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Hepatitis C Main Forums => On Hepatitis C Treatment => Topic started by: Karen1124 on July 25, 2016, 11:48:20 am

Title: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Karen1124 on July 25, 2016, 11:48:20 am

 Hey Warriors, Starting today on a long treatment. I relapsed last year on Harvoni 8 week treatment.
Any one else on this treatment?
Karen

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: BillT on July 25, 2016, 07:08:32 pm

Hi Karen and welcome to the forum.You relapsed after the 8 week Harvoni treatment,and  a year later they put you on the 24 week with the ribas.Is that correct?I'm going to let someone else wade in on this one. :)

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Lynn K on July 25, 2016, 08:51:40 pm

Hi Karen

I was a 3 time null responder to interferon based treatment. I treated with Sovaldi & Olysio for 12 weeks all was good on treatment but when tested at 12 weeks post I relapsed. That was March to Jun 2014. The relapse was in Sept 2014. In November I started on Harvoni for 24 weeks and after a few weeks I discussed with my doctor about adding Ribavirin she agreed that would be a good idea so at week 9 of Harvoni treatment I finally received my ribavirin. I treated with ribavirin for 15 weeks of the 24 weeks of Harvoni.

So almost what you were asking about. Do you have any questions?

Lynn

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Karen1124 on July 26, 2016, 08:53:30 am

Hi Lynn and BillT,
Did you have a lot of side effects from Ribavirin? Why Ribavirin?

To you BillT finish your thoughts please.

Thank you both Karen

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: BillT on July 26, 2016, 10:18:29 am

I was under the impression that you couldn't treat with the Harvoni or Viekira again if you relapsed on it Karen.Obviously you can.

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Karen1124 on July 26, 2016, 10:57:51 am

Hi BillT,
I had to have a resistance test I am not resistance so I can retreat.

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: BillT on July 26, 2016, 11:10:02 am

Thanks for clearing that up for me Karen.

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: AussieRosa on July 26, 2016, 11:45:37 am

Best of luck this time round, Karen.

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Karen1124 on July 26, 2016, 12:19:13 pm

Thank you AssieRosa! I see you are cured!! Congrats! How bad was ribavirin? That is what worries me this time around. Karen

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Lynn K on July 26, 2016, 01:17:51 pm

Hi Karen
I was also nervous about the riba as I had been on riba 2 times before with interferon  I was checked every week to monitor for ribavirin induced anemia which I did develop fairly quickly and had to dose reduce from 1200 to 1000 mg. My HGB count fell to below 10 and that s the lowest my doctor wanted to see it at but after it was reduced it returned to above 10 and stayed there so we tested my HGB count monthly after that.

I did feel pretty run down and a little bit winded on stairs at times but I did not miss any work and even went on a shout trip to Italy for work did a walking the of the Vatican and huffing and puffing to keep up. I was so glad when treatment was done and my HGB did rebound to normal in 10 days post.

Why riba? well for me as a multiple treatment failure with cirrhosis and especially because  had relapsed after taking Sovaldi and Olysio I needed desperately to be cured for one and also taking riba does help beat the virus even if only by a percent or two and I needed the best shot at being cured.

Best to you

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Karen1124 on July 27, 2016, 02:34:52 pm

Hi Lynn,

Thank you for you response! I am just going to take it one day at a time, just like I am with quitting smoking. I quit the day before I started treatment! I don't know if that was smart or not. I hate Hep C and Hate smoking so I'm hoping to get rid of both.
Thanks again and congrats to you on being CURED!! Wishing you the best! Karen

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: AussieRosa on July 29, 2016, 10:57:47 am

Hi, Karen.
Riba was an annoyance. I wouldn't say it was difficult, although it caused a dormant helicobacter pylori stomach infection to flare up, and that was difficult. Also the sides are still not over. I'm still losing hair in clumps. However, I would do it all over again to be free of the virus. So please don't let my experience with it put you off.

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: Karen1124 on July 29, 2016, 12:18:43 pm

Hi AussieRosa,

I was just looking at wigs online when I seen you had responded to my post! I knew it was a side effect and when I did 8 weeks of Harvoni my hair thinned. So I am trying to be prepared for that. This is only my 4th the day no sides yet of course, from what I've read the sides start around week 2. Thank you for your response. Congrats to you on The big C that is the goal!! Karen

Title: Re: 24Weeks of Harvoni and Ribavirin
Post by: AussieRosa on July 31, 2016, 04:41:21 am

Thanks, Karen. I'm sure you'll reach SVR this time too. I didn't start losing hair until near the end of treatment. It is a riba thing and you're unlikely to experience that. You're much more likely to get some anemia, but that is manageable. I'm sure you'll be successful, and it's not very long in the scheme of things. Wishing you a smooth, easy and successful treatment. Please keep us updated on how you go.