TOPIC:

Been a vegetarian, not a vegan, for 40 years.....fish 2/3 times a week. Never have taken any
supplements or vitamins until dx with HCV in 2007. Started to take milk thistle. Ran
into chlorcyclizine a few years later. Can't tell if they helped, but maybe they
impeded/retarded the virus.

Bottom line is.... a well balanced diet helps the body regardless what ails it. Didn't need
B12 with a balanced diet.

IMO, people should change their dietary lifestyle regardless if they have HCV or not.
H2O, sleep, little or no sugar, little or no alcohol, etc should be a life long endeavor....
not just when you are on HCV meds.

Fitz, Dr Freeman was thinking about conducting a study using it.

P

Thanks for clarifying RHF ... I really did understand where you were coming from on your original post, just found that, the referenced materials you directed us to only served to make me eager to learn even more. Gregs blog was very informative. Thank you for sharing it.
I agree, caution, when entertaining any form of self treatment is a good thing and I totally respect you for pointing it out for not only for yourself, but for me as well.

Matt
P.S. See what I mean RHF! (Note the above post by Price) (happened while I was writing) Apparently I'm not alone in my eagerness to learn more.

Gaj wrote: *and be aware that the therapeutic dosage may differ from what is appropriate for use as an antihistamine.

Dr F was thinking about using it so I asked Dr Dieterich if perhaps adding chlorcyclizine to DAAs could maybe increase success rate and would a dose of 75 mg at bedtime be enough in his opinion and he said....

"While there is good invitro data there does not yet seem to be any human data for this so there is no dosage information or drug interaction data. So an abundance of caution would lead me to not recommend it yet. Good luck with it!"

So I asked him if he thought a dose of 75mg would be enough and he said yes and to let him know how it went.

P.

So much for caution eh Price?? That was hilarious. I love the way you steered the conversation and the Doctors final word. Ha! Can I get a referral

Matt

Theoretically, it seems to me if 75mg over 24 hours is the therapeutic dose. Dosing 25mg every 8 hours, would keep the dosage at therapeutic levels, and avoid peaks and troughs in serum levels which might allow the virus some wiggle room during the trough phase.

Also, if the medication acts to keep virus from entering cells to replicate (as it has been proven to do in studies of human liver cells transplanted into mice, and also human liver cells in vitro), its role is prophylactic, sort of locking the little buggers down until they die on their own, and/or allowing the DAAs catch them where they live and nuke the shit out of them.

I suppose an analogy would be barring all the entrances and exits to a structure full of HCV, nuking it with DAAs, and then quarantining the survivors where they reside, and laying siege until any survivors simply die off.

If HCV lives outside the body for ~60 days (presumably because that is as long as it can survive without replicating), then it seems that if it is unable to replicate within the body, that ~60 days would be the minimum period to treat with chlorcyclizine, and that twice that would be prudent.

All of this of course is the theory of a layman patient with HCV - so really just thinking out loud, and not in any way intended to be anything beyond pure conjecture.

Well, I am on other antihistamines at the moment, so where can you get these ones? !

I ordered a couple of boxes from Amazon yesterday (runny nose). The manufacturer has a website. I'll send you that link by PM.

I know it is a lay man conjecture but it makes sense. I am just not clear how the dosing is . If it is drowsing than a different one should be taken during the day. I actually like the idea of taking them at night but not being dizzy during the day. In any case I think your find is brilliant.

Amusingly, I'm on the UK version already me
I was recommended these while on treatment by a clever Dr. for my sinusitis .
Shows how much info I've taken in of late has affected my poor pea - sized brain - Brain overload!
Laughing away at myself as I type

Hah! You are our surprise test subject, LG. Has the top of your head blown off in a spectacular shower of sparks yet, or are the antihistamines doing their job well enough?

BTW the brand name here in the US is AHIST. What is the UK brand for Chlorcyclizine?

All in one piece so far fitz and they stop the itchy finger
They're called Cetirizine Hydrochloride and available at the first pharmacy I went to.
For some reason, they sold them in packs of 7 tabs only, but extremely cheap.
I hadn't heard of them until recently.

EDIT : Sorry folks, Just read Gaj's post below, I did a search on the original name and the above mentioned ones came up for the UK, but it seems the above is incorrect - Shame and sorry for the mis info.

Meg - My understanding is that the therapeutic dose is 75mg, per 24 hour period. The recommended dosage per the label distributes that 75mg dose in three portions - one 25mg dose every 8 hours.

For me a huge plus is that safety is already well established with the putative therapeutic dose of 75mg for a 24 hour period for Hep C, because it is the same 75mg per 24 hour dose for a runny nose, or an itchy rash, and the medication has been in use for the latter purposes for ~ 60 years.

Either way, because none of the studies for efficacy of Chlorcyclizine against Hep C have been conducted in human subjects, we don't really know if the medication will work as well in people as it does in human liver cells transplanted into mice, or human liver cells tested outside of the body 'in vitro'.

But, if it turns out to work as well in our bodies as it does 'in vitro' and in human liver cells in mice (and that is a big 'IF')], we potentially have another fantastic, and affordable weapon in our arsenal against this horrible disease!

That would be brilliant!

Hey fitz,
Great find on Amazon! I'll be looking for the brand you posted. Thanks for sharing it and your thoughts. I am confident that the product is safe to take and I like the breakdown of dosage idea. That was my thinking too Can't hurt to try, right?

Your fellow "lay person "

Matt

Hi all,

Please note that Cetirizine Hydrochloride and Chlorcyclizine are not the same drug even though they are both antihistamines. They may be reasonably interchangeable for sinusitis but probably not for HCV treatment.