Treatment Side Effects
The most common side effects of interferon and ribavirin include mild flu-like symptoms, muscle and joint pain, nausea, headaches, fatigue, loss of appetite, dry skin, anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Thyroid disorders may also be a side effect of interferon-based treatment, Patients should be periodically screened for thyroid function, with clinically significant abnormalities in thyroid laboratory values requiring clinical intervention.
People experiencing anxiety, irritability, or depression may be helped with mild tranquilizers or anti-depressants. Check with your doctor before taking any of these medications.
The key to managing HCV treatment-related side effects is to treat them as soon as they occur. Always report any serious side effects to your medical provider as soon as possible before they become severe.
There are many simple tips to help alleviate some of the less serious side effects of treatment including:
• Take the pegylated interferon before bedtime; this allows most people to sleep through the worst of the side effects since the majority usually occur within 4-6 hours after the injection.
• Drink plenty of fluids (without caffeine or alcohol); this helps to relieve side effects. It is especially important to drink water or clear fruit juices (apple, cranberry, or grape) right before and right after self-injection.
• Some people take an over-the counter pain reliever one hour before their injection to help relieve side effects. Others may find that taking a pain reliever 2 to 3 hours after the injection works better to relieve the pain.
• Exercise is one of the most important components of health maintenance, and this remains true during therapy. Phy-sical activity helps you stay positive and focused and improves well-being. Mod-eration is the key to physical activity. Some good choices for exercise include stretching, walking, yoga, or any activity that you enjoy.For some people, physical side effects are worse when the drug is started and may diminish over time.
The most common reason for stopping HCV therapy is anemia (low red blood cell count), thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), and neutropenia (low white blood cell count).
Predicting Response to HCV Treatment
Adherence to HCV therapy is an important factor in achieving the highest possible treatment response rates.
Treatment with interferon plus ribavirin is more likely to clear HCV if a person has a genotype other than 1.
A low HCV viral load, infection with HCV for a shorter time, mild to moderate disease, is female, has a healthy body weight and is of a younger age.
After 12 weeks of antiviral treatment, a 2-log drop in viral load or elimination of HCV predicts a successful response at the end of treatment.
These guidelines may be used to help tailor treatment or to stop treatment that is not working. However, some doctors believe that therapy should be continued, because some people still respond to therapy or experience improved liver health even if their viral load does not become undetectable or decrease by the suggested amount.
Combination drug therapy is complex discuss any concerns with a health professional.
For detailed medicine and side effects information about Hepatitis C medications the (government) Med safe website is the most comprehensive New Zealand Source
A alphabetical list of all Consumer Medicine Information here
Medsafe PEGASYS (consumer information)
Medsafe PEGATRON COMBINATION THERAPY (consumer information)
The Big Combo is about hep C. It's an engaging doco-drama which personalises the process of considering interferon ribavirin combo treatment for hepatitis C. Directed by Kathy Sport. Produced by the Hepatitis C Council of NSW. Funded by NSW Health Dept. (2007) For more hep C information, visit http://www.hepatitisc.org.au
(nine minute video) part two