Ribavirin and anemia

Common Questions and Answers about Ribavirin and anemia

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1838299 tn?1403492543 No, the anemia from HCV therapy is distinct from say, iron-deficient anemia. Ribavirin causes ‘hemolytic anemia’; red blood cells are destroyed more rapidly than they can be replaced by your body. This occurs naturally anyway; normally they have a lifespan of roughly 100 days, but the HCV drugs hasten this process. Other forms of anemia occur on the other end of spectrum; red cells aren’t produced rapidly enough, for instance.
Avatar f tn I pretty much sailed thru the first 6 weeks or so and then began to see a reduction in my Hmg. (Anemia). It never did go below 10 and began to level out weeks 10-12. Some people don't have significant reductions, while others crash early on. There's no telling which path you'll take but they do have reductions or rescue meds to get you thru. Either way it goes for you it is so worth the couple of months of treatment to finally be cured.
Avatar n tn Nonetheless, the new drugs (Incivek or Victrelis) still must be given in conjunction with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Thus, anemia from Hepatitis C treatment remains a prominent concern. About Anemia Anemia develops from abnormally low levels of red blood cells or hemoglobin. Severe anemia means that a person's blood cannot carry enough oxygen to meet the needs of the body's tissues.
Avatar f tn I think the main one that I can isolate to the Riba is the total body dryness and the itching/rash. After just a day and a half without it (and everything else) I am much less thirsty. The rash and itching still persist, though.
446474 tn?1446347682 The addition of boceprevir to peginterferon/ribavirin is associated with more anemia than is seen with peginterferon and ribavirin alone.[Boceprevir PI] This can be managed with ribavirin dose reduction and, if required, erythropoietin, with no apparent loss in treatment efficacy. The additional decrease in hemoglobin seen with use of boceprevir is approximately 1 g/mL over that seen with peginterferon and ribavirin alone. Anemia resolves with discontinuation of boceprevir.
Avatar f tn Thallasemia and hcv treament with ribavirin is a tough situation. A few people here have also faced the issue. Some have relied on intermittant transfusions along with EPO with mixed results. Don't throw in the towel quite yet. If you advising doc is not very expereince with HCV treament you might try to find one that is and have him team up with a hematologist to approach the issue. You also might look into this for further research: http://www.hivandhepatitis.
Avatar m tn 10 g/dL while treating for 24 weeks and The most common adverse events (≥ 20%) for SOVALDI + ribavirin combination therapy were Fatigue and Headache. NOT anemia. Anemia was the 6th most common side effect after Insomnia and then Pruritus (itching). To learn more about Sovaldi/Ribavirin treatment read the label to learn about treatment and common side effect from treatment or consult with your hepatology NP. Sovaldi label can be found here. http://www.gilead.
1995824 tn?1330379049 The updated AASLD guidelines refer clinicians to the drugs’ labeling, or detailed package insert, for information on managing side effects, although the guidelines authors do provide their own guidance on managing anemia. Anemia is a common side effect from ribavirin and the HCV protease inhibitors. During hepatitis C treatment, if anemia develops, people are either treated with a red blood cell growth factor, such as Procrit (erythropoietin), or given a lower dose of ribavirin.
Avatar n tn From what I have always heard the priority is reduce ribavirin 1st, Procrit 2nd and transfusion last. But it is up to the doctor and his experience. Has the Procrit helped at all? Of course it will take time for the reduced dosage of ribavirin to take effect. Hang in there! I hope that can get back up soon!
Avatar m tn Do you know any tx for anemia caused by ribavirin other than 1) procrit or 2) greatly reducing ribavirin intake for patients on telaprevir, with pegasys, and ribavirin that will increase hemoglobin levels?
315737 tn?1407298997 Riba is not the cause of fatigue. The side effects of peg and rib is anemia and neutropenia. Low RBC and low WBC. Anemia bigger cause of fatigue. If your neutrophil count is low you have very high risk of infections. Stay clean and away from people with colds etc.
683231 tn?1467323017 For those who have taken riba in the past and experienced anemia on treatment do you remember about how long it took for your anemia to resolve and HGB and related blood counts to return to normal levels? Thanks!
Avatar f tn t have the blood test results yet but the doctor thought I looked pretty bad and showed signs of anemia. I am on week 12 with incivek so no surprise there. She is sending me to a hematologist to get on procrit. I did some quick googles on procrit and the risk and sides seem a bit scary. Any advice? Any questions I should ask?
Avatar f tn 24 Because the duration of BOC therapy (24 to 44 weeks) is longer than the duration of TVR therapy (12 weeks), the frequency of anemia is likely to be greater in BOC-containing regimens, leading to more RBV dose reductions and consideration of erythropoietin use. However, the potential benefits of erythropoietin must be weighed against its potential side effects, the fact that its use in HCV therapy is not approved by the FDA, and its considerable cost. https://www.aasld.
Avatar f tn Have any of you seen the new study out of Johns Hopkins regarding comparing the two Pegs? Apparently they also looked at lowering the dose of ribavirin (and interferon) when anemia occurs and found that actually improved the success rate of SVR when compared to people who toughed it out and stayed with the same dose. I was floored when I read this and wish I knew enough to know just how good this study really is. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Sulkowski.
Avatar m tn Hepatitis C Small studies have indicated that hematopoietic growth factors may be useful in treating anemia associated with interferon and ribavirin therapy in patients with hepatitis C. Additional information regarding standardized dosing administration and frequency are needed. There are two randomized controlled trials and two open-label trials evaluating epoetin alfa in patients being treated with interferon and ribavirin.
Avatar f tn Food enhances the oral absorption and bioavailability of ribavirin. Administration of a single oral dose of ribavirin following a high-fat meal delayed absorption (Tmax was doubled) but increased the mean peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) by up to 70% compared to administration in the fasting state. MANAGEMENT: To ensure maximal oral absorption, ribavirin should be administered with or immediately after a meal.
Avatar m tn The data from the Sovaldi clinical trials (Data from the NEUTRINO, FISSION, POSITRON, FUSION and VALENCE trials) showed that reducing the Ribavirin dose MAKES NO DIFFERENCE in the rate of SVR for genotypes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 patients. Here are the trial results...and you can read the full report online.
Avatar f tn Was an early responder and SVR for next 6 months but then developed severe anemia. Was hospitalized 5 days and doctors reduced ribavirin dosage to 2 am and 2 pm(instead of 3 in the pm). Two or three weeks after I got out of hospital the virus returned." It is the last one on this thread: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/diet-on-incivek/show/1547942#post_8273344 ________________ This could require tweaking and others might have better more clinically productive ideas.
Avatar n tn I had anemia that was procrit dependent going into treatment - anemia of unknown or chronic disease (possibly an auto-immune hemolytic anemia as it turns out). I did treat with ribavirin and interferon, and I had a lot of difficulties with anemia. Early on, I began taking 40,000 units of procrit (well, epogen in my case) twice a week. It really didn't touch the anemia. I had blood transfusions every 10 to 14 days while treating and I had a successful treatment and I am now SVR.
5045042 tn?1365890100 ​If a patient has a serious adverse reaction potentially related to peginterferon alfa and/or ribavirin, the peginterferon alfa and/or ribavirin dose should be reduced or discontinued. Refer to the peginterferon alfa and ribavirin Package Inserts for additional information about how to reduce and/or discontinue the peginterferon alfa and/or ribavirin dose http://www.drugs.com/pro/victrelis.
Avatar f tn I was a multiple treatment failure with cirrhosis. I did develop anemia from ribavirin and had to dose reduce from 1200 mg/day to 1000mg then toughed it out til the end. Ten days after I completed treatment my anemia had resolved but with others it can take longer. I still often feel tired but I attribute that to my liver cirrhosis.
Avatar f tn Researchers also found that in the third of study participants whose ribavirin dosage was reduced as a result of anemia, cure rates actually improved to as high as 52 percent, whereas in those whose ribavirin dose stayed the same, cure rates were lower, at 37 percent.
Avatar m tn My question is this-I have gotten anemia each time I took peg interferon and ribavirin.Once by themselves and another time with incivek.I am scared that I could get bounced from this trial because of becoming anemic.Does the ribavirin without the peg interferon possibly lower my chances of getting anemic.Does anybody have any experience of having been anemic in the past from treatments and went on to a new treatment that included ribo but no peg and didn't have any anemic problems?
Avatar m tn hi my hubby was on triple tx and his count went to 9 i think anemia is all part and parcel of the tx hubbys hep doc just gave him some folic acid and told him to eat more greens and red meat not good advice when no appetite but we did find that once he finished with the incivek his count improved enough not to reduce the riba dose. Good luck with rest of tx. Take care and hang in there worst part nearly over!