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I am Scared

I'm scheduled to start incevik along with interfuroin treatments next week.,  I took them in 2008 without the incevik but they weren't effective.  I worked; felt badly always but survived.  This time I'm taking disability from my job; I'm 63 so I won't go back.  Question:  are injections only once a week?  Before I took them once a week foe 6 months and then daily for the last 6 months.  This doctor says if my viral load has not decreased in 4 weeks he will stop the treatments.  
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1815939 tn?1377991799
The above suggestions are good ones.

You may coast through without very many side effects. On the other hand, it is good to be prepared in case you do the more common side effects.

I would recommend having at least one package of each of the following items:

Preparation H suppositories
Preparation H cream
Huggies baby wipes with aloe (to keep your rectal area sparkly clean)
Benadryl caps or tabs
Hydrocortisone cream
Tylenol
Loperimide tabs (to keep the stools firm since the rectal problems seem to exacerbate if the stools get soft or loose).

These are all over the counter meds. In my experience, the items I listed may very well be needed and you sure do not want to have to try to find a pharmacy or market at 2 am if you need the items. Anyway, if you get the flaming diarrhea, you will be very busy on the toilet and won't be able to go out and get Loperimide. Same for the rash and itching: you do not want to have an itching attack in the middle of the night and have no benadryl or hydrocortisone cream in the house (and the rash and itching really seems to get a lot worse at night). My experienced advice having learned through trial and error is this: stay on top of or ahead of the side effects. They snowball and are much harder to clear up if you let them go too long.

Other items I would stock up on are:
*Toilet paper
*Some easy to prepare foods
*Some foods with 20 grams of fat in them (Greek yogurt, ice cream, peanut butter, heavy whipping cream, etc.)
*Some soups
*Heavy items that you may not feel like carrying while taking the meds (for me that was a year's supply of kitty litter)
*Soda crackers
There are other items listed in places on this forum. I just don't remember all of them.

Also, be sure you have a baseline eye exam done by an opthamologist prior to treatment and tell him/her you need the baseline exam because you are starting Inf., Riba, and Incivek.

I also had my teeth checked and cleaned shortly before starting treatment. You do not want to have dental problems while on treatment.

If you have a history of depression, you may want to discuss this with your doc and get a psych consult. They may want you on antidepressants if you have a history of depression.

I agree an alarm is essential. Inever would have remembered my Incivek every 8 hours (on time) without setting an alarm.

If your Riba tabs are the 200 mg type, I would recommend a 7 day pill box with dividers for am, noon, pm, night time meds (as others have mentioned). I was fine when I had the Riba pack because they were 600 mg tanbs and they were marked am and pm. I wrote in the days of the week by each pill. However, I am now on the 200 mg tabs and there is no way I could assure myself that I would remember every dose if I could not at a glance see whether I had taken the am dose or the pm dose. In addition, with my foggy brain right now, without the pill box/dispenser, I might forgety I took a dose and end up taking a double dose.

As others have mentioned, take your pills on time (Incivek every 8 hours with 20 gms of fat) and Riba as your doctor directs. I take my Riba every 12 hours.

If you get side effects, try to get on top of those that can be treated right away. They will snowball if you do not. Many side effects you cannot do much about but the three main ones that need attention are the rash and itching, the diarrhea and rectal issues, and the nausea. Be a squeaky wheel if necessary. You have to getr very asserive some times. Some docs wait way too long to treat these side effects.

I was a nervous wreck and filled with anxiety before I started. I was dreading the side effects and had to keep reminding myself that I would not get every one of them, lol. I was a little spaced out and dizzy and tired  and felt like I had a mild case of flu the first couple of days, but I did not have major problems with the injection or the meds in the beginning. I scheduled my injections on Monday eves so I would feel my best on the weekend. I do take two tylenol the night I take my injection.

As noted, you may have very few side effects. You won't know until you start the meds. I wish you the very best with your treatment.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
working dog:  those are great ideas.  I would also add that it is helpful to have a 7 day pill organizer with multiple spaces for each day (e.g. morning, noon, afternoon, evening, etc.), and to have a cell phone that allows you to program multiple alarms.  In my husband's case, since he is not very tech saavy, I bought him a Pantech cell phone that in addition to regular alarm capabilities also has a "pill reminder" alarm function.  I was able to program pill reminder alarms that ring every day at the same time and include a photo of the specific pills to take at that time. I was also able to program a pill reminder for the weekly injection, that rings at the same time once a week (I even took a photo of his pre-loaded syringe for that one!).  When he's in treatment, sometimes he is very fatigued or sleeps at odd hours, so this pill reminder function helps.  The alarms don't have to be re-set every day or after each dose.
Advocate1955
Helpful - 0
190885 tn?1333025891
some things to make this tx easier on you....
               talk with your doctor about when to bring in rescue drugs...
               get soft toilet paper
               take vitamin d 3
               get a soft toothbrush
               get a 7 day pill organizer
               make sure to take the incivek right on time
               clean your cloths and bedding with clean water and no dryer sheets
               get blood work..cbc every week
               if you have a little vl at 4 weeks i would get another one at 5 ..just to know when you clear...

its real nice to help at home and its great you can take off of work...you may have light sx...but be ready if you have some tough sx...i wish i had done more prep..especially  talking with your doc and nurse practitioner about what to do and when..good luck....billy
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Try not to be anxious.  My husband is in week 16 of triple therapy (interferon, ribavirin, and Incivek).  This is his 3rd treatment, and he is doing pretty well.  There have been rough patches, but it's been manageable.
Best wishes,
Advocate1955
Helpful - 0
683664 tn?1330966324
Hang in there and try not to be scared.  This tx is hard but you can do it!  I finished tx in 2009 with Incivek (clinical trial) and I can tell you it feels really good not to have Hep C anymore.  I would do it again tomorrow if I had to, not that it was fun, but that's how important it was to me to be cured.

Use this forum for support, ask your questions here and someone will respond.  There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here to help you get through this.  Good luck.

Lapis
Helpful - 0
1747881 tn?1546175878
Yes the interferon will be once a week and here is the protocol for incivek treatment.

2.7.1 Duration of Treatment in Treatment-Naive Subjects
In subjects who have had no previous treatment for HCV (treatment-naive), treatment with telaprevir must be initiated in combination with Peg-IFN and RBV and administered for 12 weeks.
• Subjects with undetectable HCV RNA at Weeks 4 and 12 receive an additional 12 weeks of Peg-IFN and RBV alone for a total treatment duration of 24 weeks
• Subjects with detectable HCV RNA at either Weeks 4 or 12 receive an additional 36 weeks of Peg-IFN and RBV alone for a total treatment duration of 48 weeks
HCV-RNA levels should be monitored at Weeks 4 and 12 to determine treatment duration.
Treatment with telaprevir should be discontinued in subjects who do not have an adequate viral response during treatment.

2.7.2 Duration of Treatment—Previously Treated Subjects
In subjects who have had previous treatment for HCV, treatment with telaprevir must be initiated in combination with Peg-IFN and RBV and administered for 12 weeks. Subjects who had a partial response to previous treatment (partial responders) or minimal response
(null responders) to Peg-IFN plus RBV receive an additional 36 weeks of Peg-IFN and RBV treatment alone for a total treatment duration of 48 weeks.
In subjects who had relapse after previous treatment to Peg-IFN plus RBV, a responseguided regimen is recommended.
• Subjects with undetectable HCV RNA at Weeks 4 and 12 of telaprevir-based treatment receive an additional 12 weeks of Peg-IFN and RBV alone for a total treatment duration of 24 weeks
• Subjects with detectable HCV RNA at either Weeks 4 or 12 of telaprevir-based treatment receive an additional 36 weeks of Peg-IFN and RBV alone for a total treatment duration of 48 weeks
Telaprevir must be dosed with Peg-IFN and RBV to prevent treatment failure.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/Drugs/AntiviralDrugsAdvisoryCommittee/UCM252562.pdf

Treatment Futility Rules: All Patients
HCV-RNA  Week 4 or Week 12: Greater than 1000 IU/mL Discontinue INCIVEK and peginterferon alfa and ribavirin (INCIVEK treatment complete at 12 weeks)
Week 24: Detectable Discontinue peginterferon alfa and ribavirin

http://pi.vrtx.com/files/uspi_telaprevir.pdf .
Helpful - 0
980756 tn?1313445908
i finished incevik in oct 2011...yes injections are once a week and inc is for first 3 months...if VL is not under 1000 in 4 weeks you stop.
Helpful - 0
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