RO5024048 Side Effects Reconsidered
As I have mentioned before in this post, I believe I received the study drug at the beginning of treatment. My viral load dropped log 3.6 or so during the first week of the drug trial, which is almost unheard of on the standard of care. I have yet to drop a full log number from the peak viral load after my viral breakthrough 5 weeks ago now that I am on Standard of Care treatment. This just reinforces my belief that I was given RO5024048. That said, I do not know either how long I received the study drug, nor the size of the dose I received. I could have received 500 mg for 12 weeks, 1000 mg for 12 weeks, or 1000 mg for 8 weeks. In any case, I believe I received the polymerase viagra cialis online pharmacy pharmacy for either the first 8 weeks or the first 12 weeks of the study. Looking at the list of side effects from the drugs involved I can draw some conclusions about the variation in them as the study went on. Nausea: seems about the same throughout the study, mild but occasionally intrusive Vomiting: only happened once Diarrhea: definitely more serious at the beginning of the study and gradually disappeared as the study went on Abdominal Pain: is more noticeable in the past 8 weeks Anorexia: I don’t believe I had it Dysgeusia: Didn’t notice it until about 8 weeks into treatment Dry Mouth & Dyspepsia: consistently present throughout treatment Anemia: seems worse now that I am on standard of care Neutropenia: set in about 8 weeks into the study and has been consistently present since Fatigue: seems a bit better since I have been on only interferon and Ribavirin Chills: present the first several weeks of the trial has disappeared since Fever: cyclic with the interferon injection schedule throughout the trial Muscle Pain: intermittently present throughout treatment up to the present, also a general feeling of muscle weakness and fatigue after exertion Joint Pain: present during the first few months of the trial not present now Headache: present throughout the trial, more intense early in the trial and during the past 5 weeks Rash: Never a big problem, but more noticeable during the first few months Dizziness: only when taking some of the ancillary drugs Anxiety: peaked during weeks 12-18 Depression: peaked during weeks 10-18 Insomnia: consistently present throughout treatment Irritability: very irritable early in the trial, became a problem again in weeks 12-18, not a problem since introduction of antidepressants Throat Pain: have not had any Injection Site Redness: has not appeared at any time Sinus Congestion: tends to occur during the first 4 or 5 days after each interferon injection Alopecia: Hair loss consistent through first 20 weeks of treatment, has moderated since Blurred Vision: not specifically noticed, but my close focusing ability deteriorated immediately at the start of the trial and the deterioration has remained Eye Pain: have consistently had eye pain. It tends to happen when attempting to focus on something relatively close to my eyes. Generally moderates when I relax my eyes and my focus Blood Sugar Problems: none Back Pain: tightness occurs within a few days of every interferon injection Laryngitis: none Sore Throat: has occurred intermittently since the start treatment Loss of Concentration: As the treatment progressed, my ability to concentrate noticeably declined at about 2:30 every day Confusion: my short term memory has declined noticeably since the start of treatment Liver Problems: I developed a hypothyroid condition starting at about week 10 As I look over the list of side effects I notice only a few that seem like they could be directly related to the RO5024048. Diarrhea is something that was only a problem during the time I was on the test drug. Chills have not really happened since the first 8 weeks either. Fatigue seems to have been amplified a bit by the polymerase inhibitor. Joint pain also seemed to disappear after the first 8-10 weeks of the trial. The rash problem was never more than an annoyance and was more extensive during the first 8 weeks. Irritability was definitely high at the beginning of the trial and has moderated since them, particularly since taking the antidepressants. The vision change happened right away, but I also noticed that there was a bit of change to it when I went back on full interferon doses 5 weeks ago. Most of these are also side effects of the interferon and Ribavirin so the fact that they have moderated over time might just be that my body acclimated to the drugs. If I had to make the call, I would say that diarrhea, joint pain fatigue and rash were all either caused by or intensified by the RO5024048. It seems that the polymerase inhibitor is an easier to tolerate drug that the protease inhibitors such as Telaprevir and Boceprevir. The research coordinators I talked to all said that the Telaprevir study they had run had been much harder on the patients in terms of side effects (especially rash) than the RO5024048. Given that it seems to hit the virus like the blitzkrieg hit Poland and that it appears to have a more moderate level of side effects than some of the other new drugs, RO5024048 seems to have a bright future fighting Hepatitis C. | Other posts: | |||||
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