Incivik; Triple Therapy; Need help & honest Answers!

[ontrackbasis]

I am just getting ready to start triple therapy on July 1, 2013. I am scared with what I am reading. My Dr is starting me off with all 3 at once, and has chosen Incivik,. On top of being concerned with the pegasys n Riba now I am concerned with this Incivik.. Any help would be great... honesty too... Apparently the Pegasys & Riba will be for 9 months and the Incivik will just be for my first 12 weeks on treatment...

I am wondering if I will be able to work as my job can become very demanding at times.

Thank you to all of you who share your stories... I am getting tired of people trying to tell me how I feel who have never personally done treatment.

[Dee1956]

Hello there.  I wanted to say that I was told that I had a hard time due to the cirrhosis.
I was very lucky, my doctor had me do 24 weeks of tx.
I am now 16 months post tx and doing and feeling better than I have in years
That is the most important thing...hope...and this forum
I know you have already started but if you can get some baby wipes, lots and lots of baby wipes.
What helps the most is to make sure you eat the 20 grams of fat, there are many many lists on here that can be found by clicking on the magnifying glass at the top of this page and type in 20 grams of fat.
If you are too sick to search just come on here ask a question and everyone here will be more than happy to help you in any way that they can.

I would not have been able to get through my tx without this group of people .

I started my tx a few months after it was approved which was bad because there were side that doctors did not know how to treat.
Saying that...you are treating at a good time as most sx have some kind of help.
If you start itching benedryl can help however as others would tell  you, don't wait if you get a sx, call your doctor right away so he/she can call in a prescription for what ever sx you are having.

If the doctor does not know you can ask here.  What ever it is can be asked on here.

When a bunch of us started in 2011, right after Incivek was approved, we talked about blood, guts, and yes poop so please don't be afraid to ask.

Many of us have been through the tx and we have stayed close by to help those who are coming behind us.  I call it paying it forward in honor of those who went before us and were so willing to reach back and give a hand to lift another person up.

I know I sound corny, I am just trying to say that we are all here for  you.  as someone above me said, any time of the day...someone is here.  We are from all over the world and in my opinion we have all joined forces to kill this damn virus.

As I said there are many lists of foods that have fats and I ate all of that however when I had to take my medicine and could not cook at 6 am I would take 3 table spoons of peanut butter and eat it with two apples.

Some have tried just taking fat and drinking it.  Most have found that it has to be solid food or you will end up with firerhea.

All my best to you, hang on it could be a bumpy ride.  Listen to your body, when you are tired..lay down, this is not a time to try to do more than your body is capable of.  Try to think of yourself as a friend, and do for yourself what you would do for a family member or a best friend.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. :)  You will do fine.  Oh your reaction to the shot was completely normal.  It will get better as time goes by, the shots.  I took them on Friday in the hope I could work on Tuesday.

[justpzin]

Hello,

I am to start triple treatment on July 5, 2013.  I have been reading the post and it is good to have a place to share what I am feeling. Of course I am scared but if this is what it takes I'm all in.

justprzin

[ceanothus]

Im a little slow to this thread, but want to welcome you anyway. Congratulations on taking such a strong step towards evicting the HCV and protecting your future health by starting treatment now! This is where the roller coaster ride might begin, so hang on tight. Side effects are not very predictable, and terms like "usually" are the best anyone can do. Usually tx (treatment) has fewer and milder side effects when the patient is younger and when the liver damaged has not progressed as far. I treated at ages 41, 52 and 58 (the last one was triple tx and I'm now SVR) and each tx was much harder for me. I also had cirrhosis already during both of the last two treatments and that adds to the difficulties, as do any other serious health problems one might have. If you are otherwise pretty healthy and your liver is not yet cirrhotic, you will stand a better chance at an easier tx. If you are also under 50, you may get off really lucky! Of course, these are all maybes, probables and possibles, and nothing is for sure except ONE THING: whatever happens, you will get great support here at this forum.

Most people who work through tx take their injections on Friday nights in hopes that the worst sx will be over the weekend and not interfere with work. Don't feel bad that you didn't get this schedule though, as like everything else about tx, the timing of the sx is unpredictable too. At the very beginning mine hit me soon after the injection but later in tx it didn't hit me very regularly and when it did it could be anytime, but was usually 4-5 days after the shot. That interferon hit of sx (side effects) does get milder as your body gets more accustomed to the meds. Your next most common and likely sx will be nausea from the Incivek. Lots of us have had it, in greatly varying degrees. If it is mild you can just try ginger - ginger tea, ginger candy, or ginger capsules if you don't like the flavor. If it gets severe you will need a prescription med called Zofran. It's a good idea to get that Rx called in to your pharmacy right away if you start feeling any nausea because once it starts it can increase really rapidly and then you might have trouble getting the Rx quickly enough. The Incivek needs to be taken on a very careful schedule of every 8 hours, with a meal or snack with 20g of fat taken first, within 20-30 minutes. When the nausea started for me it was less than 24 hours before it was so severe that I couldn't keep my Incivek down, and its really bad for tx to miss any doses. Fortunately the Zofran worked like a miracle for me. I was gagging and barfing, then dissolved one tiny pill on my tongue, and within 20 minutes all nausea was gone and I was actually wanting to eat. Not everyone gets the nausea but it is pretty common to get it. You can avoid some of the sx just by bring really vigilant about always getting enough fat with your Incivek and by making sure you drink tons of water, at least one gallon per day. Speak up if you start getting other sx like skin issues, anal problems, mouth sores or blood count problems, as you will find a lot of good advice here.

[lrup1952]

Hi, and thanks for checking in.  Yes, that is indeed the regime LoL

I did my first shot at the doctors office as well which meant I didn't take the tylenol before the shot since I didn't think about it and they didn't mention it so my first shot was the worse for me.  I felt like I really had the flu.  The shots after that I took the tylenol first (30 minutes before) and did well so maybe that will help with your second shot.  Being a chicken and afraid of the second shot, I swallowed pills, injected and ran to bed before I could feel sick.  However I fell asleep and slept through the entire night.

I know we are all different but I will hope that your second shot goes better and that your sx will be bearable.  

I do agree you should be prepared that you may need time off,. just in case.  

Keep us posted and congrats on beginning this journey.  It takes courage and you did it!!  Linda

[Idyllic]

An injection once a week, Incivek three times a day (with 20 grams of fat) and Riba twice a day is the protocol for Incivek. Many of us followed it (for the first 12 weeks).

Not sure about your job though. It depends on what you do for a living. Like Irup above saysm many people work while on treatment. If anything I would make sure you have flexibility in the event you have some off days.

[ontrackbasis]

Thank you all for your comments and words of truth. I wanted to give a quick update as yesterday was my first day of treatment!

I had my first injection yesterday at about 6 pm at the dr office. Was doing pretty good till about 11pm when I got up from couch to go to bed. Started shaking and freezing then would bundle up. I was up the majority of night... several times in tears :( I had a fever of 103.0 around 3 am. I couldnt handle the pain anymore so I took some ibuprofin and about 20 minutes later finally fell asleep.

I awoke to my alarm at 7am and I was soaking wet with sweat. My head is pounding and muscles are still little sore. At 7am I had to eat 20grams of fat in some food and take my Incivik pills. At 8am I had to wake back up to take my ribaviran pill with a bunch of water.  The time is now 1115am and I just woke up and thought I would let you all know how it went/is.

I have to do my injections on Monday nights, take 6 Incivik pills each day, and 2 Riba pills everyday... I assume this is the same regimen for all tho on trip ther. Thanks again to everyone... I really do appreciate it.