The importance of taking Ribavirin with fatty foods !

[copyman]

I thought this was important enough to post since some members here may be giving out the wrong information. Also people may confuse taking only Incivek  with fatty food and not the Ribavirin. It is just as important to take the Riba with fatty food. Since people take their riba and Incivek at the same time the fatty food will help both meds to be better absorbed.

Let me state this again. Ribavirin is better absorbed with a high fat meal. Like I said there are studies and proven data to back it up. Google " taking ribavirin with fat". Here is one example from PubMed, a well respected website:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1804105/

The component of the final population pharmacokinetic model that describes the absorption phase is complex. Although a standard meal did not affect ribavirin bioavailability (F1), administration of ribavirin with a high-fat meal increased bioavailability by 46% relative to the fasting state. A high-fat meal prolonged the duration of the zero-order input part of the absorption model, with D1 increasing from 0.498 h (fasting and standard meal) to 0.740 h. The type of meal also influenced the first-order input part of the absorption model (Table 1).

[copyman]

Hey Magnum, you had me rolling on the floor, funny stuff....."Since this is a country of fat people, a little more fat shouldn't tarnish our image......."

Yes frijole, I took my riba at 6am & 2pm. It is not critical to take the riba exactly every 12 hrs. As long as you get the prescribed amount on a daily basis. You could actually take the full daily dose at one time. The reason it is divided into 2 doses is not to upset your stomach. Riba has such a long half life that there is no effect to taking it at whatever time convenient for you.

[OC]

i'm looking at the ribasphere prescribing infomation, see 12.3, it says,

"Effect of Food on Absorption of Ribavirin Bioavailability of a single oral dose of ribavirin was increased by co-administration with a high-fat meal. The absorption was slowed (Tmax was doubled) and the AUC0-192h and Cmax increased by 42% and 66%, respectively, when ribavirin was taken with a high-fat meal compared with fasting conditions [see Dosage and  Administration (2.1) and Patient Counseling Information (17)]."

http://kadmon.com/files/ribasphere-tablets-pi.pdf

peace

[cliff1961]

I hate having to get up evry morning 6.30am / 2.30pm / 10.30pm
Setting my phone alarms for to get the medicatiopn Victrelis / Boceprevir for my fiance'
Morning time is very hard for her, at times getting very little sleep in the night and by the time she gets to sleep the alarm goes off and does not want to be disturbed but get her a

1: Fresh Cold Drink
2: A little piece of Choclate pie in which to mix the victrelis capsules in so there is not so much of a bad taste in your mouth, and by putting the capsule in the pie you do not realise you are taking them so much.

Take another hour to get back to sleep!

Has enetered her 12 week on treatment with Victrelis and now come to the stage her blood count is all low.

[frijole]

"I hated getting up every morning at 6am to take 1st dose of Rib & Tel each day. My dose times were 6am, 2pm (both meds) & 10pm (Telap only). In the end it was all worth "

So you took your riba in 8 hour and 16 hour intervals?  I would think this would have distorted the bioavailability more than whether they were taken with or without fat.  It is my understanding that the riba should be taken the same time each day, approximately 12 hours apart.

I really think we are primarily in agreement here.  We should take our riba with some fat.  The amount of fat has not been determined.
frijole

[JasmineT]

My pharmacist told me to take RIBA with or without food.  I have been taking the morning one with incivek and fat and the afternoon one by itself 12 hours later so I have been concerned about the postings regarding food.  Thanks to everyone for all the information.  It helps to hear the various viewpoints and bits of data.

I also found something on the fda site (http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm111342.pdf) that says if you on pegintron take it with food, if you are intron A, take it with or without food.  I am on Pegasus peg interferon alpha 2a which i think is intron A.  it may help to take with some food based on the postings but sounds like I am not in a really bad place going into week 4.

[Magnum]

I agree. Since this is a country of fat people, a little more fat shouldn't tarnish our image to the rest of the world or diminish the fact that we can eat Kentucky fried chicken with artery clogging batter or drink huge 7-11 Big Gulp sodas with enormous amounts of sugar or cholesterol infested chicken wings, but complain about 40 grams of fat daily added to life saving medicine. I say be fat, be happy and be cured...

Magnum