the adventure begins tomorrow, first tx in boceprevir trial

[spectda]

Trying to remain positive and hope I can stay strong through 48 weeks. My wife said that I will svr, so I am going with that for now. I feel lucky to be able to participate in this trial, but of course it's a double edged sword! I have friends who svr'd with current soc and did well with the meds, and others who said it was torture. Of course I've read many of your stories, and appreciate that many of you have relayed your personal experiences, and offered important information and advice. Only 48 more injections to go! LOL (probably won't be laughing for long!)

[GreatBird]

One day at a time. And lots of water. You'll do fine.

[Magnum]

Please keep us informed on a timely maner, as myself and others here are waiting to treat with Boce. I was under the impression it was a 24 week ordeal...

Magnum

[Trish77]

You won't stop laughing.  Just what you laugh about will become quite bizarre. :)  The important thing always is to preserve your sense of humour.  I have no doubt you'll make the 48 weeks barring complications out of your own control. You've got a good trial drug to work with. I wish you the very best with treatment and will be rooting for your SVR.  

Trish

[Rockerforlife]

You will be ok,i did 36 weeks of bocep and SVR`ed,just make sure ya dont miss any doses and set lots of alarm clocks and eat fatty food with the RIBA

[spectda]

Thanks everyone I will keep you posted regularly and try to keep my sense of humor! I know these new meds are important to many of us.

Great bird-Lots of water! How about eating before first injection, does it matter?

Magnum, perhaps you were thinking of telaprevir which I believe is a 24 week tx.

I think they have found that boce works best with a 4 week lead in with current soc, and then they add the boce for the remaining 44 weeks. I believe the idea of the lead in is to prevent mutations. This is an anemia study, if you drop below 10 g/dl hemoglobin you either have a riba reduction or you are given erythropoietin. Although a riba reduction is not what I am looking for, at least there is no placebo, which in my opinion makes this a great bet!

Trish-I will try to remember you words and try to keep my sense of humor, thanks for the encouragement!

Great to hear about your svr rockerforlife, congrats. I will be diligent about the time requirements, I've heard how important it is. I will do my best with the fatty foods, I just put a lot of time and exercise into losing weight, and I'm 189 lbs (started at 235, the most ever in my life). Does the riba absorb  better with fatty foods?

[portann]

I'm rooting for you and know that you know that there's tons of great advice here about getting through this tx, one day at a time.

And remember to warn your wife that steering clear of you during testy times will avert needless words of wrath, spoken through your interferon haze, aka, riba rage.

As for the fat, my view is definitely take the riba with some fat, as in SOME fat. We shouldn't be piling it on, you know, and healthy fats are the way to go, if possible.

One regret about my tx that I have is I could have watched more movies at home (comedies) but never got my act together to organize that.  

And of course your wife is right (isn't she always?) that you'll SVR!  Go with that for sure.

Good luck and good night,

Susan

[GreatBird]

It doesn't matter if you eat before, during, or after your first shot. ;) Most doctors (and my clinical trial nurse) will suggest you take 2 regular strength Tylenol, however.

Riba is supposed to absorb better with fats. I had my morning riba with breakfast and I always have an egg, so there's fat. You can take it at dinner too, so if you have salad dressing or butter on anything or meat there is fat.

When I was doing the Boceprevir, they had us eat something with it as well. I was taking them at 7am, 3pm, 11pm so the afternoon and late night didn't correspond with mealtimes. It turned out I could take them with milk. Definitely check with your trial people for what they recommend.

[spectda]

I've let my wonderful wife know that it may not be pretty, but I will try my best to behave. She's very supportive and has lots of outlets for herself.

Thanks for the advice on the fat I thought we were talking heaps of fat, no problem with the food normal fat.

[GreatBird]

Do make sure your fats have fat in them. For instance, low-fat salad dressing, etc., isn't what you want to use for fats if that's what you're taking your riba with. Unless, of course, you're having avocado in your salad. :)

Lots of folks use cheese, peanut butter, etc.

[Diamando6]

I think that as far as the liver is concerned, I wouldt go for too much fat, salads with olive oil, low fat meals, vegetables, and cooked meat, or grilled.
Othervwise, I congretulate you for participating in Boce, trial, you have been lucky, because I am sure that you will be SVR!  Good luck, and keep us posted!

[Trinity4]

Good Luck and you are most fortunate to be in a Boce trial because you will SVR with the Boce so at least the trials and tribulations will pay off in the end.  SVR is why we  endure all this right?

Good Luck, be strong, stay the course
Trinity

[Diane12855]

Don't forget to drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day too. That will make the sx less sever Oh yes... don't take antacids or fiber at the same time you take Ribaviron either. So much to learn! I'm on shot 4, so all this stuff is new to me too.

Ask anything that crosses your mind here... these people are great to answer, and put lots of laughs into your day as well.

Hang in there!

[spectda]

Thanks Diane,
Good luck with your treatment! I hope you SVR. off to the doc now!

[child24angel]

Good luck as you move forward with TX and congrats for getting
into the trial.  
All my best,
Elaine

[Rockerforlife]

Ya dont need to eat a pound of lard with each RIBA dose,what i did was 2 boiled eggs,1/4 to 1/2 0f an avocodo,tablespoon of olvie oil,that was it.ann this came to about 35 grams of fat right there.I was told no need to take fatty food with the bocep,but i did always eat the bocep with either some raw almonds or avacoda

[WriteItDown]

Best of luck to you, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed you attain SVR.  And congratulations on your weight loss -- that's terrific, and if you can lose 45 pounds you can do this!

It's great your wife is supportive -- as a supportive wife myself I can tell you it makes a lot of difference ;)  My husband used it as a license to demand all his favorite foods, and to be waited on hand and foot -- might as well milk it!

Try not to sweat it too much, you never know, you might be one of the ones who doesn't have terrible side effects.

[wtgb]

Hi

I have not posted since December.  I am now on my 11th week of the boceprevir trial, and have had better days than some.  My viral load is less than 25 but still detectable at week 8.  I was hoping for 0 at this time because things that I have read say early response (8weeks )  holds some good chance for SVR.  I just found out my hgb has dropped and I was randomized to the decreased ribavirin leg.  I was torn about which leg I was hoping for, but realize I have no control over it.  I can't imagine that decreasing my ribavirin is going to help my hgb, it might stabalize it but i am questioning that it will go up past 10 with this leg.  I can just hope for the best.

Is there anyone that has had success with this leg on the boceprevir trial.  Do you know if this leg doesn't work if you are off the trial.  I am hoping to be undetected by this week (week 10s results)  i find out in a couple of days.


Any information would be helpful.

thank you
wtgb

[spectda]

Thank you everyone for the support, I am 6 hours on tx. Only 1146 hours to go! LOL
I don't feel that bad right now, just aches and pains. Although I am not that heavy, I have fat around the middle where I injected. I'm sort of wondering if the interferon is dissipating too much before it get's into my blood. We'll see how it goes in the next few days.

[Trinity4]

Subcutaneous shots are just that....under the skin and the interferon will absorb into the body.  Give tx another few weeks and you won't be worrying anymore. :)

Hope you do well.

Trinity

[spectda]

Talk about getting hit over the head with a hammer, you people are brave out there! I guess it's in my system!

[WriteItDown]

For many people the first shot is the worst.  Hang in there, at least you're on your way now, and you won't have to play the waiting game anymore.

[nygirl7]

Dont give up the fight is yours to win!

[spectda]

I've heard the first injection is often the worst, hopefully it's killing those little bastards! Of course I didn't expect this to be a walk in the park. It'a amazing to me that many people on this forum have done this several times. There no way I am giving up, hell it's been one day!  Much more fun to come I'm sure! be well and thank you again for the encouragement-dave