Continue your regular meds.?

[truredhead]

I hope to be treating real soon, Geno 1A and will treat with the three combo of solvaldi, riba, interferon (I imagine anyway) what I am wondering is if you continue your regular meds? My pain doc started me on cymbalta and gabapentin. Of course I will continue my blood pressure meds but was not sure about the new meds. I would appreciate the feedback, I have not treated before. I want to so badly. I have so little energy. Of course I have fibromyalgia too but I should feel alot better if I can get rid of the hep.

[truredhead]

Yes I will ask for sure but this new doctor is the in and out kind. He does not have time for alot of questions I guess. I even went to a infectious disease doc to see about changing docs and she wants a liver biopsy done. I go back mon morning to "no info" doc and I will see what he says this time. When I first seen him he was saying oh we will treat right away and we do not do many liver biopsies any more unless we think they may have other issues. So he said a endoscopy will tell him, I just got the bill for that and it was $6000.00 dollars. He is a gastro and I am wondering if it was even needed. My enzymes are low always any way I am gonna see what happens monday before I decide on which doc to go with. I just want to treat the hep c and get it out of my body!

[JimmyMose]

I couldn't find much info.

http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/cymbalta-with-interferon-alfa-2b-ribavirin-949-2273-1356-0.html

http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/cymbalta-with-neurontin-949-2273-1147-677.html?professional=1

My non medical opinion is that you should make sure that your gastro doctor, Hcv treatment provider, pain doctor and pharmacist are communicating with each other so the best recommendation and monitoring can be made.  If you still have doubts after response, you could ask if if or would your gastro consider consult(usually done via electronic secure messaging etc if provider is using the best new methods of communication) with high level hepatology and pharmacy sources.

I'am not sure what communication options you have available with your provider. I go to the VA and they have secure messaging so I can send a message to one or more speciality providers and usually get a reply the in next day or two.  Sometimes will be told that more time in needed to fully analyze my concern to provide and answer or recommendation.  I love this method for important complicated questions that are not an immediate serious medical concern.   More simple questions etc I usually wait to my next visit to ask. If I had a similar concern as yours, would use secure messaging to maybe give my gastro more time to check into it, if needed  before my visit.    

[truredhead]

Yes I think we all know to ask our doctors for all medical advice but these were prescribed from my pain doc and she said she was not sure about what all we can take on treatment with the hep c. I will ask my gastro doc next week. I like to get feedback from people who have went through treatment themselves so I ask for your opinions about a lot of issues. I know sometimes my docs will also prescribe me things that they have not researched much about with liver disease. I have not started cymbalta before because I have read it should be watched with liver disease but due to treating soon the pain doc says it should be ok. I have a lot of pain sometimes I do not know if it is the hep c or fibromyalgia. The symptoms are close in both. Thks for all the help I do get from everyone! Sometimes it is hard to wait until I see my doc to ask things so I jump on here!

[flyinlynn]

The first and best choice would be to ask your doctor.

Hopefully you are seeing a hepatologist and have advised them of all medications you are taking both prescription and non prescription as well as any herbal medicines for example St John's Wort is counter-indicated as it could reduce the effectiveness of Solvaldi.


I am providing here what I found by searching Solvaldi drug interactions.
This link is from the FDA and is the prescribing information for the treatment you are guessing you will taking.

http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/byaudience/forpatientadvocates/ucm377920.htm

I also have GT 1a and have been a null responder to 3 previous treatments and now have cirrhosis. I and many others here are treating with Solvaldi and Olysio without interferon.

You may want to look at this information the recommendations for managing and treating Hep C released by the AASLD American Association for the Study of Liver Disease for more information.

http://www.hcvguidelines.org/fullreport

Good luck on your treatment
Lynn