Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 Mike, I have not really changed my diet since finding out about the active status of my Hep-c. I stay away from alcohol, eat lots of venison and very little beef, also eat fish and chicken but never fried. I take milk thistle(maximum) Vit B complex,A,C,Calcium,Spirilodactone for mild elevated blood pressure and prosac. Quite the list, but any or all of these may be helping me have minimal sides, I don't really know. minimal side effects > Dear , > > Glad to hear you are coping well. Yes it is true mostly you hear problems > with sides on this list. for the same reason when you go to a doctor's > office almost everyone there is sick. If they weren't sick they wouldn't be > there. Part of the function of a support group is when someone is having a > hard time, they have an outlet, a group that understands what they are > going thru and they can vent to that group. The ones not having a hard time > don't need to vent so you don't hear them. This can give a disportionate > picture to someone who is just trying to gather info, which is another > function of the group. So it is great to hear from someone like yourself > occasionally, to give balance and hope to those chosing whether to start > treatment or not. And the peg combo is supposed to be a little less sides, > which is why many chose to wait for it, so nice to hear that that may > indeed be true. > > I would be curious if you feel it is just luck of the genetic pool that has > blessed you with minimal sides, or are you doing something specific to help > minimize them. Like I have always heard that drinking lots of water is very > good for minimizing sides, like that. My own specific interest would be > what types of fats are you consuming, if that is not too out of line or > personal a question to ask. By which I mean saturated, monounsaturated, > polyunsaturated, or transfats, and if you are supplementing omega 3s. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 Mike, I have not really changed my diet since finding out about the active status of my Hep-c. I stay away from alcohol, eat lots of venison and very little beef, also eat fish and chicken but never fried. I take milk thistle(maximum) Vit B complex,A,C,Calcium,Spirilodactone for mild elevated blood pressure and prosac. Quite the list, but any or all of these may be helping me have minimal sides, I don't really know. minimal side effects > Dear , > > Glad to hear you are coping well. Yes it is true mostly you hear problems > with sides on this list. for the same reason when you go to a doctor's > office almost everyone there is sick. If they weren't sick they wouldn't be > there. Part of the function of a support group is when someone is having a > hard time, they have an outlet, a group that understands what they are > going thru and they can vent to that group. The ones not having a hard time > don't need to vent so you don't hear them. This can give a disportionate > picture to someone who is just trying to gather info, which is another > function of the group. So it is great to hear from someone like yourself > occasionally, to give balance and hope to those chosing whether to start > treatment or not. And the peg combo is supposed to be a little less sides, > which is why many chose to wait for it, so nice to hear that that may > indeed be true. > > I would be curious if you feel it is just luck of the genetic pool that has > blessed you with minimal sides, or are you doing something specific to help > minimize them. Like I have always heard that drinking lots of water is very > good for minimizing sides, like that. My own specific interest would be > what types of fats are you consuming, if that is not too out of line or > personal a question to ask. By which I mean saturated, monounsaturated, > polyunsaturated, or transfats, and if you are supplementing omega 3s. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 Dear , Glad to hear you are coping well. Yes it is true mostly you hear problems with sides on this list. for the same reason when you go to a doctor's office almost everyone there is sick. If they weren't sick they wouldn't be there. Part of the function of a support group is when someone is having a hard time, they have an outlet, a group that understands what they are going thru and they can vent to that group. The ones not having a hard time don't need to vent so you don't hear them. This can give a disportionate picture to someone who is just trying to gather info, which is another function of the group. So it is great to hear from someone like yourself occasionally, to give balance and hope to those chosing whether to start treatment or not. And the peg combo is supposed to be a little less sides, which is why many chose to wait for it, so nice to hear that that may indeed be true. I would be curious if you feel it is just luck of the genetic pool that has blessed you with minimal sides, or are you doing something specific to help minimize them. Like I have always heard that drinking lots of water is very good for minimizing sides, like that. My own specific interest would be what types of fats are you consuming, if that is not too out of line or personal a question to ask. By which I mean saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, or transfats, and if you are supplementing omega 3s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 > Message: 4 > Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 08:50:39 -0500 > From: " Fox " <fox@...> > Subject: Re: minimal side effects > > Mike, I have not really changed my diet since finding out about the > active status of my Hep-c. I stay away from alcohol, eat lots of venison and > very little beef, also eat fish and chicken but never fried. I take milk > thistle(maximum) Vit B complex,A,C,Calcium,Spirilodactone for mild elevated > blood pressure and prosac. Quite the list, but any or all of these may be > helping me have minimal sides, I don't really know. Assuming you are getting some cold water fish, that is a good source of omega 3s, and avoiding fried foods and junk foods (?) would mean you are avoiding most transfats. Being a vegetarian, I may be speaking out of my depth, but I believe that the venison is a leaner meat than most red meats, and certainly a cleaner source for meat, not pumped up with hormones and antibiotics. Also, it may be safe to assume that you are acostumned to getting more excercise acquiring the venison than someone might get from stalking Mcs :-) Wouldn't it be interesting if the blood pressure medicine actually had a BENEFICIAL interaction? Now there is a study that will never be done :-) Well, " if it ain't broke don't fix it " aside, might I make a couple of suggestions? I would add a little alpha lipoic acid to your regimen, it is an excellent antioxident recycler and stimulates production of glutathione, amongst other things, and generally been found to be excellent for the liver. The other thing would be some vit E, as there is some preliminery evidence that it delays the onset of hemolytic anemia, which is a long term side effect of the ribavarin. From: Highlights in Liver Disease: News Service 10/7/99 Anti-Oxidant Vitamins Delay Ribavirin-Related Anemia in Patients on Combination Therapy Patients on combination therapy who took the antioxidant vitamins C and E delayed the onset of anemia. Hemolytic anemia is a serious side effect of combination therapy, attributable to the ribavirin component in the combination. This complication necessitates a reduction in the ribavirin dose for about 15% of all patients, according to Piken, M.D., Director of Research at South Bay Gastroenterology in Torrance, California. " Patients become anemic: they feel short of breath, become weaker, are unable to do their normal workload, " Dr. Piken says. One hypothesis is that ribavirin accumulates in red blood cells. " The red cells, because of the medications, are under what's called an oxidative stress, and the red cells break down at an earlier point in their life cycle. " To investigate a solution to this problem, Dr. Piken enrolled 12 previously untreated HCV patients in a study to look at the effects of antioxidant vitamins on anemia. Patients received 1,200 milligrams of ribavirin daily along with 3 million units of interferon alfa-2b three times a week. They also took two common over the counter vitamins daily-1000 milligrams of vitamin C and 800 IU(internatinal nits) of vitamin E. " We chose them because they have essentially no side effects, and many people are already taking them, " Dr. Piken says. Results were compared to a control group of 14 relapse patients who received combo therapy without any antioxidants. According to Dr. Piken, patients receiving the antioxidants show an initial benefit from the vitamins but that benefit declined by the end of three months of treatment. The antioxidants " appear to delay the onset and severity of the anemia, and patients receiving antioxidants do not require (ribavirin) dose reductions, compared to 22% of the people in the control group, " he says. Dr. Piken says the results merit further research. " We plan to run a larger study and also are currently making a decision on which type of antioxidant to use, " he says. " We would like to use more bio-available and perhaps stronger antioxidants. The forms of the vitamins, particularly C, could be improved to a more bio-avaiable vitamin C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 > Message: 4 > Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 08:50:39 -0500 > From: " Fox " <fox@...> > Subject: Re: minimal side effects > > Mike, I have not really changed my diet since finding out about the > active status of my Hep-c. I stay away from alcohol, eat lots of venison and > very little beef, also eat fish and chicken but never fried. I take milk > thistle(maximum) Vit B complex,A,C,Calcium,Spirilodactone for mild elevated > blood pressure and prosac. Quite the list, but any or all of these may be > helping me have minimal sides, I don't really know. Assuming you are getting some cold water fish, that is a good source of omega 3s, and avoiding fried foods and junk foods (?) would mean you are avoiding most transfats. Being a vegetarian, I may be speaking out of my depth, but I believe that the venison is a leaner meat than most red meats, and certainly a cleaner source for meat, not pumped up with hormones and antibiotics. Also, it may be safe to assume that you are acostumned to getting more excercise acquiring the venison than someone might get from stalking Mcs :-) Wouldn't it be interesting if the blood pressure medicine actually had a BENEFICIAL interaction? Now there is a study that will never be done :-) Well, " if it ain't broke don't fix it " aside, might I make a couple of suggestions? I would add a little alpha lipoic acid to your regimen, it is an excellent antioxident recycler and stimulates production of glutathione, amongst other things, and generally been found to be excellent for the liver. The other thing would be some vit E, as there is some preliminery evidence that it delays the onset of hemolytic anemia, which is a long term side effect of the ribavarin. From: Highlights in Liver Disease: News Service 10/7/99 Anti-Oxidant Vitamins Delay Ribavirin-Related Anemia in Patients on Combination Therapy Patients on combination therapy who took the antioxidant vitamins C and E delayed the onset of anemia. Hemolytic anemia is a serious side effect of combination therapy, attributable to the ribavirin component in the combination. This complication necessitates a reduction in the ribavirin dose for about 15% of all patients, according to Piken, M.D., Director of Research at South Bay Gastroenterology in Torrance, California. " Patients become anemic: they feel short of breath, become weaker, are unable to do their normal workload, " Dr. Piken says. One hypothesis is that ribavirin accumulates in red blood cells. " The red cells, because of the medications, are under what's called an oxidative stress, and the red cells break down at an earlier point in their life cycle. " To investigate a solution to this problem, Dr. Piken enrolled 12 previously untreated HCV patients in a study to look at the effects of antioxidant vitamins on anemia. Patients received 1,200 milligrams of ribavirin daily along with 3 million units of interferon alfa-2b three times a week. They also took two common over the counter vitamins daily-1000 milligrams of vitamin C and 800 IU(internatinal nits) of vitamin E. " We chose them because they have essentially no side effects, and many people are already taking them, " Dr. Piken says. Results were compared to a control group of 14 relapse patients who received combo therapy without any antioxidants. According to Dr. Piken, patients receiving the antioxidants show an initial benefit from the vitamins but that benefit declined by the end of three months of treatment. The antioxidants " appear to delay the onset and severity of the anemia, and patients receiving antioxidants do not require (ribavirin) dose reductions, compared to 22% of the people in the control group, " he says. Dr. Piken says the results merit further research. " We plan to run a larger study and also are currently making a decision on which type of antioxidant to use, " he says. " We would like to use more bio-available and perhaps stronger antioxidants. The forms of the vitamins, particularly C, could be improved to a more bio-avaiable vitamin C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Before taking spironolactone, tell your doctor if you · have kidney disease; · have liver disease; · have diabetes mellitus; · have high levels of potassium in your blood; or · are taking a potassium supplement or an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACE inhibitor) such as captopril (Capoten), benazepril (Lotensin), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), enalapril (Vasotec), or others. Incidentally, out of curiousity I checked out your blood pressure medicine and am noting this instruction. It is probably not a problem, especially if it is the same doctor involved with both your conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Before taking spironolactone, tell your doctor if you · have kidney disease; · have liver disease; · have diabetes mellitus; · have high levels of potassium in your blood; or · are taking a potassium supplement or an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACE inhibitor) such as captopril (Capoten), benazepril (Lotensin), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), enalapril (Vasotec), or others. Incidentally, out of curiousity I checked out your blood pressure medicine and am noting this instruction. It is probably not a problem, especially if it is the same doctor involved with both your conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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