Hi Hopeful, it's totally fine to take vitamin B12 during treatment, here is a long post by Dr James Freeman, FixHepC's founder, and he mentions at the beginning that vitamins B12 and D (for instance) won't impact treatment in any way fixhepc.com/forum/drug-interactions/2107-supplements.html#27584

Hi Hopeful, welcome to the forum and congratulations on finally getting treated after 22 years You must be extremely excited. Sorry to hear you're having some side effects, the good news is that they usually last for the first week to 10 days only, and they are usually reduced to a large degree by drinking plenty of water, that's the most important thing to do right now.

Here are a few more recommendations to follow during treatment :

1. Take your medication at the same time every day just before or with food, as it helps with the medication absorption.
2. Try to get enough rest and eat healthy (plenty of fruits and vegetables).
3. Be careful not to take any medications that may interact with your Hep C medications. This webpage will tell you about any possible medication interactions www.hep-druginteractions.org/checker

Additionally, the 'During Treatment' section of the FAQs page fixhepc.com/frequently-asked-questions.html has some more detailed information.

Hang in there Hopeful, the side effects should subside soon, especially if you drink a lot of water as I mentioned, it will all be more than worth it at the end.

I was told by my nurse that I shouldn’t take any vitamins while on mayvret. Is this true?
I’m vegetarian, and need B12 at least.
Anyone else taking supplements during treatment?

I’m so happy to find this forum. I started treatment yesterday.
Today I feel pretty horrible.
I’m a mother of 4, full time worker, I have had genotype 3 for 22 years. I have waited half my life for this treatment, and now I’m scared that I won’t be able to function normal enough to keep up with work and kids.
Any support or info on the best ways to get through side effects are greatly appreciated !

Hello JOSIE64,

With any luck, it will pass. There are some patients who get fatigued on treatment. All the drugs are pretty clean, and Maviret seems at least as clean as average but a few people do get tired on treatment.

You may find any and all of drinking more water, vitamin D and vitamin B supplements help.

Are you due to see your doctor for a week 4 test?

On another forum I frequent the most common advice was to make sure to drink a full US gallon of water a day to combat fatigue during treatment. It really does work. I don't think the hepatologists emphasize hydration enough to patients undergoing treatment. Those of us who have been through treatment have plenty of anecdotal evidence that the full gallon of water a day really helps minimize side effects.

Hi Lisa,

You are doing well with Epclusa, these new DAAs are powerful drugs. I was one of the minority on Epclusa who experience extreme fatigue throughout treatment. I would not have been able to hold down a job. After treatment I returned to normal and almost a year later now I reached SVR24 and feel fine no problems. Best wishes!

Hi Lisa, I'm glad that most of the side effects have passed. That's typical, most patients who experience side effects do so during the first week only then start feeling a lot better. Both Propranolol and Temazepam do not interact with Epclusa, so there is no need to worry. It's great that you're eating healthy, that's important for both Hep C treatment and your health in general. Looking forward to your 4 weeks update, so far so good

Hi, Josie 64,
I was 8 weeks on Maviret and I can relate to your symptoms. I felt tired throughout treatment except for a few good days when I had a very, very high energy level.
But for most of the I was so tired I was in bed every day by 7 pm.

Hang in there, it is so worth it.

Water intake is important yet it did not help with all that tiredness.

Some people feel the tiredness starts to diminish after week 3.

Today is day 14 of taking Epclusa.
I am 54, and work full time. I have told no one about my treatment, except my immediate family.
During the first 10 days, I would go through several hours in the morning where I would feel foggy, rapid heartbeat and nausea or headaches. But then it would pass. In the evenings I would often go through the same thing. But those side effects have seemed to have mostly passed during the last few days.
I often get one or two hives on my back (the size of a pea), in the evening.
Before starting Epclusa I was concerned about the drug interactions from a couple of medications I take. I take Propranolol and Temazepam. I was told to monitor my blood pressure, and found that it drops quite a bit as the evenings progresses. The first couple of days of starting Epclusa I was so scared to go to sleep in fear of not waking up! I read that eating some salty foods would increase blood pressure. I'm pretty healthy and really watch my weight. So I didn't want to start chowing on chips and unhealthy foods. As ridiculous as this may sound, I eat 2 green olives from a jar before bed. And it works for me! Ha!
All in all so far, treatment is better than I expected. So we will see as time goes.
I will update at week 4.

Welcome Josie64,

From the many stories I have heard in this forum and from my own experience with treatment the more common side effects seem to be insomnia, tiredness and headaches. I'm pretty bad at remembering to drink water so I really had to make myself increase my intake while on the medication and it did make a difference. All the usual things like eating well and exercise also helped, although the insomnia hung around until I finally completed what turned out to be an unusually long period of treatment to eradicate my very stubborn virus.

Of course having Hep C and undergoing treatment doesn't mean we are not susceptible to other illnesses so you are wise to keep an eye on your tiredness and see if begins to alleviate.

I really wish you well and look forward to hearing about your progress.

Coral

Hi Josie
Congratulations on starting Hep C treatment!!
I'm on Day 12 of Epclusa. I make myself drink close to 100 ounces of water during my day. It really helps me combat the tiredness and side effects. I find if I don't drink a lot of water, I get really tired, have headaches and basically feel like crap.
Are you drinking water?
Look forward to hearing more from you. We can do this treatment together!!

Hello Josie, welcome to the forum and congratulations on starting treatment. There should be no interaction between Methadone and Mavyret (as you can see from the University of Liverpool website below). So I'm not sure about the reason behind your extreme tiredness, hopefully Dr James will give his professional advice soon, or other forum members who have been in your shoes.

You're very welcome Miodrag, I hope your next birthday becomes a major party, the odds are really in your favor.
Dr James has written before : "when the patient finishes taking the treatment, the medication rapidly leaves his/her system. Within a day there is only 1/2 as much left, in 2 days 1/4, 3 days 1/8, 4 days 1/16, 5 days 1/32, 6 days 1/64 and so on. After a couple of months, there is no trace of the medication in the patient's system".
I'm pretty sure by "couple of months", he means 2 months, at the most.

Congratulations Miodrag on your undetected result, that's great, looking forward to your cure announcement in June I know that a couple of months after end of treatment, there is no trace of the medication in the patient's system.