Hep C Discussion Forum

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

RE: MAVYRET Ziggy Starting in April 2018

Canuck · Guru

Ziggy!

Huge congrats on a splendid finish for your 8 weeks of Mav biggrin , your EOT bloods tomorrow will be perfect - bet ya a million bucks so, after such a stupendous correction of your labs at week 4!

You have done so well!, and will just continue to do so, with your EOT+12 week SVR bloods coming up in Sept as well.

So nice you are done, done done and cured, cured, cured! Sleep well tonight my dear and eat whatever you want or don't want tomorrow! Keep up with the water for a bit though, that is a good habit anyway. biggrin C.

5-1-18 · Guru

yay ziggy , such happy news today, thanks for letting us know

5

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Well, today is my last day I took treatment.

8 weeks of Mavyret which I started on April 11th, 2018 and today is June 5th, 2018.

My viral load was undetected after the 4th week of treatment.

I have a doctors apt tomorrow to congratulate me on finishing and to take another lab to check blood work. Then again in Sept to see if I am cured.

I will post the results next week.

I completed this treatment with no side effects. No headaches, no nausea. Plenty of water.

I did however notice a very mildness of itchy skin...very mild, less during the second month of treatment. And also, periodically, a flash of a tightness, numbness, tingleness in the face.

So glad I don't have to make full blown out breakfasts at 9:30 in the morning anymore. I can not eat till I'm hungry now and lose all this weigh I put on. YAY.

Plus....It's been 2 months without a cigg. That's a miracle.

I'll post next week with dr apt and blood work results.

YIPPIE, I DONE.

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Wednesday 6th of June 2018 01:11:04 AM

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Good Morning,

I have the next three days off from work. Getting ready to make my breakfast of the day and take my first three MAVYRET pills of this first new ride journey of my first Hep C treatment ever. Drinking my ice water already.

This was not the way I wanted to do my spring fever. lol

I'll keep you all posted.

BTW: This is a continuation thread from my first one in NEW MEMBERS. For some reason I can't post the link.

Ziggy

4-11-18

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Wednesday 11th of April 2018 11:49:27 AM

Canuck · Guru

My fav, I have peanutbutter 'N jelly almost EV-ER-Y day. Must be a kid thing. Make my own jelly, all kinds!

Yer doing good girl, Keep pullin'. smile C.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

Well, I guess I've been doing the right thing then. Ill just loose the weight this summer when I go do parking crew at my music festivals... biggrin

You guys rock!

Guess what I'm having for breakfast with my pills tomorrow morning? PEANUT BUTTER and JELLY sandwiches. lol..... biggrin

lamassu · Senior Member

Two tablespoons of peanut butter (32 g) contain 15 grams fat. Who doesn't like peanut butter? It would seem a convenient low carb solution.

Tig · Admin

Hey Ziggy,

The advice and recommendations are sound. Some medications, these in particular, have been shown to be better absorbed when consumed with a higher fat meal. As Scruffy said, the old drug Incivek required it to be taken with 20grams of fat 4X daily. By the end of that course of care, people could barely choke down the fat and pills required to succeed. Look up Incivek here on the forum, it’s an eye opener for a Stephen King novel.

I suggest find a few things you really enjoy, that has some additional fat to it and switch them up several times a week. I suggest a Dairy Queen gift card with your name on it, lol! There are some suggestions in our nutrition section that you can drink, if food doesnt appeal to you. There are several smoothies that might help.

Hang in there Warrior! You’re getting closer with each day. It’s absolutely worth it!

Scruffy · Guru

Hiya Zig

Way back when I was treating one of my meds had to be taken with 20grams of fat. It was noted during the study that people with a higher fat diet responded better. Seemed like the fat delivered more of the med to the liver.

I had to make sure I consumed 20grams of fat four times a day with that med (one of three meds). So may I suggest maybe those little Jimmy Deans sausage biscuits at 9:30 am. Or a little high fat Ice cream with your coffee biggrin

Good luck to you

Keep your eye on the prize

Scruffy

Canuck · Guru

Hey Zig,

See page 1 of monograph - says take with food - (this is good advice just based on the principal that you may find this "easier" on your stomache), but with further reading you may note about how a "moderate fat containing meal" may be best and important for full absorbtion of the drugs - I think we spoke of this before. https://www.rxabbvie.com/pdf/mavyret_pi.pdf

You have been doing the right thing, as the priority is consistent time of day dosing, "with food" (not just a drink and a piece of fruit) and definitely not on an empty stomache (as per monograph and as per you mentioning some gastic symptoms even with food) - it's not to be taken on a empty stomache, nor does it insist you take it with a 7 course meal - just a "moderate fat content meal" will do (and of course lots of water all day long). wink C.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

Well guys...5th week Mayvret done. 2 more weeks to go.

Although I have noticed some late night heartburn with this shipment, which I didn't have with the first box of 4 week shipment.

Also...I have gained some weight here within the last 2 months due to eating food at 930am so I can take my pills. This is irritating. I never eat at this time of day but I chose it due to consistency. It is the most consistent time for me...on the way to work with breakfast. Normally I don't really eat food until lunch...but lunch is always different times. Oh well...too late now. QUESTION: When it says take with food...does it mean a full blown out breakfast or can I just take the pills with a banana and my chai tea on the way to work every morn??? I have been eating breakfast out, doing the buffets at the local cafes, etc... The pounds have been put on. Hope I can take them off for bathing suit spring fever time. lol

All in all..so far so good. How are you guys doing. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Friday 25th of May 2018 01:34:32 AM

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Friday 25th of May 2018 01:35:33 AM

5-1-18 · Guru

Ziggy65 wrote:
Canuk...
Which one is the Ferritin? What is ferritin?
Nothing is beat yet hun. I still have to be tested in June then again in Sept. I wonder... Can it still come back after that?

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Monday 21st of May 2018 12:26:05 AM

since we deserve to be cured we should be biggrin . these bug bombs are good for what ailed us

Observer · Guru

such encouraging numbers!!!

yay

-- Edited by Observer on Monday 21st of May 2018 04:22:44 AM

Canuck · Guru

Serum iron is tied to ferritin levels. You have probably had various "genetic" blood tests to rule out "genetically caused" hemochromatosis, as well as bloods tests looking more solely at your iron levels. You would have likely had many or some of these tests (repeatedly) ... look in your records for previously abnormal results under RBC's, such as hgb, platelets (they may have been a bit high too, but maybe not), look for serum iron, ferritin, TIBC (stands for either Total Iron Binding Capacity or Transferrin Iron Binding Capacity), UIBC, transferrin or transferrin saturation. (Some labs have competely dif categories/areas where they group or provide these results, so you would have to have a read through your labs to find them. They don't just look at iron or ferritin alone when investigating you - your old labs in sig. line indicated pre-treatment "ferritin 360" (which wasn't too, too bad) and "high iron". To investigate you further I am sure they did some of these other tests as well. The good news is that your current labs (which you indicated ALL were within normal limits! smile ), iron level normal at 132 and iron saturation normal at 37%, would indicate you are not having this iron overload problem anymore!

Some of my pre-treatment TIBC saturation levels ranged quite widely, up to 65-80% range, my hgb was fairly high, and I had some other funny RBC morphology, aside from high ferritin levels - they all quite quickly normalized after cure - these iron load abberations CAN just happen simply in response to your liver not being able to function properly while you are having HCV, but they generally rule out other genetic causes, and follow the iron load to ensure it does return to proper levels/balance again.

Bet ya a million bucks your iron load worries are over now. C.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

Canuk...

Which one is the Ferritin? What is ferritin?

Nothing is beat yet hun. I still have to be tested in June then again in Sept. I wonder... Can it still come back after that?

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Monday 21st of May 2018 12:26:05 AM

SeeTheLight · Senior Member

Good One Ziggy! Love to see these positive results, not just in getting rid of this thing but general health as well. I'm Day 18 Epclusa and can't wait. So nice to hear your good news. Your doing great.

Tig · Admin

Congrats Ziggy! Never in doubt, but confirmation is golden! Keep doing what you’re doing and those great drugs won’t let you down. Those are fantastic results smile

Canuck · Guru

ah, the sweet, sweet delight of success! Worth everything.

Your ferritin is about what mine is now! That came down so very quickly for you! - I am glad for that, just like I am SO happy (for you) that you got to see such profound lab improvements (all round) SO quickly! My pre-treatment ferritin level was bothering me too (among all the other abnormal labs that were bothering me!), but my ferritin (post-treatment) did come down and normalized, probably all of it's own accord, I tried some tactics to try NOT accumulate any more iron into my system (cause I had a spell to go, from the time my pre-treatment ferritin was disovered high, to when i would get HCV treatment) so i just adopted a new diet and kept it up pre-treatment, through treatment and then post-treatment, until my ferritin finally started to come down. No idea if anything I did had any actual great effect, or if simpy being cured of HCV allowed nature to right things. I figure my diet did not harm, and the cure can take 100% of the credit.

I can imagine you have been doing a little dancing and clicking heels. Enjoy these milestones, knowing you got it beat. Feels great doesn't it, a relief to know all is working. (Stupendously for you too!)

Lovely to hear you news today! You are right, it IS all simply amazing. Good, good news. smile C.

5-1-18 · Guru

yay!! so happy for you biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

OMG You guys... I have such GREAT NEWS for ya all.

First, My blood work from May 9th has come back which was exactly 4 weeks of Mavyret treatment.

The virus is UNDETECTED in my body. Plus, EVERYTHING else is in NORMAL RANGE. biggrin Amazing. The new miracle Hep C drug treatments are on the rise for sure. I just feel bad for the ones whom it's not working for. furious I am so sorry.

They thought for sure that I had Hemochromatosis due to the MRI results and have referred me to a Liver doctor from Stanford. But, the blood work states it's all negative. Awesome news for me. Man, Hep C really ****s up and effects everything in your body!

If you view my biography you can view my older blood work results, the week before I started treatment.

~

Here are my results now after 4 weeks treatment:

ALT 24

AST 14

Iron Level 132

Iron Saturation 37%

Hemochromatosis - All Negative

Chemistry - All Normal

Coagulation - All Normal

Immunology - NOT DETECTED

Hematology - All normal except for: Auto Eosinophil Percent 11.2 H (This is always high. They think it's allergies?)

The Auto Eosinophil Percent is the ONLY thing that was high, abnormal, in red, out of wac on my blood work. AMAZING!

My ALT & AST have never been in the normal range for the 10 years since I knew I had HEP C.

~

So, let's hope that in Sept when they do the 3 months after treatment blood work that everything stays normal. I am still concerned about what long term side effects this medication may have, but not having Hep C may be worth the risk.

I have 3 more weeks to go and I am done.

robertsamx: My avatar is my cat that I had for 15 years named Ziggy. He was part Siamese and non of the vets could tell me what the other half was.

Special Thanks to: Tig, RLS, Canuck. Hey Canuck, where are you chicky?

Anything else you guys want to know just ask. Is there something I am missing in my update? Any other questions? Ask away. biggrin

Thanks for the birthday wishes guys.

Ziggy

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Thursday 17th of May 2018 11:54:47 AM

robertsamx · Guru

Ziggy, Happy BD. And is that a RAGDOLL in your avatar?? RC

Tig · Admin

Happy Birthday to both Ziggy and RLS! It’s a great day for Dragon slaying celebrations. I hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday 2U

RLS · Member

Happy birthday Ziggy! Hope it's a great day. Tomorrow too for your appointment

Tig · Admin

If you think 50 is bad, wait til you hit 60. Each new decade brings on it‘s own set of new delights! I pine for the days when I thought I was bullet proof, those 20 something years. wink

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Hey Tigs,

Yeah, that's old news now.

When I cold turkey'd ciggs and Chantix at the same time... it was not good. It was very hard on me. I began to have a small rash on my face. I thought it was an allergic reaction to quitting the Chantix cold turkey, so I went to the emergency room. It was a very minor rash and you could not even see it. Only I knew it was there. I had a patch of bumps under my skin on my cheek. I was diagnosed with the probability of THE BEGINNING of Shingles. No, I have never had that before. I got it before it became an official diagnosis. It never even got to the stage where it hurt. Everyone says it's painful?

Anyway, This was the week before I started my first dose of Mavyert. When I went to my Hep C Doctor with my fed ex box of first month supply of Mayvert, she didn't even care that I had the shingles. I wanted to postpone the Mavyret till the Shingles went away entirely.

It was in this thread... https://hepcfriends.activeboard.com/t64382599/greetings-im-new/ (Greetings, I'm New) thread.

I'll be back after May 9th to post my 4 WEEK CELEBRATION test results.

YIPPIE..

Canuck · Guru

Hey,

First I heard you had an outbreak of shingles! Oh dear. So when did that start and are you still having it? I knew about the skin itchiness, (as a seperate item, and how the itchiness did not really have a rash to go with it to speak of) and you mentioned you were coping with that itchiness OK, but I had no idea you had a shingles outbreak! How bad was this shingles episode, where was it, and how do you know (for sure) it WAS shingles, have you had shingle outbreaks before? Did you diagnose yourself (as having shingles) or did you see any doc about this bout of shingles?? Did you happen to mention it, or show it to the ER doc, or was the back pain the priority that was being dealt with?

Man, you are TOO hard on yourself girl! Too much physical work and you are paying for it big time now - so sorry about that, you did get a small cornucopia of drugs from that ER doc, so I am glad you went to the ER - trust his judgement that it was compatible with MAV. Ya, I'll say that's rare, for an ER doc to call you to follow up - nice guy!

Just make sure you drink extra water to help keep flushing all the drugs (and extra drugs) out of your body. Too bad you had such a "number" happened to your back and that you have to go back to work tomorrow! Wish you had some further rest/recoup/repair time for your back.

The shingles IS an important item to mention to your hep doc when you see him, (if he was not already aware of your shingles outbreak) I am sure he will make a note of it. I am assuming and hoping the shingles is resolved or is resolving now? If not, show it to some doc!

aw, kitties, I miss mine too, she was 18. aww C.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Hey guys,

Sorry, I have been distant. Been going on with life.

Doing GREAT on Mavyret no side effects.

My 4th week appointment is May 9th, the day after my birthday. (Good guess on the date Canuk). I will wait until then to post my MRI results and new bloodwork results after next week.

Just wanted you to know that I have had a rough couple of months. First the shingles brake out from all the stress from cold turkey the ciggs and Chantix at the same time. Then, my back went out, pulled ligament or muscle in lower back. Muscles spasms? Today was the second day out of bed after being in bed for a week due to not being able to walk. I think it's from all the yard work I have been doing. I rototillered with the small mantis roto tiller by myself last week, been lifting and re potting heavy plants from the winter, I weed eated the whole back yard by myself, raking, etc. You get the picture. I must of did something to my back. Boy, I tell ya... you realize what we take for granted when we can't walk. I feel for people whom have back issues all the time.

Anyway, was in the emergency room all day and wanted to tell you what they gave me. They gave me a shot in the butt of an anti inflammatory called, Tramadol and a Norco 10 and sent me home with a IB Profen 600 perscription. Emergency doctor said it was okay with the Mavyert. Just wanted to check with you guys as well. Also, can I use a back pain patch called, Lidodern Lidocaine Patch 5% while being on Mavyret? Tomorrow is my first day back to work and I'm still kind of hunched over like an old lady. But at least I can get out of bed and cook in the kitchen now or go to the bathroom without screaming... furious

Can you believe the emergency room doctor called me the next day to see how I was doing ???!!! THEY NEVER DO THAT. It was wonderful that he did that and told him so as well.

I normally have no health issues like this. Why is all of this happening? Sheesh... You turn 50 and everything hits you at once?

So that is my update. Next week I'll have results for ya. I am doing AWESOME with the Mavyret. Just some itchy skin but nothing else. It's wonderful. Other than the hurting my back freak incident I am feeling great and not even that tired and fatigue like I use to be all the time.

I haven't smoked a cigg in over a month. I guess I can officially say that I have quit smoking. WOW. Amazing.

PS: My new avatar is my cat ZIGGY that lived to be 15 years old. He was the love of my life. I had to put him down a few years ago. Now, you know where my name Ziggy came from. biggrin biggrin

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Saturday 5th of May 2018 11:49:14 PM

Tig · Admin

Hey Ziggy,

What did you find out regarding the MRI last week? Fill us in when you have time.

Canuck · Guru

Yay Ziggy,

Glad all is going quite well, and glad your MRI is getting done. Good you are lined up to see the doc after ths MRI (this will be at about the 2 week-ish mark of your treatment), so maybe he will have you draw bloods as well? Or, maybe he will draw bloods at the 4 week mark, about May 9? We'll see.

Good you keep us posted. smile C.

Tig · Admin

Let us know what you find out, Ziggy. Happy to hear you’re doing well with the Mav. Good luck with the tests! smile

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Going for my liver MRI today and then follow up with Hep C Dr after.

Other than that everything is fine and no side effects noticed from Mavyret other than the itchy skin.

I'll keep ya all posted.

Zig

Canuck · Guru

Glad you doing great. Glad the itch is no biggy. : )

Yesterday, I mentioned the "monograph" in relation to "sides".

Also (when you first arrived here), we were trying to guide you around a bit, and put this in a very early post to you - just so you could suss whatever drug you happened to get (below, from that post, this link was an area where drug info (and monographs) are found, ie for Mav, etc. As well, there should have been a monograph that came WITH your drugs, or, at least an abbreviated version of a monograph (package insert).

... If you want to explore drugs, try the "search" function button above ... just type in a drug name (or subject) and you will pull up many different informational threads. Or, just go to ... Hep C News ... where you will find monographs for "Epclusa" or "Mavyret" for example ...

Reading the FULL monograph, with all it's technical info, is where you might find the "lower" incidence of "sides" (that are common across many of the new Daa's) and as well you can compare one DAA regime against another (should you wish to), to see that Mav has slightly less incidences of certain sides than other DAAs. smile C.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

This is something I found re: Mav Side Effects and figured my itching skin was from Mav. Trying to find the original site I got this from.

No biggy. Doing great.

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Monday 16th of April 2018 09:49:10 PM

Canuck · Guru

Blue poo! Where have you two been! Never heard of such a thing! (blood blood, maybe). OH Tig yer such a teaser. But ... now that we are on the fun topic of poo, and colors, well ... there IS such a thing a red, yellow, green, beige, brown, black and white poo (although ... technically, white and black aren't colors, are they?) hee hee ... oh my, I am wasting typing here (but I'm havin' fun!). Just ask me and Jaggles all about white poo, we could tell ya horror stories!

Well, it kinda sounds like the "energy" drink might have been a wee bit too energizing alright. Interesting product! (as a pick-me-ups go) if hours later, you are still up on the toilet! Oh dear. (..."pick me ups go"... is that a pun)? hee hee

Really, it's NOT funny or fun (what happened to you last night), I hate getting rid of objectionable items via either end of my digestive system like that. I would try to put up with just about any amount of impending feelings of up-chucking, than to actually up-chuck! With diarrhea though, there can be less choice in the matter.

Glad to NOT hear of any further episodes of it today. Whew, hope that was the end of it for you.

It can be noted that Mav and many of DAA's can cause some (I think - most often initial and transient) GI symptoms, Mav seems to boast a lesser incidence of this than some of the other DAA's. In the monograph.

Itchy skin? - lukewarm bathing, not hot water, less bathing, minimal soap use (and skin care products), use only the gentlest variety of product, if you have to use any, aveeno/oatmeal based things are sometimes helpful, if it continues bothersome, you could try some calomile lotion on your skin.

Hey, hey! alllll-most one week done! biggrin C.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

Hey Tigs,

OH WAIT, I GET IT. You were just making it up.

Forgive ME, cause I am a dork !!!!!

I thought it was something I was unaware of and that there really was something as blue diarrhea.

lol too funny.

Thank you for all your support !!!!!!!!!!

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Sunday 15th of April 2018 10:16:01 PM

Tig · Admin

Hey Ziggy,

I told you my humor wasn’t very good! I was trying to bring a laugh to your clearly bad evening last night. You said:

”OMG....It's 2:30am and I just had an outburst of a major, all of the sudden, out if the blue, diarrhea attack”

Forgive me!

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Canuck

I'm not worried about the Big Train Vanilla Chai Tea. biggrin I only drink it the 4 days I go to work instead of coffee. biggrin

What I am more worried about was the vitamin drink I had that (I believe) gave me an episode of diarrhea last night. evileye I had run to Costco on my lunch brake at work and one of the freebie snack demonstrator ladies gave me a whole bottle of http://www.zipfizz.com/ just because I had listened to her whole speech. I told her I had been drinking a whole gallon of water today and it was nice to drink something else that tasted like koolaid. I have never been known to drink this kind of stuff before, but assumed it was healthy due to vitamins and etc... in it??? I am assuming this is what gave me my Niagara Falls outburst of diarrhea in the wee hours of last night and into this morning. What ever it was, my body rebuked it. First I thought it was a side effect of Mavyret. Well, will I ever Know? I just know it was not fun. I think it was the vitamin drink. NEVER AGAIN will I eat or drink something I don't know what it is while I am on Mavyret. lol

Tig

I have NO IDEA what blue diarrhea is. I think you misunderstood me. I meant that the diarrhea attack came at me out of the blue sky. With no warning. Not, that it was the "color" blue. lol. I have never heard of that before. What is it? confuse

The only side effect so far I think I am having is minor itchy skin.

I check back in soon. Almost done with my first week. WOW !!!

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Sunday 15th of April 2018 10:10:37 PM

Tig · Admin

OMG, Ziggy! Blue diarrhea in the middle of the night must’ve been terrible... Even normal diarrhea at 2:30 am isn’t much fun! wink

I hope you’re back on track and feeling better today. How did work go? As Canuck mentioned, it’s not uncommon to have an initial adjustment period as you system adjusts to the new medication. That should happen quickly and if the meds were the cause of the blue goose syndrome, it should ease up soon. Excuse the blue humor, see, there I go again!

Keep up the hydration, especially now. Good luck, Warrior, you’re on your way!

Canuck · Guru

Nah, I don't think it will be some kind of "regular" event (due to the Mav). An "outburst", such as yours, may just be a one-off bit-o-bad luck, caused by who knows? But rule out all the likely things - such as this "vit" drink you had? If that is what is sticking out in your mind as a suspect culprit or a "likely" .. but it could be anything! Food(s), or anything you have taken in to you. Review everything you have eaten/drunk/consumed today, to make sure nothing was "off" or something you have never had before. Perhaps you have just consumed something that did not agree with your digestive tract and you are probably near rid of it now. Hopefully it has all passed, or will very quickly. Mild diet tomorrow, no spicey, bland, soft, applesauce, rice, toast, porrige, cooked soft mild foods. Don't let yourself get dehydrated, make up for the water loss from the diarrhea first, gently, and then pick up where you left off and continue with your regular water intake in a regular sippy ongoing fashion all day long.

What heck was in this "vitamin drink"?? Are you on vitamins or supplements?? Are you making exotic vit smoothies or something? I wouldn't for now, and if you are partaking of supplements in some way, you better check it out with the doc first. Just a regular good diet is all that is really required (as far as i know) for you for the next couple months. Maybe save for (as I mentioned on your first thread) perhaps not loading yourself up with too much iron content foods (given your mild iron load).

Now having said that, (I hate to suggest it) but "rule out" that you are not coming down with an ordinary unlucky stomache bug - that can happen to anyone! doesn't really sound like it, if you are not really feeling unwell otherwise. This bout will probably just pass.

All the anti-virals do have the ablity to create "some" gastro-intestinal effects, some people never notice a single thing that way, some do experience some GI complaints, nausea and such, if it happens it is often just an early passing thing, a few here have had a bout of runs, or loose bowels, or just softer bowel movements for a bit, but with almost ALL who did, they only had a passing period of it, short-lived, perhaps occurring for most mostly in the initial (beginning period) of the therapy - this too will pass! IF it is the Mav that is caused a small intial revolt in your bowel - look at it this way, Mav has just announced to your virus - "now I've got you"! If it is sign of Mav, then it is a good sign, it's a brief victory war flag being waved by Mav heralding the beginning of the end of your virus.

Lamassu - maybe your doc had more to do with you getting Mav than you think (maybe). 12 weeks of epclusa is more costly than 8 weeks of Mav (for one thing) when considering insurance, and, with you being a GT2 perhaps doc (and insurance) felt epclusa was quite suitable for you as a GT2a/c, just like Mav might have been deemed quite suitable or more appropriate for Zig as a GT1b (even though both drug regimes are quite "pan"). Your docs and insurance may have considered each of your certain individual nuances (your parameters, taken into account).

Hope all is finished for tomorrow Zig, that you didn't loose out on any of your quota of sleep with your bathroom need, and don't feel too "washed-out" in the AM. Get re-hydrated, and continue to hydrate and feed yourself carefully tomorrow, and all should soon be better. smile C.

-- Edited by Canuck on Monday 16th of April 2018 02:46:22 AM

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

OMG....It's 2:30am and I just had an outburst of a major, all of the sudden, out if the blue, diarrhea attack.

It may have been something I drank today that had vitamins in it. But, hoping its not a regular side effect of Mav and something I am going to be dealing with on a daily basis.

Yikes... Got to go to work in the morn.... Night all.

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Canuk:

Wow, you really went out of your way just to answer my little tea question. I am glad you guys are here to answer my little noob questions. Thank you. You Rock.

lamassu:

I assume that is good news about Epclusa? How are you doing? Looks like you may be done soon? Hope all is well.

...

Today is my 4th day on Mav and so far so good. No headaches or nausea. I have a bit of itchy skin but there are no rashes nor evidence of any skin irritation. Minor so far. Also, today I am very tired but I think that's cause it was my first day back to work since I started the treatment. I was on my feet all day plus, I had to train a new employee. I feel very tired tonight.

I will come back soon to update more. Have a great rest of your weekend everyone.

Ziggy

lamassu · Senior Member

My Medicare advantage plan would not pay for Mavyret but did for Epclusa.

Canuck · Guru

If it is just one large chai tea per day, then I can't see what the harm would be - so, I tried to google up what ingredients (really) comprize chai teas, and (of course) there are SO many variations! Healthy (most are thought) some not so healthy (if they use lots of commercially convenient chemical based things to create them). But the individual natural ingredients they list in a lot of the chai teas (from spices to coconut milks, etc.), do not sound harmful, rather they exclaim about the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties these teas supposedly boast! And less caffeine than coffee.

There is no easy way to answer whether a simple chai tea could interact with your drugs, I think not. But if you were worried then just simply separate the drug away from the tea by hours. I would think that no matter how "powerful" the anti-inflammatory effects of a simple chai tea might brag of, I could'nt imagine how many you would have to consume to be reflected in your ALT!

Just thinking out loud, as I couldn't give a firm answer, except, for that I think chances are that chai teas would not interfere with anything.

YOU ARE amazing - with these "days" - 3 days on Mav! biggrin and 16 days with out a cig! biggrin Yay! C. Good on the water - water helps everything. wink

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Day three and doing GREAT!!! No side effects as of yet.

Been drinking a gallon of water, but today might end up being (almost) a gallon.

Tomorrow is my first day back to work. I'm working part time Sats thru Tues.

Gonna be different and more difficult to eat full meals at 930am on the way to work. Been cooking a full breakfast my last three days off. But this is the most consistent time for me to eat everyday.

Can we drink Chai Tea while on Mav? I don't drink coffee but do get my Chai every morn on the way to work. Just wondering. I know I posted this question somewheres else but cant find what thread.

16 days I have not smoked a cigg and kind of freaking out over that, in a good way I guess. eeeekkkkkkkk....

Have a great weekend all.....It's my Monday.

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Friday 13th of April 2018 11:29:58 PM

Canuck · Guru

Hey Zig,

How goes it today! All good I hope. Good on you for the water consumption efforts! mm chia tea! smile

Another link for you: https://www.fibrometer.com/images/fibrometer/Interpr%C3%A9tation_FicheResultat_Virus_ENG.pdf

I am glad you stated today that you think you did NOT have a fibroscan, that has been something I have been wondering about ever since you first posted your F2 status, I was trying to ascertain whether you HAD had a fibroscan, way back in a March 22 post, where I was asking IF your F2 was deduced by blood test OR fibroscan, but then, when you posted your labs a couple days ago I could at least see that you DID have named a "FibroMeter" test - so, that's good to know now, that you did NOT additionally have a fibroscan. That answers my curiosity. If you are not familiar with fibroscans, they are easy to do.

I had been guessing that you have probably been looking around and reading threads on the site here - especially all of the other Mav-takers threads here, but that's great that you know about the search button - it's a handy tool alright.

Glad you clarified it will be an 8 week course - I did note you mentioned that length of course, a couple times, but did not know for sure whether your doc might have left it open to possibly change it up to 12 weeks, or not. SOT Apr 11 makes your EOT Jun 6 - so, nice and short and sweet your Mav will be! biggrin

What dates did you get booked for your first, and ongoing on-treatment blood draws? C.

Tig · Admin

WOOHOO!! Good luck, Zigs! Onward to victory....

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

8 weeks. biggrin

Canuck · Guru

Oh what a lovely mornin'! A nice new "spring" day to start your Mav. smile Good choice!, if you decided to take your Mav with breakfast, if (as you said) breakfast is your most convenient, consistant, reliable, repeatable time of day to take your dose! Everyone is dif, we had one lady say she prefered to take it in the evening, there are thousands of folk out there who are taking Mav, and everyone should just choose their best time of day to take it, based on what suits them, AND in being able to continue taking it at the same time every day with a meal - so you have chosen wisely.

I chose my time of day dosing (just like you) based on the priority of same reliable time every day with a meal, that just happened to be lunch, as breakfast and suppers we very unreliable for me.

Hey nice you have a few days off, celebrate your day one! - take a little walk out in the fresh air, have a bubble bath, catch up on some good book or movie you have been wanting to - treat/reward and soothe yourself, for all your hard work getting here, to this good day!

So, IS it 8 weeks for sure, or 12?

Cheers. wink C.

Image result for glass of water

-- Edited by Canuck on Wednesday 11th of April 2018 05:14:33 PM

Ziggy65 · Veteran Member

...

Good Morning,

I have the next three days off from work. Getting ready to make my breakfast of the day and take my first three MAVYRET pills of this first new ride journey of my first Hep C treatment ever. Drinking my ice water already.

This was not the way I wanted to do my spring fever. lol

I'll keep you all posted.

Ziggy

4-11-18

-- Edited by Ziggy65 on Wednesday 11th of April 2018 11:49:27 AM

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