Yes, unfortunately anemia is a fairly common side effect. Sorry to hear it is affecting you so badly. It almost made me want to quit, but I'm slogging through.

I know there are studies out there about the effects of reducing Riba, but I don't have them readily available. If memory serves me correctly, it does not drastically reduce your chances.

Perhaps someone else can chime in.

Bob

I didn't take interferon, but the Riba made me very anemic. They reduced my dosage after the first couple of weeks. I've been off it since January, and I'm just now getting back to a low normal range. I'm still undetectable, so in my case it did not affect the outcome of my tx. Good luck!

I am on the triple tx and have become anemic...if your numbers become too low there are injections they can give you. I have low white and low red blood cells. They mentioned Neupogen and procrit. I think it may be a kinda last resort type thing, as they haven't reduced my meds at all. It sucks feeling this way, though :(

I'm on three drugs including Riba but no Interferon and got anemic (and shortness of breath).

They redeuced my Riba from 1200 mg day (6 caps) to 600 (3 caps). My HGB has slowly risen over 2-3 weeks. My doctor assures me that it is overtoxcity and reducing the dose does NOT effect outcomes.

As for Procrit, I asked my doc. He said that was old thinking when they believed reducing dose would effect outcomes. But current thinking is reduce and not use procrit.

As soon as my HGB is back to 11, I will go up to 800 mgh/day 4 pills.

Good luck.

Ahhh, our tx is different, I do the riba-pak 2 a day, one is 600 and the other 400. Also do the pegasys and victrellis. I certainly don't want the shots, I think I am glowing in the dark now! LOL Sometimes you just must trust your doctor and go with his recommendations. If he says it doesn't hurt the chance of success, then it won't. I mean, why would they give you bad info anyway?

I was on a dose reduction for riba -from 1200 to 800, for the last 3 months of my 30 weeks of tx (along with interferon and incivek). My doc shared research that the dose reduction does not adversely impact the outcome. I had one transfusion, when my hemoglobin dropped to 7.9. My doc offered another at one point and I declined. There is a positive relationship between anemia and positive treatment outcome. My doc says they are treating anemia much more with dose reduction these days, rather than adding in procrit or other injections. He said the research shows the dose reduction is as effective, with less risks.... You need to get used to a slower pace though, while anemic. Rest, relax, be gentle with yourself.

I did triple w/incivek & became very anemic. Procrit didn't help, dose reduction did. I stayed on reduced peg & riba for quite a while, till end of treatment. Was undetectable, and will do 6 month ck in July.

Anemia is tough. You just have to go with the flow, listen to your body, don't try to be superman . . rest as much as you can. I used to have to mentally stop everything & take deep breaths several times a day. When I walked up my stairs to apt I was totally out of breath & had to sit for a while to be able to breathe normally.

Hang in there - it won't last forever.

Almost everyone gets very anemic. My HGB got down to 9.1.

Most docs cut the Ribavirin dose first, and that usually helps quite a bit. I went from 3 pills twice a day, to taking 3 in the morning at 2 at night; a pretty small reduction. That and a weekly Epogen shot helped keep my HGB between 9.5 - 10...still not great, but at least it wasn't continuing to drop.

Studies have shown that a Riba reduction does not seem to affect your treatment outcome too much, but I have seen nothing on what happens if you reduce Interferon.

I'm not a physician, but your doctor might consider some Epogen/Procrit shots to help boost your red blood cell count, before thinking about adjusting your Interferon. I think you need to take as much of these drugs as you can tolerate, to have the best chance at a successful treatment.

Wiccan - UPDATE

3 week on reduced deoese and my HGB is back up to NORMAL and I am going back up from 600 mg to 800. I surpassed the goal of 11 HGb and am now 12.3!! Hang in there. It will happen on dose reduction and you'll be fine!

Wiccan - UPDATE!

in about 3 weeks on reduced dose my HGB level is back up. I exceeded the 11 required and am now 12.3. SDo my dose has been upped to 8i00mg.

Hang in there, It WILL happen!

I have been anemic for most of treatment. My doc tried to lower my dosages a few times, but I said no. Seeing how bad I feel now I don't think that was the best decision on my part. I have since reduced my meds, but too little too late.