Viekira Pak + Ribavirin and Alcohol?

[smadak]

Hey guys,

This is my first thread here. I imagine some people may jump all over this because alcohol and liver disease shouldn't be a mix in the first place, but just hear me out?

So I started my treatment (as listed in my signature) about 10 days ago. About a week into the treatment, I was visiting with some friends and had maybe 3-4 drinks of alcohol over a 2-3 hour period. I haven't had HCV for very long (almost 3 years) and have no liver damage or enlargement, so I thought a bit of social drinking in moderation would be okay.

However the next morning, I woke up and couldn't stop vomiting all day, couldn't hold down water or gatoratde, etc. Very very sick. It finally subsided around the later evening. It was unlike any hangover I've ever had, I felt like I was poisoned.

Could this be because I mixed the alcohol with the meds? I'm also on 12mg of suboxone a day, but I've been on that for months now. I haven't drank alcohol since starting the suboxone either, so I'm really not sure which med caused the interaction. Of course I looked on some suboxone-related forums and no one seemed to report this type of sickness when drinking, which made me think it may have been the viek+riba. Any thoughts? Regardless, not planning on drinking any more...

[Lynn K]

Simple answer don't drink on treatment.

You have lots of chemicals swimming around in your blood stream why add another chemical to the mix

[smadak]

Right Lynn, I agree it was a big mistake and it's not one I'll be repeating. However I'm still just curious as to what interaction caused it, and if nothing else, maybe someone will see this thread before making the same mistake. I know I couldn't find anything via google or the search feature here regarding this.

[Lynn K]

I am just thinking too many chemicals swimming in the blood stream is a bad idea most likely an interaction of some sort.

I have cirrhosis from hep c so I can't drink ever again.

[shootingforzero]

If you had that strong of a reaction to anything while on Viekira + Ribavarin, I think you should tell your doctor and let them evaluate. What if it wasn't due to the alcohol, but an allergy to the drug itself? Please discuss with your healthcare provider, not with us random armchair physicians on the Internet.

That said, ritonavir, one of the components of Viekira Pak does slow the liver's metabolism of many substances and thus cause elevated levels of them in your body.  Ritonavir is there to boost the other drugs in the mix. (This why the list of possible interactions is so insanely long for Viekira Pak).
So, it's not at all impossible that some combo of Viekira, alcohol and suboxone caused that reaction.

Please be careful out there

[Lynn K]

Good point your doctor should be your first choice for medical information and drug reactions although I can imagine you might feel hesitant to reveal to your doctor you were drinking on treatment.

Still this is something doctors would need to know about so they can strongly advise patients about not using alcohol on treatment due to strong reactions like you experienced.

Good luck on treatment

[sapphire101]

smadak there is another widely read post on harvoni and alcohol and while I realize your are on a different treatment you might want to repost this question there. It was started by disabledhepcat and has over 10 thousand views and many forum members are active in it.
You might see some answers to your interaction question there.

That being said, most forum members and moderators agree to avoid new medications and all extras including alcohol on treatment just to be safe.

[1yss223]

Have you gotten any blood work or talked to your doctor since this incident? I'm curious to know if alcohol impacted your viral load or treatment in anyway since I am in a similar situation now... Without the vomitting or feeling like I have been poisoned. I am worried however that there's a chance that the medication won't work now...