Hey Wolf,

Been there, done that. Walked into the bathroom one day to take my meds, got distracted and walked out 20 minutes later not knowing if I'd taken them or not. Damn brain fog! LOL.

Anyways, the next day I went to the drugstore and purchased a pill organizer like this one. Save my ass. I fill it up every Saturday. When I finish treatment I will ceremoniously set it on fire in the back yard.

http://www.forgettingthepill.com/products/push-button-4xday-weekly-pill-organizer

Good luck,
Bob

why did they add the victrelis? my husband is about to start week 5 tomorrow... but has to reduce injection from 180 to 135 due to effects... not sure how that changes overall.. but curious about the victrelis if you don't mind. out of the me and the husand i am the bat sh*t crazy one!

i'm still trying understand the effects.... because it is evident things get foggy.. but i don't know if i am overanalyzing...

You're lucky you haven't had worse sx so far wolf. I didn't do victrellis i did triple w/incivek, which you take the 1st 3 mos, instead of later. There have been a few here that did the victrellis. It's no worse than incivek, maybe even a bit easier.

You definately should get the pill organizer that MrO mentioned. mine was provided to me 1st time I did treatment 3 yrs ago. I also take other meds. Two I keep by my bed, one btwn 1 & 3am and the other one around 6am. The hcv meds, bloodpresser, & pm pantaprazole were in the organizer. Mine had am & pm. Don't rely on memory.... and you can set your cell phone alarm to help too.

hey wolf i hear victrellis has less side effects than incivek...i'd say roll w/the flow and stick around here for questions and support....u a warrior u can do this....amen

Pill box pill box pill box!! You don't want to skip or take extra. You will sometimes forget if u took ur pills a minute ago for certain. It's crazy. Your brain works weird on interferon plus all the other stuff. Ugh. Memories. A pill box and you'll thank yourself later. Wish I used it but going to the store to bother with getting one seemed like a huge hassle at the time.

Also pill alarms on ur phone or watch are essential. I had 3-4 alarms going off daily. Yes it's maddening -- the whole experience was a bit maddening.

Victrelis seems to worsen anemia but the sides appear less than Incivek from what I've read in my almost 1 year here. I only did peg/riba for 32 and can't believe I just wrote "only." It was not pleasant by any means.

The HCV meds will not be forever. It just feels like that for a long time. Hope it goes relatively smooth for you.

CAZ is pleased you are doing well brother

What they said!!. Even though yourve been ok so far if you havn't already got a pill box get PLEASE PLEASE get one or two if necessary. I also used a visual chart on a blackboard in my kitchen, my partner could check if I'd checked it off and I was only on Riba and interferon!! (and I forgot at least 3 times). Over time, the memory And don't forget to drink lots of water :-)

woops that should read: over time the memory does get worse, and so does your typing ... :-) but no matter what you can always come on here and we'll understand. Good luck wolf1

Hi Wic, Be prepared to be TIRED! I managed to work the whole time i was treating. I did triple with Victrellis 48 weeks< Am now SVR after 3 months! It is a lot to keep up with at times but if I can anyone can! Do get yourself a pill organizer it will be easier. This is how it was for me, Was very tired, muscle aches, low grade fever,BRAIN FOG to death!(which I still have!) I slept most of the time i wasn't working. Also found was very grumpy. Doc put me on lexapro and that took the edge off. Alkl that being said I believe that the Incivek is the worse of the two. It seems more intense for a shorter time!
When all this is gone it will have been worth it.

If I can help,let me know!
Bill

Thanks everyone, I will be sure to get pill case that covers all my time frames for taking the pills. I just hope it doesn't make me too much more tired because it seems that's all I want to do now is sleep.

Good morning.
Allow yourself to rest, sleep, lay on the couch as much as you need to.
Your body is in a major battle right now. Since I did tx before, going into it this time I pre-warned my friends not to expect much socializing from me, and I told myself that this year was more or less a write off in alot of ways, but the future would be a different story. I knew I would be depressed, tired, & feel like crap. Knowing it seems to help. Keep saying, 'this too shall pass'.

I said that to one family member and a few friends too about my tx year being a write-off. Well most of it anyway knowing subsequent years would be way better. Anyway it was that for my pre-tx life as I knew it. Sure made me an even tougher mofo.

Wolf

I year ago tomorrow I finished 40 weeks of triple with Vic. Successfully finished, and am SVR

Over the previous decade I failed twice with INF and Riba, so the Vic was the super ingredient. However, the first two times I didn't get anemia, but this time i most definitely did

People say its the Inf or Riba that makes you anemic, but for me it was the Vic. But it's also what cured me

The protocol for Vic is very different from Incivek. For Vic you take 4 weeks of Inf + Riba, then add Vic for the duration of the treatment, 36-48 weeks depending on your history

So it's a pain in the ass (in my case literally) taking so many pills every day, but unlike Incivek you don't get the major body rash side effect Also Incivek requires 20g of fat with each dose, Vic just needs a snack

Get the pill box, and also set the alarm on your phone for the mid day Vic pills. They need to be taken every 8 hrs, with very little leeway.

No one does tx for fun, curing hcv, with today's technology, requires some ugly drugs. Pretty soon thatll change, but in the meantime drink a lot of water and don't plan on any marathons