tx start date! Mon. 3/3

I have an official start date with this new destiny.  
I have been closely following posts for weeks, have learned a ton, and still have a few questions. (many more to follow, I'm sure)
I know that the riba should be taken with fat. Is 1% or 2% milk considered high enough in fat?  I know nuts and nut butters are good, and I imagine cheese is, as well, but what else is healthy, appealing, and high in fat?  (aside from chocolate, of course!)  
Once I  have begun, I am planning to do 6:30am & 3:30pm dosing with the riba, and Sunday evening for the peg.   Are these good time frames?   How exact do I need to be with sticking to the times?  (I know this has all been asked & answered, but of course today I am just drawing a big blank.)
I am going to go shopping this weekend for supplies.  Food, lotion, gold bond ointment, etc. and have a message in to my stylist to get started with the Nioxin hair products.  What am I missing?  Should I take a xanax BEFORE my first dose/shot @ the hospital?  I have anxiety disorder and am quite concerned that I will have a panic attack when I do this.  
I will check out the recent posts that have answers to some of this if I can find them...
I am relieved to have a start date, but wow, talk about emotional swings!
Thanks all!
~lmr

[pKinCA]

Hi !

Excellent on finally having a start date!  

Being a newbie myself (just did 3rd injection on Friday night) I can't answer a lot of the questions, but I will tell you that food has become a real issue for me... Some days something sounds good, some days it sounds downright awful!  I've lost a lot of my sense of taste, although it's not metallic like for some...  and if I slack off at all and not eat regularly enough, then dizziness hits with a vengeance...

I'm sorry to hear you have a panic disorder!  I would talk to your doctor about taking the Xanax -- seems I've read elsewhere on this forum that people have taken meds for anxiety before the first injection... Probably not a bad idea if you're super nervous... I found it helpful to just lie still on my back right afterward to rest for a few minutes... Will you have someone to drive you to and from the hospital?  

Also, I switched from 2% milk to whole milk this week... Probably just a bit more hearty and filling...  Not sure it makes that much difference though...

Good luck prepping in the next few weeks!

pK

[Bill1954]

Jeez… umm, I realize you’re nervous, but try to remember that 10’s, probably 100’s of thousands of people do these drugs all the time; it’s not as if you need to prepare for a trip to the highlands of Borneo for a year (my apologies to any members from Borneo :o)). I’ve been taking high-dose interferon and riba for most of the last three years, and I’m not dead yet (last time I checked :o)). Really, you’ll be OK.

If you go to:

http://www.spfiles.com/pipeg-intron.pdf

And scroll to “Clinical Pharmacology” you’ll se the following statement regarding the effect of food on absorption of ribavirin:

“Both AUC and C-MAX increased by seventy percent when Rebetol Capsules were administered with a high fat meal: (841 kcal, 53.8 g fat, 31.6 g protein, and 57.4 g carbohydrate) in a single-dose pharmacokinetic study.”

This will give you a dietary model to emulate.  However, I’m unaware of any study that shows the effect this diet has on viral response. In other words, while it may be intuitively correct, I don’t believe there is any actual science to support this.

I have been taking my ribavirin about 5:30 AM and again at about 8:00PM; it’s probably more important consider a time when you won’t forget it than to worry about an exact hour of the day.

I dealt with panic disorder for years, and these meds have never triggered a panic episode for me. I do take an antidepressant and 0.5 mg Xanax 2x day and things are good.

You’re not stepping off the edge of the world; life goes on whether you’re on treatment or not… try to enjoy it every chance you get.

Take care for now, and good luck to you—

Bill