med timeing

[joey48]

I have found myself not haveing food when its time for my incivek  im eather working or on the road although i do eat lunch about 2 are 3 hours prier ,will that efect my incivek , [joey48]

[Idyllic]

Carry around one or two doses of your meds with you and something small, convenient & healthy like Barney Butter Almond Butter 90 Calorie Snack Packs. They have the fat you need, no cholesterol & with very little saturated fat. I was a little disappointed by that since most almond butter doesn't usually have saturated fat.

http://www.amazon.com/Barney-Butter-Almond-Calorie-0-6-Ounce/dp/B001P22GHC

[JasmineT]

The fat is critical to your success from what I have seen.  I do not have references but remember seeing info early on that initial tests with incivek did not really improve svr rates until they added the fat.  Drugs.com says this on teleprevir.

"Pharmacokinetics
Absorption
T max is between 4 and 5 h. C max and AUC are approximately 3,510 ng/mL and 22,300 ng•h/mL, respectively. Administration with a standard-fat meal increases AUC 237%; telaprevir should be administered with food (not low fat)."

These meds cost $50,000 and are a huge hit to your body.  You get one shot at this.  

Try picking up a box of south beach diet heart healthy nuts.  They contain individually packed mixed nuts that can easily fit in a pocket or anyplace convenient and close.  

Good luck.

[stormy456]

"and I didn't want to be the one to remind him all the time.  :) "

Oh, boy, do I understand that.  My husband has actually been really good about remembering his meds, but timers are set on his phone AND my phone since we work together and are together all day (and night)  Those timers are mission critical, I could never remember all of these meds.

[Advocate1955]

Thanks stormy!  I went and got that cell phone on Day 1 because we were so overwhelmed with figuring out how to set alarms that wouldn't have to be re-set!  It's pretty funny because I could even take pictures of the pills that pop up with the reminder that says "take"!  Since I work days and he works nights, I didn't want to worry that he'd fall asleep and miss doses while I was at work, and I didn't want to be the one to remind him all the time.  :)
Advocate1955

[stormy456]

You are an excellent wife.  Your husband is very lucky indeed.

[LookingForward12]

Just going to chime in and say that taking this medicine correctly, i.e. with the fat, is a must! I feel as though my entire day revolves around my Incivek doses right now. I don't feel like doing a whole lot of anything these days, but i do make sure there is an extra dose of Incivek along with a peanut bar in my purse for any eventuality that I might get caught away from home at meds time.

[orphanedhawk]

Marty is right. If you are doing this treatment to get rid of hep C, make it a priority.
We often have to change our habits to care for our health.
You are an adult.
Change your life so that you have food when you need it. Do what you must.
Put yourself on a schedule and keep to it.
Otherwise, why are you taking these difficult meds?

[crigger]

Carry cheese sticks and some nuts with you. Then you will have some fat with you when you are out and can not stop and eat something else .

[Advocate1955]

The fat (20 grams) must be eaten no more than 30 minutes prior to taking the Incivek, and the Ribavirin is best taken with food too.  I bought a new cell phone for my husband that had a pill reminder function (not just alarms that would have to be re-set every day, but an actual pill reminder function that could be set for the same times daily).  I set reminders for the fat snack, each dose of pills, and the weekly injections.  Every day he got the reminder for the fat snack and then 30 minutes later the reminder for the Incivek.  We also made sure that there was a variety of choices of fat snacks in the house at all times.  That way, if he needed to take a fat snack with him to work or in the car, there were choices of things including choices that didn't need to be refrigerated.  Ice cream, cream cheese, cheese, etc. were good choices for home, because they needed to be refrigerated.  Nuts, avocados, peanut butter, etc., were good choices for in the car or at work because they didn't need to be refrigerated.  It does take some planning, but if you stock up on the fat snacks on the weekend, then you'll have them for the week.  As far as your other meals, you could time them around your Ribavirin doses, since that is better taken with food.  There is some research that says that fat helps the absorption of Ribavirin as well.  The fat no more than 30 min. prior to the Incivek is definitely a MUST.
Advocate1955

[marty59]

You really have to plan your schedule around the incivek.
It's only for 12 weeks and very expensive, so I'd make the best effort you can to get the maximum benefit from drug.

[suezeeque]

My understanding is that Incivek is poorly absorbed.  You have to eat the required amount of fat with each dose to increase its absorption.

[hrsepwrguy]

Yes it will

Effects of Food on Oral Absorption
The systemic exposure (AUC) to telaprevir was increased by 237% when telaprevir was administered with a standard fat meal (containing 533 kcal and 21 g fat) compared to when telaprevir was administered under fasting conditions. In addition, the type of meal significantly affects exposure to telaprevir. Relative to fasting, when telaprevir was administered with a low-fat meal (249 kcal, 3.6 g fat) and a high-fat meal (928 kcal, 56 g fat), the systemic exposure (AUC) to telaprevir was increased by approximately 117% and 330%, respectively. Doses of INCIVEK were administered within 30 minutes of completing a meal or snack containing approximately 20 grams of fat in the Phase 3 trials. Therefore, INCIVEK should always be taken with food (not low fat).