ribavirin and food?

[marty59]

I will be done with my incivek tomorrow and will be so grateful I don't have to take it anymore and the high fat meal/snack before each dose.
My question is, do you need to eat anything before taking ribavirin?

[Dee1956]

Thank you so much for the information.  Since I finished the 12 weeks I have been eating normal but then I thought that maybe that was wrong.  I just want to do the right thing and I am wondering if instruction is given

Thank you
Dee

[hrsepwrguy]

My point is ribavirin doesn't reach it's full absorbion in a steady state until 9 to 10 wks of taking, in order to get the full potential of the 35% increase you would have to eat 26.9 grams of fat with each dose for that period. I agree with eating with the riba and not worring about counting the fat grams that has been my whole point all along. People read they get a 40 to 60% increased absorbtion rate with a high fat meal but don't really understand exactly what it means so I am just trying to let people know what is involved with riba absorbtion. Single dose studies are really all we have to go off of unless you are in a ribavirin study as I am where they check your steady state at 12 wks for me and as of this moment it is the only study in the US that is doing this. My situation is different and I have learned much from it and am just trying to pass on what I have learned.  My expirience has been that most people absorb the riba just fine eating a normal meal as I have absobed it just fine from day one to my steady state at 12 wks and never worried about counting fat grams.

[flcyclist]

These are often single dose studies and don't relate directly to our daily regime of Ribavirin dosing.   The point is, there is an increase in absorption when taking ribavirin with a high-fat meal compared to fasting or a normal meal.  I'm not suggesting to maximize absorption by eating unhealthy amounts of fat.  

I try to eat some fat with my ribavirin, but don't worry about counting grams.  If I can do something simple to slightly increase the absorption, then why not.  Now, if my Hgb was consistantly below 10, then I might reconsider.  

[hrsepwrguy]

http://www.spfiles.com/pipeg-intron.pdf

Effect of food on absorption of ribavirin:

Both AUC and C-MAX increased by seventy percent when Rebetol Capsules were administered with a high fat meal: (841 kcal, 53.8 g fat, 31.6 g protein, and 57.4 g carbohydrate) in a single-dose pharmacokinetic study

If you do the math you will have to eat 26.9 grams of fat for a 35% increase in absorbtion

[orphanedhawk]

My nurse told me to take it with a substantial meal or it can cause nausea.

[flcyclist]

There have been several studies that showed the bioavailability of ribavirin increased with a high fat meal.  The question is how much fat.  My guess is to take with some fat (10 g?), not the 20 g needed for Inc.  This has been discussed frequently on the forum if you care to search more.

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

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 tablets were taken with a high-fat meal compared with fasting conditions [see Dosage and Administration (2.1) and Patient Counseling Information (17)].

http://www.drugs.com/pro/ribavirin.html

[Livinontheedge]

Congrats to you !     What a feat !    You are brave !   I have 4 more days on inc , and counting down the hours.    Prayers for Great Labs !  

[hrsepwrguy]

.The package insert simply says take with food , no designation as to how much or what, follow the link to see more on the subject.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Starting-Week-12-on-INC---THEN-WHAT-/show/1637168 .