Ribavirin with Vieira Pak & breathing difficulties

[HazelAustralia]

Hello,
I'm glad to have found this forum, thank you all for your contributions which have already been so helpful for me.
I'll introduce myself before asking my question, to say hi and contextualise my worry. I'm a woman in my 50's in Australia. I first contracted Hep C (non-A non-B) in the 1980's. It seemed to have cleared at one stage but maybe the tests were wrong, maybe I contracted it again in the 90's. I have to check my genotype, it's 1, I think it's 1A - I'll check with the nurse and confirm (I have spent so long ignoring my hep C, it's hard to change old habits). I recently had a fibroscan, which she said was okay, average, she also said my viral load was average. I tried interferon and ribavirin treatment about 10 years ago and had really bad insomnia and the closest thing I've experienced to a psychotic episode.
I have a lung condition - COPD - it's manageable but there are things I can't do anymore - I get out of breath - and this affects my fitness as I can't exercise as much as I used to.
I am ready to go on treatment as soon as it is available at this stage it looks like it will be December/January. The Hep C nurse has said that they are planning for me to go on Viekira Pak with Ribavirin for 12 weeks. I am nervous about the Ribavirin given that I already get some muscle pains and weakness and breathlessness, and I am especially worried having read some after-treatment responses that seem to suggest that it might affect the heart or lungs. I have also read mention that there is a possibility that they may be able to get rid of the Ribavirin from the treatment mix sometime soon - but I don't have a handle on this.
Can anyone please give me their feedback about side effects that relate to breathing, or about potential future treatment regimes, or anything else that occurs to you about my situation? Thanks for reading- if you got through -this lengthy post. And congratulations and my respect to everyone who has gone before me!

[Philadelphia]

hi Hazel, I'm from Aust too and live in a rural NSW area, but I am undergoing treatment through St Vincents in Sydney.

I'm on Viekira Pak + Ribavirin, I'm geno 1a. I get the 24 week cirrhotic bonus jackpot of ribavirin - lucky me!

I don't have COPD and I have to say that despite falling haemoglobin levels I have not really suffered from breathlessness since about Week 3. My hb is lower than ever now (104) but I am not breathless.

[Joe NM]

I occasionally hear about a dry cough with V-Pak/ribavirin regimens, but none of the studies showed increased difficulty breathing or any conflict with COPD. In good news, clearing your HCV could help your COPD, as HCV causes inflammation (swelling) throughout the body, which often goes away once your immune system isn't busy trying to kill millions of viruses a day. If you have genotype 1a, you will need the ribavirin, as cure rates without it go down about 20%. Otherwise Harvoni would be the other option for genotype 1a or 1b. But each regimen is just as effective, and if you're able to get access to V-Pak but not Harvoni then you should probably go with V-Pak (and if the doctors are telling you V-Pak, that's probably because they know that's the one you'll be able to access). You can go to viekira.com to find more information on it, including their Patient Assistance Program ("proceed") that can provide the drugs for free if you can show you have no other way to get them, give them a call if you need! But hopefully you don't have a hard time getting access to these drugs!

[HazelAustralia]

Thanks Joe NM, I have only just seen this reply. That is very interesting about the inflammation. Thanks.