coughing fits

[Unhep]

Got 'em bad. Recently had dosage upped to 1600 riba daily, from 1200, as apparently HGB count wasn't going down much. Now I've got coughing fits, coughing from the heels, coughing till dizzy. Occasional streak of blood in phlegm, occasional nosebleeds now too.

I think I'm going to have to cut back on the riba. I can't keep coughing like this, and I can't stand any more dextromethorphan, which doesn't seem to touch this cough.

What to do? Anybody?

[Unhep]

Actually when I first posted this I had already made the decision to cut back on the riba, but didn't know if it was the right decision or not and I was pretty stressed about it. So I posted here looking for confirmation of what I'd already done.

It would have been a lot more straightforward of me to say "this is what I did - is it right, wrong?"

But the main thing was, I needed the insight, and I'm grateful for what you've all given me.

[Unhep]

Thanks everyone for the insight and the advice, that I will definitely be following up on.

After rereading what I'd posted earlier today, I decided I had no choice but to cut back the morning dose from 800 to 600, so I did that, and found myself oddly unplagued by coughing fits. I thought, "Must be a coincidence. I can't be feeling this good already. I must have had an actual cold, and now I'm getting over it. Yeah, that's it! It wasn't the riba after all".... so I went back to 800 mg. this evening and yup, it's the Riba all right.

It sure helps to put things in perspective when I hear other people's experiences. If I can't solve this cough thing quickly, I'll be very sure to drop the dose, no question. It would be great to be able to treat aggressively I guess, but I don't want no Pyrrhic victory neither :-)




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[epiphiny]

Well Unhep, we must be in the percentage of the population that get this sx as I've got a nasty cough also, very phlegmy, I really do hate it, and I have a wheeze when I breathe in.  I had nothing like that when I started tx in May and it's just developed over the last 3 months.  I was also told it was a sx of the Riba (I'm on 1200) and I have largely been able to cope with it without cough medications.

I also take Virgin Coconut Oil every day with my meds but it hasn't had any effect on the cough, although I am only taking a teaspoon.  I'll go up to a tablespoon as an experiment!

Probably good to get it checked if it's becoming unmanageable.

All the best

Epi :)

[Facta_non_verba]

Same thing happened to me when I went up to 1600 of riba. I don't know of anything that works well. You could see if your doctor could prescribe a cough medicine that has codeine or hydrocodone. Dextromethorphan is really not very effective. You also should get examined by your doctor and probably should get a chest xray to make sure that you don't have pneumonia or another lung problem.

For what it's worth, my cough settled down quite a bit after a couple of months. Yep, a couple of months. I coughed so hard sometimes I nearly passed out, so I know what you're going through.

When did you start treatment, and what's going on with your viral load?

Hope you feel better soon.

Jeff
Facta non Verba

[Fl_Gator]

Before I started tx back in June, I had a slight cough....after starting it got worse...it drove me crazy...I mentioned it to the NP...she told me that it was a sx of Riba...so I started to try to live with it.

Half way through my tx I started taking my Riba with a tbls of Virgin Coconut Oil (it was suggested by another member for other benifits). My cough went away completely.

Try it...if it helps let me know...I would like to see if it helps anyone other than myself with the riba cough...

Gator

[Mr Liver]

It could very likely be that your coughing is directly related to this large amount (1600 mg ) of ribavirin. If so, it can lead to a myriad of pulmonary conditions, including pneumonia, which would likely be a treatment-ending event . I would consult with your doctor if it continues as it can lead to very serious medical complications. These symptoms are well described on the prescribing info for ribavirin and are known to be a possible side effect for a certain population. Best of luck.
ML