Allen's Sovaldi + Ribavirin Treatment Log

Even though I feel sick today I am smiling

hi allen, good drop in v/l. i just read your posts about valproic acid. should you be on that med, with liver disease?

I am on whats considered a very low dose in Epilepsy doctor's eyes and they won't risk changing it for such a short treatment as it could cause me to have seizures.

My specialist and family doctor or totally aware of what I take and I only take the Valproic acid and Supeudol for pain and nothing else unless I tell them. They made me go to my epilepsy specialist before treatment to confirm the Sovaldi+Ribavirin would not interact with the Valproic but quite honestly my specialist did not have alot of info.

While he is know as one of the best Neurologists in Canada he admitted with Sovaldi being so new he could not comment much on it but told me he was not aware of no problems and said I should be fine, larger doses of epilepsy meds he said he might be concerned. I'm finished 5 weeks with no seizures and my VL has gone down so things seem to be working.

Thanks for the cheers, feel a bit drained today and sore tight stomach as usual but really I am not letting it get to me, 6 more weeks of this and all will be well!

Tomorrow morning I begin Week 7 of my 12 week treatment, still alive and still feel sick at time and have cramps but I'm half way there and its all good.

Lately I have been noticed my shins and calves are getting very dry skin, matter of fact my whole body seems alot drier than usual and I find some nights before bed I have to "lube" up...hahaha I'm not sure if the dry skin thing is a side effect but its pretty annoying.

Also went to the optometrist because lately I seem to be having problems with my eyes and focusing and stuff, well despite all the problems I mentioned I have 20/20 vision and she offered me some complimentary eye drops and told me to use certain brands 4X per day...apparently I have dry eyes ;-)

Other than that T'm still walking my dog and trying not to stress out, been spending time relaxing.

The eye drops are off the shelf and can be bought at any pharmacy and are called "Systane Ultra" however when I am in the U.S I personally buy Rohto eye drops as I can't seem to find them in Canada.

www.myrohto.com

I have tried a few different versions and they all work excellent compared to Visine..the *Rohto Cool* drops lightly freeze your eyes temporarily and its feels really good. I am just glad the eye doctor didn't try to convince me she had some $90 eye drops that somehow worked better otherwise I would have been laughing at her

The dry skin is bothering me most on my shins and calves and also behind my neck where shirt labels are in that area, get terribly itchy all the time but oh well, it could be worse.

I go for another blood test today and then from now one every two weeks. I'm happy to be starting Week 7 and though I have been feeling crappy with stomach cramps, dizzyness and eye problems its really nothing in the end and in another 6 weeks this will be over with and I use my previous test results as motivation to get this treatment finished.

To all those new to Sovaldi+Ribavirin treatment the side effects are very minimal when you consider whats happening, your body is killing off millions of the anti-virus in a very short amount of time and working hard to eradicate this virus so its only natural you will feel a bit sick and run down BUT look around and multiple of us who all started Sovaldi+Ribavirin around the same time have miraculous results and you should also, just stick to the program and take your pills on time and eat healthy and lots of water and you will be fine!

Post Edited (AllenM) : 3/20/2014 9:36:56 AM (GMT-6)

Just wanted to mention "wooly spots" in eyes with Riba. This is common, and mention to your doctor, but I would not panic. My husband did Riba twice...24 weeks each time. (with interferon). The dry itch thing was pretty nasty. He was given one RX the first time treating. Not so great. The 2nd treatment he used Triamcinolone Acetonide .025% cream. It helped far better for the itch. By the end of treatment, his collar area, face, ankles, back were very itchy, but sparingly applied to most itchy areas for relief. Luckily, most of you treater's will have just 12 weeks *Yay*. This makes your sides ......acceptable:) Be aware the Riba rash may last for a couple months after treatment. Takes awhile to get out of your system. Big Hugs and keep on keeping on...

Forgot to mention I got a call from the Hepatitis support centre on Friday telling me my blood that was taken on Thursday looks great and everything is going well. She said "no concerns" and mentioned my Hemoglobin was at *132* if that means anything..she mentioned it was a bit lower than last time.

Next blood will be taken April 3rd

I listened to the recording again and she said 132 so it must be they way we measure things here. Here's a link from Canadian Blood Services that explains it.

https://www.blood.ca/centreapps/internet/uw_v502_mainengine.nsf/page/E_Hemoglobin?openDocument

I think the doc actually views them first, then when he approves them, you are sent an email.
I found that out because I called him a couple times worried about results and he told me that :)
So if something seems alarming, you can be confident your Dr has already seen them :)

AWESOME on 8 weeks!! You are almost DONE!!

And I totally agree, I would love to see some great results from the other genotypes and previous non-responders as well!!

Have a great day!!

Allen, all you guys and gals with positive interim results are keeping Mike motivated. Thanks for joining our forum. This is the first time we have had GOOD news, even GREAT news, for our Hep C members. The fight has been ong at our house. He had his first bad bout with the illness in 1981! He was infected, he thinks in 1969. Hopefully this whole bunch will find and maintain SVR !!! Hugs, ML

still cheering for you and everyone.

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Love your posts Allen....always real and always inspiring...also, you will be excited seeing steve's newest post. Music