doc told me to take riba at least 10 hours apart, I follow his directions. I have a very involved doc, he has scheduled lab every week for the first 4 weeks. Today was my last of the first 4, and I dont have to go back for one month, as long as todays numbers look okay. But I was told anemia is beginning to rear its ugly head, so I may find myself back at the lab,.oh well.
lilmoma

[amommy]

about the riba, I take it around 9 am and again around 6 pm.  It really isn't important (at least according to my doc) how far apart the doses are.  
I'm doing shot 12 tonight! YIKES!

[friole]

Hi.  If your hgb is dropping 4 weeks is too long to go before you get another CBC.  As nygirl will tell you, you can get way anemic really fast.  I would ask for one in 2 weeks.  I get weekly CBC's but am on both Procrit and Neupogen, and do really need to stay monitored, altho I hate them.

Hi Niki - I don't think I have had any immediate Riba effect.  You should be fine at your do.   I take my Riba between 7-9 am and 7-9 pm.  It even varies more than that sometimes.  usually at my breakfast and dinner.  I have missed two Riba doses in the 36 weeks and both times took an extra pill for 3 evenings to catch up.  Sounds like you are very prepared for the first shot.  Have fun at your function.  Doing the shot late is nice because you may sleep through any sx.  Do take 2 tylenol about a half hour before the shot. I will be thinking about you tomorrow evening.

[amommy]

In all of my time here, and the little bit of outside research I have done, I have never come across relapse rates.  So, can one of you knowledgable people enlighten me?  What is the breakdown of relapse by genotype?  And how many weeks of tx is that figure based on? :)  
Thanks for the insight!

[jmjm530]

Mrs. O said: Is everyone else taking it at exactly 7 and 7?
-------------------------------------------------------------'

My doctor thinks the time of day is unimportant as well. I took my riba with my two biggest (actually only) meals of the day. This to me was more important than time of day in terms of how my stomach tolearated the riba and riba's bioavailability which is better with a larger, fattier meal.

I took my first dose daily between 10AM and 12PM. And my second dose usually between 2PM and 6PM. I did try to spread out the does by at least three hours but often took the riba between 3 and 5 hours apart.

As a side note, lately the Sweedish researchers have demonstrated that riba is saturable, meaning only so much can be absorbed at one time. In theory what this means is that you probably don't want to take very large doses of riba too close together.

But keep in mind, they are dealing with much higher doses of riba than we take here -- like between 2000 and 4000 mg/day. In those cases I believe they are recommending the riba to be taken with food at three seperate times.

So, while in one theory, spreading out the riba may help absorption, it can be more than offset IMO by not taking it with the right amount of food and fat. Especially at the lower doses most of us take here.

-- Jim

[jmjm530]

These same researchers also suggest that anemia is a positive predictor of riba absorption, i.e serum riba levels as measured by a special test called HPCL (high performance liquid chromatography). Sort of obvious if you think about it but the implications often aren't translated into treatment.

My original treatment plan -- in the absence of HPCL testing in this country -- was to push my anemia as far as I could while on maxium Procrit dose. Unfortunately, I staged the riba up much too fast (from 1200 to 2000 overnight), the hgb dropped too quickly very early in tx (week 2) and I had got so sick I had to back off.

I was going to try it again later in treatment but because of my many sides decided that taking more riba (I was back on 1200 now) might compromise my treament goal, then of 42 weeks. If my sides had been kinder, I was planning on finishing up treatment at a much higher riba level by staging up no more than 200 mg every couple of weeks-- which is about the time any hgb changes could be seen.

For those interested, do not try high dose riba at home :) It requires knowlegeable physician supervision and a willingness to endure more side effects. Keep in mind, in the Sweedish high dose riba study, everyone was on Procrit and two out of the ten participants required two blood transfusions each. Of course they did get close to 100% SVR with 48 weeks of treatment :)

-- Jim

[lilmoma]

Yeah, I thiught about all the very logical info you gave me,...guess what? I just jabbed that sucker in and now shot five is over with. I am so freakin proud of myself. And it really was much easier for me.
Hope everybody is feeling okay. I am feeling the Lunest start to come on so I gotta go catch one more smoke before I go to bed guys. Thanks everybody for just being "such an amusing and fun loving group" I really need the humor.
As far as thr hemo counts they are not terrible, I started at 13.6 then went down to 12.6 then 11 so it is just a concern, as men are normally 12-14 an women a little lower. They will get my labs back on Monday, I have been watching all the stuff, hemo, wbc ,plates, and this stuff they call "complete nuetrphil"
lilmoma

[Mister beagle bailey]

Kalio said they must be tough as nails in Sweden.

I can't imagine taking 2-4,000 of riba. For me that would mean getting 4 units of blood a week, if I took that much riba.  How do they handle it?  I would think they have better rescue drugs.

But if that research is right my anemia may be a good indicator of success.  Like you Jim my hgb started south 2 weeks into tx.

Bob

[GoofyDad]

You say: 'My original treatment plan -- in the absence of HPCL testing in this country -- was to push my anemia as far as I could while on maxium Procrit dose.'

Serendipitiously, I followed the same plan!

[Bill1954]

I really wish there was a simple, stock, off-the-shelf answer to your question re: relapse rates. This disease can be so d*mn confounding! _Very_ generally, Geno 1 and 4 are thought to have a relapse rate of around 40 % or so, with Geno 2 & 3 statistically much lower, quite possibly 10 to 15 %. Remember that these are statistics, and individual responses differ. Also keep in mind that this is really painting the picture with a  broad brush; If you care to research a little, take a look at the following pages-

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/hepc_news_svr.html

and you'll begin to see why there is so much debate on this subject! Hopefully, others will chime in with their thoughts as well.

Be well,

Bill

[Bill1954]

After many trips through Google looking for a facility that offers plasma ribavirin quantification here in the states, I came away with the impression that HPLC-UV testing is very much alive and well here in the U.S. It appears to be used ubiquitously for tox screening by labs across the country, including some of the substances tested for by the “employee drug test“.

The problem seems to be that there is currently no FDA approval for its use in ribavirin quantification. Perhaps if we could convince more employees to abuse riba for recreational purposes....;-), we could conceivably see approval in the near future, lol!

I’ll take my final five riba on Friday morning, so hopefully all these thoughts will be academic, at least for me! Just wondering if you have come to the same conclusions as I have regarding this subject.

Best of luck, ‘mano--

Bill

[GoofyDad]

You'll be pleased to know that whenever I read about glucose, I think of you: http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=7778 (that may actually be of limited interest)

And when I think of you, I think of diet, reminding me of your inabilitiy to digest burrito material, leading to my vision of quite the  masterpiece, surrounded by a white porcelin frame....

Partially digested burrito chunks, swirling into the vortex.....

<hr>
I might add that there's a reason a certain segment of the 'poopulation' is so uncomfortable with hemorrhoids....

[Forseegood]

duuuuhhh...like how I spelled that lil village huh? he he he, maybe caused I listened to Layla just the other day...

Have I transmogrified into a landscape gardener from Clapham? hmmm..picturing **** Cheney in "bootie shorts"...nah, not the one...

See Kalio visited ya, she's a good one...it's great to have you here, you'll even get some proper feedback soon I trust...

Goof: thanks for the charming visual as I lay myself down for beddybye, do the same for you some time sport!!!!

[GoofyDad]

OK. I'll try to redeem myself....

<a href="http://www.natap.org/2003/DDW/day14.htm">Start planting tomatoes</a>

[beamishboy]

the sales pitch that can convince anyone that Riba is a recreational drug should be patented-lol-the thot is hilarious! bettr chance selling cat sh!t sandwhiches...thks for the chuckle bill....

[jmjm530]

Yes, HPLC is a common technology for detecting the presence of many substances but the last time I checked (12 months ago)it it had only been used in this country for riba in a few research labs for specific trials, and not sure how the calibration stacked up to the Sweedish numbers which is really the whole point.

My plan back then was to either fly frozen serum to Sweeden for baseline testing and then every four months. Alternatively, I was planning to fly myself to Sweeden for the baseline test and perhaps six months later for follow-up. This all became academic when I became somewhat incapacitated early in treatment and decided that the risks of high-dose riba in my case outweighed the benefits.

Since the high dose riba study came out around a year ago, I imagine there has been some interest here in the states and wouldn't be surprised if at least one lab was doing riba HPLC at  least in the investigational stage. Still, it would be important for the calibration to correlate somewhat with the Sweedish study, if that is what you're trying to emulate.

As I said earlier, most of my research and data (I obtained full-text articles all papers from the Sweedish researches going back several years plus other investigations) is close to a year old. I'll leave further digging to any new blood (pun intended :)) here who finds the subject of interest -- as the medical community here is not exactly jumping on it, as of yet -- for a number of reasons including funding emphasis now on the newer drugs and the traditional American ethic of moving on to newer, better things before making full efforts to study and perfect what we already have. :)

And while I might be tempted to try HDR should I relapse -- given my age, cardiac history and difficult time on treatment -- not to mention new drugs in the pipeline -- it's probably not the right approach for me.

-- Jim

[Mister beagle bailey]

Haven't seen you post today.  How all went well with Dr. app. yesterday.  What did he say?

Bob

[FlGuy]

That answers the age-old question of 'Where's the beef?'

[MissMiss]

Goof--The link you posted on tomato rich food was real, right?  I'll take a chance and assume it is.  This info is basically what I was trying to get at when I posted the other day about taking this or that not being the way God intended us to consume it.  Milk is the only complete protein I am aware of.  All others need to be complemented with something else.  It is the same with other nutrients.  Wish I could think of a good example off hand but seems to be a bit foggy here.  I mean, you could probably put the one component they are looking at in a pill form and it wouldn't work as well as the natural one.

Riba Fog--Some of you tell such articulated stories I can never compete but must share my bit of fog with you.

A few weeks ago I bought a nice pound of sliced beef for my dear husband.  After putting all the groceries away I realized I couldn't find it anywhere.  Figured I must have put it in the freezer with something else or in the frig or my daughter had it in her bag since she was with me shopping.  Looked all over again and again because I knew it had to be somewhere.  Can you see where this is going?

Well, the nice pound of meat never did surface and was forgotten.....  Untillllllllllllllll

On that same shopping trip I had found some bags of Hersheys White Kisses on sale and bought several, like 4-5.  Oh yeah, they are great for making you feel better just after shoving that needle in your body again.  So, one bag of kisses is by the couch and the rest in the store bag on the floor next to my bed as I hoard them all to myself.

Last few weeks I have noticed a smell when retiring at night.  Having owned a carpet cleaning company in the past and owning two cats, my first thought was to hang the cats by their tails and get the hose out.  Not wanting animal control to visit, I decided I would be smarter to start kicking them out of there.  

I found an area I figured ole Peter had been using and put the good enzymes on it real thick.  Still got a good wiff that night and kept washing clothes and bedding and whatever I could find.  

Another week goes by and I am ready to tear the room apart. I started to do just that when I lifted the bag of wonderful kisses and whoosh! got a good wiff!

Oh my lord!  I think I have totally ruined my carpet!  We used to do fire jobs and the protein ones were always the worst.  Guess I'll find out next summer when it warms up real good and starts anything I have missed to rotting again.  Well, at least I will know where to look!

Riba fog can be expensive.  Ugh!

missmiss

[GoofyDad]

<i>I would go back ...and make them replace the old meat with new one ...</i>

We can do that? Whooo-hooo!

<i>geesh! you have to do everything yourself if you want things done right!</i>

Sad but true sister....

<hr>

<i>Let me tell you, it isn't easy grabbing your leg with muscles in two spots trembling like a leaf in the wind while smelling that rancid meat.</i>

Sounds like another late night visit from Big Chuck. Let's don't tell strator.... he's can be a possessive sort.....

[GoofyDad]

Yup that link was real. I can't attest to its accuracy. But something other than procrit to boost hgb seems like a winner to me.

Great story. Sorry for the carpet. Why do I think of Lucy and Ethel when I think of you and your bon-bons?

[cuteus]

it is the clerk's fault for packing meats with chocolates! I would go back to the store and make them replace the old meat with new one and teach those checkers how to bag groceries! geesh! you have to do everything yourself if you want things done right!

it was the checker who bag them, right? not you or daughter?
no matter! blame it on her/him and get a refund!

[MissMiss]

cuteus--I thought about that but honestly can't remember who really did bag them.  They would get a good laugh, I bet.  I tell ya tho, the way the deli person wrapped that meat, it probly would still be fresh had it made it to the fridge.  

goof-Well, at least I may get some sleep tonight.  Tomato sauce for dinner too!

Funny, after all that talk of leg cramps, guess what kept me up last night.  It almost looks like a faint bruise all along my shin this morning too.  Let me tell you, it isn't easy grabbing your leg with muscles in two spots trembling like a leaf in the wind while smelling that rancid meat.  Every time I moved I got another wiff.

Now lighting incense and every smelly candle I can find.  

missmiss

[can-do-man]

WHOOO-HOOO is right. Im heading to the deli right now and tell them my weiner went bad. Gonna see if they will give me one of those foot long dogs.

Thanks for the tip cuteus. What a valuable person you are to this board.

[cuteus]

I KNEW SOMEONE was bound to find the right kind of meat in that post!! I had a feeling...
make sure is Nathan's

[GoofyDad]

Well, Nathan should be mighty proud to have you posting his praise. I don't think I'll be sampling the merchandise myself, you understand. Hey, is Nathan's tongue popular with your crowd?

Now, had you said Bore's Head, I might a been nervous you was talkin' 'bout me!