hi guys,

like me many here, I took mine approximately 12 hours apart give or take an hour or 2. My nurse explained that it is important to take it with food, so I took the am dose with breakfast and the pm dose about an hour after dinner, with a snack :) 

Hey Tig,

Yeah , I have stayed at 12 hour intervals and will continue to do so.

Gonna look for better ginger soda at whole foods... Apparently Canada Dry has little real ginger... so no more of that.

dm

Hey DM,

I'm glad you got the opportunity to talk to one of the nurses. All I can add is that when I was on treatment, it was beaten into my head that I needed to do what I could to keep the Riba administration as close to 12 hour intervals as possible. It was so important to me that I destroy this thing, I followed orders as closely as possible. I mentioned before that there were times I (we) took it +/- 1 hour from that 12 hour interval. Sometimes it wasn't possible, but we all do our best to stay compliant because it's vital to success.

I think if there was a glaring problem with the ginger, she would've known it. I haven't heard a problem with it personally, I just know the advice to stay away from all supplements during treatment. They make some good quality ginger drinks and I think you can find them in the health food stores. Perhaps that might be another option. Ginger Ale helped me at times, but I also ended up having to take Zofran because I experience terrible nausea at times. It did get easier to deal with as treatment progressed however. I think there's simply a lot of adjusting involved.

Just spoke with the Abbvie nurse on the  phone.

Basically she said repeated what was on the literature that accompanies the meds.  AM and PM with food.

I was trying to find out if there is a time interval necessary between the doses.  Apparently it doesn't matter much.  I am going to keep 12 hours between doses.

With my pm dose at 1AM and my am dose at 1PM.  Hopefully this will let me feel halfway decent during working hours.  The nurse agreed that there had to be adjustments , for instance if you work a grave yard shift, etc.

She also said the let my doc know , although I doubt he will be concerned as apparently I am his only patient on Viekira and he prefers Harvoni... well duh!

ps - I also asked her about the ginger and she didn't have an opinion on that one way or the other.  I have discontinued it for the past 3 days and am doing all right, although I still have light queasiness.... although not near as bad as the 2nd and 3rd week. 

dm

thanks bubble!

same with me... the pm dose dose  not bother me at all.. thats why I am trying to make it the dose that preceeds most of my work day.

dm

I took mine at breakfast and diner. Yes, do add food again during dosage. Usually noonish was when I got fatigued. The evening dose did not effect me at all. You do get used to the time it comes on so you know what to expect during the day. All in all, treatment was well tolerated. Watch the sun exposure . It will multiply the sx.

thanks penny!

dm

Hi DM,

Our doc said to take our viekira/riba 8 hours apart, as close to the same time as possible, and always with a meal.  We shoot for meals at 9am and 5pm, and the meds during the middle or at the end of the meal.  We just finished week 2, and that schedule is working out pretty good for us.  Our sx have been minimal so far.  And lots of water. 

Penny

Thanks Tig,

Will call Abbvie patient care on Monday.

dm

DM,

I can only give you my thoughts on it, but not having taken V Pak, one of those on the V Train can advise. My thoughts on the Ribavirin though, are that you need to try and keep the admin times 12 hours apart if possible. We all spaced it out a hour either way sometimes, but not taking it when the alarm sounds, invites forgetting. The 12 hour schedule provides the most consistent blood levels. Just my opinion of course.

I would check with Abbvie on taking the Ginger supplement. It may be totally harmless, but it is included in some antacids and other supplement combinations. If there is even a remote possibility of it affecting the action of or absorption of your meds, you need to find out. Abbvie can tell you. The rule of thumb for treatment, is to abstain from all supplements. 

Hey all,

Just wondering what times you take your meds.  I was taking mine exactly 12 hours apart , but then realized it didn't have to be 12 hours.  Just am and pm.

I have been carefully monitoring how I felt after dosage and found that the worst I felt was an hour through 5 hours after taking my a.m. , 3 riba dose.  And the best I feel is 5-6 hours after the pm dose with only 2 ribas.  Course I know I could swap the riba around , with 3 on the pm dose and 2 on the am dose.

Anyway, at this time I am slowly moving my dose time points where I have the least discomfort during working hours.  The only issues I have had are nervousness and occasional queasiness. I have no problem sleeping at all.

I am shooting to take my pm dose at 12 midnight and my am dose at 2:30 pm.  That way I will be on the strongest part of my medicine at home, not at work.

Of course I will let my doc know.

 I have also found that eating most of a big meal , take pills, and then finish up with a few finishing bites of meal works best for me.  I also take a ginger capsule before the dosing meal.

thoughts and times you take your meds would be appreciated.

dm