sandy & cyclist:
f you guys stop talking, breathing and walking that cough should clear up some :)
flcyclist, must be a florida doc thing.. yes, I agree, minor annoyance, and as long as I don't talk or breathe or walk, I rarely cough. :) Funny what our bodies get used to!
So far in this treatment attempt, no cough on inf/riba/tel.
Last time in 2005 on inf/riba had debilitating cough. coughing to the point of throwing up several times /day. I was non-functional. Most people say it's riba. My Dr. slowly introduced riba to my system until I was at therapeutic dose. I think that helped a lot. Inf can also cause cough through an inf related interstitial lung disease.
Either way it was awful and I'm sorry you're suffering with it. I got relief using hycodin syrup, a narcotic cough suppressant. Ask your Dr. about writing for it.
Best,
Robo
My cough started a couple of days after I started on the Riba.
I have had a cough and chest congestion almost since the beginning of treatment. its the treatment.....
sandy, funny, my doc also suggested a chest x-ray after I mentioned my cough. I also held off, and claritin seemed to help. I haven't tried Zytec, but would probably help as well. My cough is a minor annoyance and gets worse at work when I have more frequent conversation. This is a common side as Will referenced above.
Yes, my last doc wanted to send me for a chest xray, which I promptly ignored. I have no phlegm, no wheezing, just a cough. But because he was not very familiar with treating many Hep C patients he was freaked out about my cough. I noted that when my Riba was reduced from 100 to 800 for two weeks, my cough improved significantly.
Chronic cough/Pegylated interferon/ribavirin In HCV Therapy
Posted by New HCV Drugs
File Under Peginterferon, side effects
The Cough and HCV Therapy; Is it the interferon or the ribavirin?
What is new and Conclusion: Previous studies have observed that cough occurs more commonly in patients receiving the combination of interferon and ribavirin compared to interferon alone, thus implicating ribavirin as the causal agent. Our data demonstrate that it does so by reversible enhancement of cough reflex sensitivity. Clinicians should be aware of this potential treatment-related effect, so as to avoid unnecessary and costly diagnostic evaluations seeking an alternative aetiology of cough.
Yes, I have been coughing from the beginning. I can barely talk most days without coughing. It is the RIBA I was told. Very common sx. My doc said to take Zyrtec to help, i do sometimes.
Yes, I had quite a bad cough. Even though it is fairly common, you should check with your doctor to be sure that you don't have some sort of infection. If you get any kind of fever, that is a red flag. I had low WBC and ANC the entire time so I had lots of bloodwork and a chest xray to be sure of no pneumonia or URI. Two weeks after finishing treatment, I am still coughing a lot but I'm told it will go away. Good luck with treatment and take care of yourself.
i never had cough real bad but did get alot of flue like symptoms and got more flues than usual but id guess you have just caught a flue virus thats making you cough but im just going on personal experience,maybe its common with othwers on tx.
hope it goes away for u soon :)