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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Hepatitis / January 2009Ribasphere
Have any of you been given Ribasphere (generic for Ribavirin) as opposed to Ribavirin. Is there any difference between the two? I started my treatment with one pharmacy and switched to my insurance's pharmacy because of the cost. The new pharmacy is giving me Ribasphere and are very reluctant to give me the name brand Ribavirin or they do not offer it. I heard that Ribasphere at one time were offering huge discounts to pharmacies to carry their brand. Thanks for your help, Rusty >Have any of you been given Ribasphere (generic for Ribavirin) as >opposed to Ribavirin. Is there any difference between the two? [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >Rusty Ribasphere is Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals brand of Ribavirin. It is the exact same drug as the other branded Ribavirins (including Roche's Copegus and Schering's Rebetol, among others). Three Rivers is essentially a generic drug producer. Without such companies we'd all be subject to the "tender mercies" of companies with defacto monopolies. fwiw: If you haven't read the Product Information Sheet that should accompany each order of Ribasphere, you should know that Ribavirin uptake is significantly enhanced (like in the +60% range) when taken with fatty foods. Thus you should always eat some high-fat food when you take your pills - even if it's just a banana, a scoop of ice cream, or a piece of toast slathered with peanut butter... Cheers /greyhackles On Jan 23, 2:05 pm, laroche...@gmail.com wrote: > Have any of you been given Ribasphere (generic for Ribavirin) as > opposed to Ribavirin. Is there any difference between the two? [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Rusty FWIW, I have a free 28 day supply of CoPegasys ( http://www.rocheusa.com/products/copegus/pi.pdf )--an unopened bottle of 168 200mg tabs of ribavirin. Let me know if you have need. > On Jan 23, 2:05 pm, laroche...@gmail.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > FWIW, I have a free 28 day supply of CoPegasys (http://www.rocheusa.com/products/copegus/pi.pdf)--an unopened bottle > of 168 200mg tabs of ribavirin. Let me know if you have need. > > On Jan 23, 2:05 pm, laroche...@gmail.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Grey and TX, Thanks for your help. I have insurance so I do not need the meds TX. Hopefully you find someone that really needs it. After I had changed pharmacies my VL went from 22,000 to 29,000 at my 15th week. Before, when I was taking "Ribavirin" my count went down steadily. So I don't want to take any chances and I'm going back the ribavirin instead of Ribasphere. Doc increased my Riba from 1400 mgs to 1600 mgs. Fun stuff ;) thanks again > > > On Jan 23, 2:05 pm, laroche...@gmail.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > ribavirin instead of Ribasphere. Doc increased my Riba from 1400 mgs > to 1600 mgs. Fun stuff ;) thanks again Make sure you take with or immediately following a fatty meal or snack (or a large dose of Omega 3s, as I sometimes do) for optimal absorption of the ribavirin... And, of course, given that 1600mgs of riba is "a lot," watch out for anemia & neutropenia, and get on EPO and/or Neupogen as needed... (I needed 60,000 IU of EPO per week just to keep hemoglobin at 10.x & Neupogen twice per week for similar reasons re: white blood cells) |
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