question on Pegasis?

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I last wrote to the group. For those who read of me ,

I'm the one with the story about the glove wearing Aunt (future nurse) who

decided to tell everyone in my family that my mother had hep C...

Doug, I remember you were very ticked off about my story!!!

Anyway, my mother was diagnosed with genotype 2, which means 24 weeks of

treatment. She is going for a liver biopsy in 2 weeks to know at what point the

damage is. Then she starts treament. What I want to know is the Dr. told her

about 2 medecines:

INTERFERON vs PEGINTERFERON PEGETRON + RIBAVERIN?

or

PEGASIS + RIBAVERIN?

If anyone here is taking any of the above, please let me know where I can get

more info about them and what are the side effects of taking them. My mother

understands she has a fight ahead of her and she wants to know every facet of

this desease.

Please let me know.

Susie

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Roche markets the Pegasys/Copegus combo therapy and their website is:

http://www.pegasys.com/

Schering markets the Peg-intron/Rebetron combo therapy and their website

is:

http://www.peg-intron.com/

There are many other places to go. Rebetron is Schering's trade name

for ribavirin. Copegus is Roche's trade name for ribavirin. Pegasys

and Peg-intron are what are known as pegylated interferons. This means

that the interferon molecules are attached to polyethylene glycol

molecules so that the interferon stays in the body attacking the virus

longer. Thus, the injections are needed only once a week.

The most common side effects seem to be depression, insomnia, fatigue,

and loss of appetite. A lot of people do well on just an

antidepressant. My worst side effect was insomnia which my doctor

treated with mass quantities of tranquilizers and sedatives. I believe

the doctor should be willing to treat any side effects aggressively.

On the physical side, the doctor should do CBCs (complete blood counts)

regularly throughout treatment, probably weekly for the first month. He

or she will be monitoring anemia and neutropenia. Neutropenia is a

below normal level of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell.

If you have more questions, let us know!

Doug

> Hi everyone,

> It's been a while since I last wrote to the group. For those who read of me ,

I'm the one with the story about the glove wearing Aunt (future nurse) who

decided to tell everyone in my family that my mother had hep C...

> Doug, I remember you were very ticked off about my story!!!

>

> Anyway, my mother was diagnosed with genotype 2, which means 24 weeks of

treatment. She is going for a liver biopsy in 2 weeks to know at what point the

damage is. Then she starts treament. What I want to know is the Dr. told her

about 2 medecines:

> INTERFERON vs PEGINTERFERON PEGETRON + RIBAVERIN?

> or

> PEGASIS + RIBAVERIN?

> If anyone here is taking any of the above, please let me know where I can get

more info about them and what are the side effects of taking them. My mother

understands she has a fight ahead of her and she wants to know every facet of

this desease.

> Please let me know.

> Susie

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Post your free ad now! Yahoo! Canada Personals

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I think with the thrice per week dosing of Intron it was best to follow

a strict pattern but that treatment is now obsolete. With the once per

week dosing of Pegasys or Peg-Intron this is not so critical. The body

clears Pegasys or Peg-Intron some six to ten times more slowly than

Intron. I did, however, always take my Pegasys first thing Friday

morning.

Triglycerides are always present in the bloodstream. Mine were always

normal unless I happened to eat poorly. I ate an unusually large amount

of comfort food one week and my triglyceride level doubled. My blood

was kind of sludgy. That ended that binge straight away.

I'm not sure why the doctor would diagnose diabetes on the basis of a

blood test. If the glucose level in the blood is high on a regular

basis there is reason to suspect diabetes but it would require further

investigation. The liver might have something to do with the glucose

level because the liver stores a certain amount of glucose as glycogen

which is converted back to glucose when it is needed. My glucose was

always normal.

I also don't know how the doctor would diagnose a bladder infection with

a blood test. I haven't heard of any increased propensity towards an

infection because of hepatitis C but all infections should be dealt with

before the beginning of treatment. The treatment does reduce the count

of white blood cells. I did have a toenail removed while on treatment

and I had all the white blood cells I needed.

In short, I don't like that word " think. " I like certainty. However, I

don't think it unreasonable to take a wait and see approach to the

triglycerides and " diabetes " but an infection is an infection and it

should be cleared up.

Doug

> Thanks Doug,

>

> Your sites are helpful. My mother got a self-help video on Hep-C and

> they explain that you should follow a strict pattern for the shots.

> Ex: If you take it before bed, you should take it everynight before

> bed or it will loose it's effect. The video says that the shot can

> give flu symtomes, is this true?

>

> Also, it's seems that my mothers body is " freaking out " .

> In her blood test they found traces of triglycerine?, diabetes and a

> blatter infection. Her doctor thinks these are just small details due

> to the liver not processing right. Have you had other

> infections/deseases pop-up when you were diagnosed?

>

> Thanks again

>

> Susi