Hepatitis C Treatment Dose Timing Food

Compliance with every dosage of Hepatitis C treatment with  is crucial to achieving a Sustained Viral Response (SVR). Your doctor will give you the dosage that is specific for your weight. You know that timing is important with the use of protease inhibitors, yet you may slide into a brain fog and miss a dose. Fat in food can enhance the ability of the protease inhibitor to rid you of the Hepatitis C Virus. An enormous amount of information will be thrown into your brain. You will definitely need support from your Allied Health Care Team to absorb it all. I had to break it down into easy to understand terms while I was treating for Hepatitis C. As your best friend in the battle, I am going to give you my take on it. Pull up a chair.

This is easier if you:Think in terms of threes:

There are 3 ways you will get information and support.

1. Your doctor – When you begin taking the medications, your doctor will give you instructions that will be specific. They will always have your current dosage in your chart. If there are any changes, this is the first place to ask.
2. The specialty pharmacy – Many pharmaceutical companies offer classes that are required before treatment. You will get hand outs with the details of your medication, how and when to administer, and lots of more stuff that contains fine print that will probably set in a closet like mine did. I read it all before treatment, but my mind was on information overload.
3. The on call nurse – Your doctor, pharmaceutical company, and the specialty pharmacy may all have an on-call nurse to answer any specific questions that you have. They are usually available 24/7 and are a Godsend when you feel you have made an error in medications or just need to talk to someone. Keep this number in your speed dial. I put a big AAA in front of the name so it would come up first in my contacts. I also had a magnet on the fridge with the number. This is handy for your caregiver also.

Take notes. Ask questions. Write everything down in that notebook that I suggested in my Telaprevir posts. Remember, there are no stupid questions. If you are wondering, someone else has already asked the same question. It is intelligent to ask for help.

I wrote this about Telaprevir, but the same rules go for Sovaldi and Olysio. Your dosage may be different, but it is still important to take your dose at the correct time!

There are 3 basic things to remember with medications.

1. Timing –
2. Dose –
3. Food –

Your times will be chosen by YOU with your doctor or nurse’s help. I timed my doses to allow me to work full time. Here is how my day worked when I started treatment:

In case you mess up and run into a situation where the timing, dosage, or food required is not done correctly, call one of your 3 information sources. They will give you instructions. IF YOU MISS A DOSE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CALL YOUR DOCTOR AS SOON AS THE OFFICE IS OPEN. Tell them what happened and what adjustment was made. They will record it in your chart.

This happened to me a few times. I missed a dose of my hepatitis c treatment twice. I missed my injection dose by a few hours. I missed a dose of Telaprevir and then took a double dose 2 hours later in my brain fogged haze. I was sicker than a dog. Another time, my insurance got discontinued and I had to wait a until a package could be shipped from Genentech. They got me a free weekend’s worth until I could get it straightened out. By that time I had missed an entire dose. I was one upset girl. I was at week 7 or 8 and made some pretty threatening phone calls. Since I had a virus load that was “undetected” at week 4, I was NOT going to take any risks by missing a dose again. Missing an injection or shot of interferon is not as common because you only take your shot once a week. It can happen. You may also have taken the wrong dosage. If your doctor reduces your dose, you may get confused. Make that call. Write it all down. Ask a member of your allied health team to remind you.

During class, everything stopped when my phone went off. I would calmly go to my desk, unlock my drawer, grab a protein shake and a high fat snack. Down went the pills. I would keep talking or ask a student to read and then go on. A few times, I forgot my little bag and my daughter came zipping over to make a drug delivery.

Compliance with every single dose is so important. Your life depends upon it. Take no risks. Have a back-up plan for reminders. When I had to discontinue after a variceal bleed, my doctors at OU Medical Transplant Center sifted through my chart. They found every dosage change and missed or late med. We had a long talk. They gently reminded me that there were no guarantees. My dosage had been reduced several times over the course of 43 weeks. We were encouraged that I had remained Undetected throughout. It is a scary kind of crazy that you feel after such a long haul. I am happy to say that I am about to hit my 1 year mark of SVR. I credit a lot of that to my firm resolve to take as much as they allowed me to take exactly when I was supposed to take it with very few exceptions.

I know that some of you will goof up. I remember tossing my cookies (vomiting) after a dose. I melted into the couch and willed myself not to get sick until 2 hours had passed. I did not want to lose my meds into the toilet if at all possible. You know how it feels.

I hope this will help you with your compliance on Hepatitis C Treatment – Dose Timing Food. Think about the 3’s. Use all your resources including your Allied Health Team and your Inner Allies. I hope that you include your best friend in the battle as a resource. You know I’m pullin’ for you. Xoxo Karen:)

My specialty pharmacy was Curascript for Telaprevir, Ribarvirin, Procrit, Promacta, and … I can’t remember them all. Nupogen? I had one other specialty pharmacy. They are the ones who ship your meds to you. They both had an on call nurse. If yours does not give you a number and you can’t figure it out – email me! ihelpc.com@gmail.com                  We’ll figure something out…

If you have problems with the injection site, call your doctor or nurse. I’ll have to write a post on that soon. Yes, I’ve been through it all and lived to tell. You will too!

These were my times and doses. I’m leaving them on the bottom of this blog. I never want to forget what a mess it was – and how the treatment Saved My Life!!

Hepatitis C Treatment Dose Timing Food

6 A.M. – Telaprevir (2) 750 mg Tablets with 12 grams of fat – see post on Telaprevir

                 Ribavirin (3) 200 mg Tablets with food

2 P.M. –  Telaprevir (2) 750 mg Tablets with 12 grams of fat – another post on Telaprevir

6 P.M. – Ribavirin (2) with food

10 P.M. – Telaprevir (2) 750 mg Tablets with 12 grams of fat

Friday was Dart Night and I injected 180 ml of peginterferon alfa-2A – Pegasys

telaprevir-handout  If you hold control key and click it gives you a handy dandy paper to print!