Side effects after Incivek is over?

[taccs4]

I am about to begin week 8. I was just curious to see if any of you have already wrapped up your 12 weeks of Incivek. If so, did your side effects get any better? Since I have to treat 48 weeks I have been counting down the days until the Incivek is over and hoping that things will get a little easier once this part is over. Thanks!

[Brxman]

Just started week 8 on triple therapy.  Only bad side, NO energy and short of breath. Dr stopped incivek and ribaviv for a week or so hopefully hemoglobin will get more to normal. It's at 7.8.   Being tired and out of breath is a bit.h. I cleared at 4 wks so I don't want to take a chance of relapse. Dr will start on lower dose of ribaviv and work back up.
Anyone been in this situation before?

[mike_tried_this]

Three days into treatment I experienced a severe rectal burning. The nurses said it was from the unused or undigested portion of the INCIVEK that was causing this discomfort.   I drink 16 to 20 ounces of water when taking this medicine and that helped. I also used Tucks and that relieved the pain instantly. Later it became painful and began to itch so I went to a local drug store called Walgreens and bought Walgreens Maximum Strength Pain Relief Hemorrhoidal Cream and started using it and that worked. It’s important to keep that area clean. First I’d wipe with dry toilet paper, and next with a wet wipe that’s used for a baby’s butt and again with dry toilet paper. Since it no longer burns there, I began using a Bacitracin Antibiotic put out by Water-Jel that contained 500 units of Bacitracin Zinc and that’s helping it heal. My fat intake is done through one of or a small combination of these foods, 1 cup of ice cream after it's been softened in the microwave, a quarter cup of sunflower seeds, a tablespoon of olive oil, a large tablespoon of peanut butter, a handful of Pringles potato chips or a couple pieces of cheddar cheese. At least 20 grams of fat is needed with each dose of INCIVEK. I always eat my fat sources 15 to 20 minutes prior to taking INCIVEK. I never lay back down after taking INCIVEK, I sit in a recliner. The inclined position helps avoid stomach upset. For upset stomach I’ll take two Pepto Bismol caplets and that works well. For the itchy rash I use Eucerin Skin Calming Itch Relief Treatment Lotion and it works well. The soap I began using is Oil of Olay soothing cucumber infused with avocado oil. My energy levels are also low so I'll take two Panax Ginseng Capsules (600mg) from GNC and break them open in a spoon and swallow that along with a Ultra Energy Now Caplet (in the yellow package 1-800-649-2248) with water and that will give me boost of energy almost instantly. When I take the Ginseng, I'll slice up an apple, eat a couple of slices, take the Ginseng and then eat the rest of my apple. I don’t peel the apple because the skin has important antioxidants for the skin and hair. Not long after I'm finished, I'm ready to go to work. For the dry mouth, I chew the Biotene dry mouth gum with Xylitol from Walmart and it works well. So far all these side effects have been tolerable because I was able to find remedies that work.

[ocgirl421]

I started the treatment march1st. I have dry mouth, itchy skin, lost weight,lost hair,depressed,short temper,no energy,and had a bad rash from my chest to ankles. I'm going to beat this treatment. Thank God

[Jillko59]

I found it much easier to take two tablespoons of macadamia nut oil before taking the Incevik.

[Adventurer58]

Hi All.  I have 2 days left on Incivek - I have been counting down the days since day 1!  I contracted Hep C 37 years ago when I was 17 and have been very lucky in that I have very little liver damage.  I did the interferon and ribavaron 48 week treatment twice in the last 10 years - virus was gone by the time I finished the treatment but was back in 6 months.  I was so excited when the new treatment was approved last year and couldn't wait to start.  The first 8 weeks I had it pretty easy - every day was a different symptom but it only lasted a few hours.  I had the itching skin, not alot and not every day, skin felt like it was sunburned, dumbness on one side of the face, anal itching and hemorrhoids, light-headed, "fogginess", metal taste in my mouth,, dry mouth, burning lips.  I had shortness of breath during my daily treadmill workout but once I slowed the pace I  was OK.  Week 4 viral was undectable - music to my ears!  At week 8 I started feeling the fatigue and started napping in the evenings after work and alot on the weekends.  At week 8 I also got unrelated health issues that only made me more fatigued and (a blocked salivary gland that was so painful and then an eye allergy that made my eyelids red and so itchy.)  I finished all that early this week and now the body itchiness is back more intense but the cortisone cream is helping.  I hate the evening fat the most - mornings have been eggs, sausage and toast or oatmeal with pecans or walnut  After lunch snack has been mainly cheese, yogurt with nuts and fruits or a peanut butter smoothie.  10 pm fat has been the most difficult and what worked in week 2 made me gag in week 4, so it has been a challenge to get the pm fat to work.  I have had sad days, angry days, poor-pitifull-me days, happy days but in general just plain "I want this to be OVER" days!   Week 12 blood test will be this Thursday so I will know then if I will do 24 or 48 weeks.  Thank you all for your posts - I have found postive thoughts in most of them :)  This has not been an easy journey but one that I had to take.  The treatment is a beast but we have to fight!   Best of luck to all!

[Budd007]

Hang in there Incivek users ,  I did a total treatment of 51 weeks for the cure,started the double cocktail on Jan.5 2011 and in May of 2011 Incivek was aproved to be used and on July 7 2011 I started my 12 weeks of Incivek what a GROOLING ride that was , But I made it through the ride , the itching ,lack of apetite , wore down feeling , and worst of all the lack of sleep, For the itching I used a cream called Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream, ask your doctor for this it works, for your apetite thats up to you, I kind of forced myself to eat, a lot of icecream bars, slimfast, oatmeal the junk food is not good for you but it helps, a lot of fat, I went from 235lbs.to 169lbs. mostly losing the weight during the run with Incivek now I am back to 190lbs. and holding. It took me until Jan.2012 to start feeling myself again, I still have bad days of feeling worthless ,just keep that positive thought and positive health and you do feel better.Not to toot my horn to loud yet, I have my 6 month check up in Aug. but so far I have come back Negative from using Incivek, A great big THANKS to the people that devaloped this fantastic grooling drug.