TOPIC:

Early on in my personal research on DAA's, I came across information about 'Chlorcyclizine' which is actually an over the counter antihistamine.

As I approach the last 28 days of DAA treatment, I find myself wondering if it might not be wise to include chlorcyclizine as an additional therapy, and perhaps stay on it for another 4 weeks or so after EOT.

Don't remember seeing this subject discussed here on the forum, and would like to explore this with my fellow travelers here.

Articles regarding Chlorcyclizine follow:

www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-...sts/20068312.article

stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/282/282ra49

time.com/3811816/hepatitis-c-allergy-drug/

www.hepatitiscentral.com/news/repurposin...ds-to-treat-hep-c/2/

www.everydayhealth.com/news/new-drugs-sh...against-hepatitis-c/

Hi Fitz,

an interesting information, which is new to me.
However, I just read the article from the first link you posted and I became .... cautious with regard to the remark that this substance may cross the blood-brain barrier ....

As you are approaching EOT, it might be that your level of anxiety increases.....It happened to others too , so just think it is normal to feel like this and enjoy the time till week 12 after EOT doing something else, maybe not related to HCV .
Have a look also here on Greg's latest blog, perhaps it helps hepatitisctreatment.homestead.com/generic-harvoni-cost.html (scroll down a little bit until you find the post "The Sad Reality of Relapse"

Cheers,
RHF

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this medication out of hand RHF. To do so, I believe, would be a mistake.

Obviously, chlorcyclizine is an over the counter antihistamine used routinely for hay fever, and seasonal allergies, and has been used safely for decades for this purpose. So, I'm not really that concerned about its already established safety record.

The question I find myself asking is "If this medication is as cheap, safe, and effective (against HCV) as the initial research indicates, why wouldn't we look at adding it to the existing arsenal for use in conjunction with DAAs?"

I yield the floor.

Hey fitz!
I saw this too a while back and I agree it is VERY intriguing. I was hoping to hear more from the medical community as time and testing progressed. Like you, I'm curious to know what, if anything, others might have heard, or have to say regarding it.
RHF, I appreciate your post referencing Gregs latest blog and "The Sad Reality of Relapse." I must say though, that the result you intended may have worked in the opposite direction for me
Now I am even more interested in the question posed here by fitz.
Thanks to you both,

Matt

Hi Fitz, I remember something about this. I think Dr F knows about it, Maybe he'll come along with his opinion. Interesting.

I suspect the blood/brain barrier comment mostly means that it carries a little sticker that says "This medicine may cause drowsiness and increase the effects of alcohol. If affected do not drive a motor vehicle or operate machinery".

Certainly interesting with its potential to add a different mechanism to the treatment process though at this early stage I would advise readers not to run down to their pharmacy and start self medicating* without discussion with a medical professional.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25855495

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

Thanks for your excellent input, Gaj. I did a little research, and the dose to keep a runny nose at bay is one tablet every 8 hours. So for that purpose 30 tablets is a 10 day supply.

The stuff hasn't had any kind of patent protection for years, so it is little wonder Big Pharma doesn't seem to be interested in it. One of the things that is especially intriguing to me is that (according to the published research) Chorcyclizine appears to keep HCV from entering cells to replicate in the first place. Also that the studies seem to suggest that it does not interfere with the mechanisms used by DAAs to destroy the virus, and may actually be used in conjunction with DAAs to assist in shutting down HCV's ability to replicate.

Exciting stuff if it actually turns out to be as effective as the studies suggest!

Hi all, great discussion! I recall having a discussion with Dr Freeman about chlorcyclizine last year and something G3s in particular could consider. An old drug but very effective on replication etc. The other interesting one is statins in assisting with clearance rates etc. Who knows maybe the final piece of the puzzle. Em

Wow Fitz what a great research! Thank you. I am now totally intrigued and curious about your find. It might help falling and staying asleep too as an extra bonus. Btw I heard that Vitamin B12 is good to improve SVR chances too. Will check the links you posted.

Just a quick one about vitamin B12
If you are vegan, you need to find a way to supplement, as I believe B12 is only available in animal products.
I'd be curious to know how people who are vegan for ethical reasons get their B12 - not being cynical or inflammatory, just curious

Hi all, great discussion! I recall having a discussion with Dr Freeman about chlorcyclizine last year and something G3s in particular could consider. An old drug but very effective on replication etc. The other interesting one is statins in assisting with clearance rates etc. Who knows maybe the final piece of the puzzle. Em

Hi Meg,

Here is a link to the Supplements section of the forum. It includes threads about B12 and Vitamin D, both of which have evidence to support their use if you are deficient. Plus one about B12 availability per beaches' comment.

fixhepc.com/forum/supplements.html

Found this on vitamin B12 sources.
Vegetarians
Strict vegetarians and vegans are at greater risk than lacto-ovo vegetarians and nonvegetarians of developing vitamin B12 deficiency because natural food sources of vitamin B12 are limited to animal foods [5]. Fortified breakfast cereals are one of the few sources of vitamin B12 from plants and can be used as a dietary source of vitamin B12 for strict vegetarians and vegans.
Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet. ods.od.nih.gov/
Eat lots of fortified breakfast cereal

MK

Hi Everybody,

couple of feedbacks regarding my previous post:

@Fitz & Matt: I posted the link about Greg's post in order to highlight the aspect about the anxiety felt by patients when they reach EOT and the waiting time of 12 weeks. It provided also couple of arguments about possible causes of relapse. My intention (and probably I should have said this from the beginning) was to touch the idea of having trust in the DAAs despite the anxiety during the waiting times.

My understanding regarding the mechanism of action was that Chlorcyclizine might block HCV in entering the liver cells. So it is a different mechanism than the DAAs which affects the replication of HCV. On one side, the idea of using it sounds like an additional protection, after the DAAs treatment is finished. On the other side, I have in mind that outside the body, in dried blood, HCV may survive upto 6 weeks, while inside the body there is a more "friendly environment" for the HCV, therefore if after the DAAs treatment there will still be some RAVs hidden somewhere in the body, the Chlorcyclizine might need to be used for more weeks.
Who knows, maybe DAAs + Chlorcyclizine might be something like the case of getting rid of the bugs: you put poison (aka you take the DAAs) and the bugs getting in contact with it will die, but some bugs will remain in a crack in wall and might survive, so if you block that crack, the bugs will finally die from starvation . It would be a nice dream. Yet dreams are dreams, reality is reality and sometimes dreams do become reality , so it is hard (at least for me at this moment) to give solid opinions.

Anyway, please consider my "message of caution" not as a kind of "do not do it", rather as a kind of "research more, ask more, get a professional view and if it turns to be (or might be) safe for you, give it a try".

Cheers,
RHF