starting treatment soon... round 2!

[drummerman2655]

Just got approved for Abbvies Viekira Pak. ... after being turned down for Harvoni by my insurance. My insurance will only approve Harvoni if I have tried Viekira pak and did not respond. So ... here goes!

Anyway, any advice , insights , comments , etc are appreciated.

I treated about 3 yrs ago with riba and interferon and was a non-responder.

One thing I am wondering about is how come some people treat with Viekira AND riba, while others do not.

My doctor seems to know little about Viekira and prefers Harvoni, and I am wondering if I should ask for riba to be added as I really want to clear.

I have very little liver damage and am in good health.

thank you!

[drummerman2655]

Thanks for the info Mike.
Unfortunately, after a month of daily phone calls, I finally received a months supply of Viekira.  

I feel pretty good about it and will take my first dose on Monday.

I had no idea that what you did to get the Harvoni was even possible and in fact my nurse advocate made it sound like she had to work and argue to even get them to agree to the Viekira.

Thought about waiting a week to start , in order to give me a week buffer regarding refills (tried to get them to send me 2 months worth, but that was a no go)..Acreddo assures me that getting refills on time will not be an issue (and it wasn't 4 years ago with interferon/riba) so... fingers crossed.

[mikejj24]

I don't want to discourage you, if you are already set with Viekira etc. I just thought I would mention what I did to get Harvoni.

My doctor was denied 2-3 times trying to get me approved for Harvoni. I have BCBS with Express Scripts. Express scripts even called me at home to try and get me to approve Viekira- basically cut my doctor out of the picture.

One of responses I got on this forum suggested I send an impassioned letter stating my case to:

***@****

At least in my case, Accredo is the specialty pharmacy for Express Scripts. I got an immediate response and within a week I was approved and had Harvoni on the way. I just ended up with a small co-pay for each Month supply.

To this day I am not sure why this happened, if it just fell through the cracks, or what. I firmly believe it was a blessing. But, bottom line is, it worked for me. I was originally approved for 8 weeks, and I just called in to Accredo at about 6 weeks and asked it to be extended to 12 weeks and that also went through without a hitch.

I would recommend to anyone in this situation to send an email to Accredo or whoever your plan has as Express Scripts specialty pharmacy immediately. State your case as it applies to your specific situation. I just stated my concerns about the extended treatment time, the addition of riba, the fact that my doctor prescribed Harvoni, etc. I also suffer from copd and mentioned that Riba could make that worse.

Good Luck with your treatment.

[drummerman2655]

Thanks Odin,
that sounds very encouraging.

dm

[drummerman2655]

ps - I pretty much assumed my doc knows little about Viekira, but I probably should not make assumptions.  He definitely prefer Harvoni.

[drummerman2655]

thanks to all!
rx suppose to arrive sometime this week.
figured out that viekira with riba is for 1a's, which I am.
My insurance won't approve Harvoni until I have tried and failed viekira.
I imagine some docs prefer Harvoni cause less pills and no riba, which is always good thing.

Hoping for the best.
dm

[jules2551]

http://www.rxabbvie.com/pdf/viekirapak_pi.pdf

You said "I have very little liver damage and am in good health."  Depending on what very little damage means and you are not cirrhotic then they will not give you the ribavarin.

The above link is the dosing information on viekirapak.

Good luck Jules

[rlp1952]

hi Drummerman, I went to hep dr on6-16-15 as my gp has been watching my hep c since 2006 waiting for new meds since sooo many horror stories from int & rib.. he thinks looking at the blood work from 6-15-14 that with platelets @75 and red palms i  am early stage cirrhosis. boy i wasn't expecting that!
anyway on to your question on viekerapak.
He said if i'm 1a then harvoni for 12 weeks 94-97 cure rate but if 1b then vikerapak for 12 weeks 100% cure rate. This is a hep specialist at baylor hospital in fort worth,tx. Baylor is a top liver transplant hospital. These hep dr's can diagnosis you in there sleep. Of course they are not god so unfortunately they can't cure ESLD. but if you can get on list they can put it in. I did blood work on the same day as appointment and will for the 1st time know genotype and viral load also u/s on 6-29-15 then appointment in july 7th and we'll know where i'm more exactly at and start treatment. now you know why sometimes viekerapak and sometimes harvoni.
All Best To you,
RKP1952

[hepcandme]

So glad we have this group - especially when I hear things like

'My doctor seems to know little about Viekira and prefers Harvoni, and I am wondering if I should ask for riba to be added as I really want to clear."

Learn all you can, my friend. I can't tell you how many times I have heard things like "Hepatitis C is a serious decease" from some sub doctor with me trying to not roll my eyes while correcting his reading of my labs while clutching my 5" Hep C binder

sigh...

But congrats on your treatment. There are many brilliant people here who were on that regimen who will be a great help to you

[OdinLovesLife]

Hi drummer,
Ribavirin is recommended for GT1A, not needed for GT1B regardless of IFN response.

I have just finished 12 weeks VPak with Ribavirin added. It was a breeze compared to IFN+Riba but still needed some planning and consideration at work. I hate Ribavirin and it has messed me up a bit but I managed to work the whole way through, whereas with IFN+Riba I was incapacitated within the first week.

Viekira is very effective, Harvoni just might have been a little more effective with a shorter duration treatment. It depends on your circumstances. There are physical reasons to avoid VPak for some people, but generally treating with that is much better than hanging onto HCV :-)

[drummerman2655]

BBS.
Arkansas

[jules2551]

Hi Drummer Congrats on getting Viekira but am curious about who you have insurance with and what state you live in?

Wishing you the best! Jules