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Biotech / Medical : Agouron Pharmaceuticals (AGPH) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Izzy who wrote (2784)	11/14/1997 3:37:00 PM
From: Izzy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6136

FWIW, the reason I asked the above questions has to do with yesterday's posts and the AIDS article in today's San Diego paper ("New drug combos fail to hill HIV"). However, the article states: "There's a mistaken notion that the drugs have a certain life span and then run out of steam. It's probably the opposite. The longer people remain on the treatment, the longer they continue to do well...They confirm what we suspected, which is that used appropriately, these drugs probably suppress viral replication to close to zero...if the virus is not reproducing, it cannot mutate, and drug-resistant strains cannot evolve." But there is no mention of Viracept use.

To: Izzy who wrote (2784)	11/14/1997 9:14:00 PM
From: cherry grove	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 6136

Yes, Izzy. I am currently taking Viracept plus two nucleosides with great success and it is very well tolerated.. I never had to take immodium. Occasionally, I get diarrehea but I attribute this to either drinking excessive alcohol or eating a lot of garbage. My viral lode is now undetectable and T-Cells over 500 even though I miss dosages from time to time. It was two years ago that I began PI therapy with Saguiniver which failed (incidently, this precludes me from taking the newly approved Fortovase). My doctor added Norvir (another PI) and then I began experiencing severe gum and toothe aches. I Being Frustrated, my doctor then persuaded me to go with Viracept. By the way I hated Norvir because it has to be refrigerated. You have to hide it in the refrigerator to keep people from knowing you have Aids (also difficult for traveling). I attend the Aids treatment seminars monthly in New York City and Viracept is by far the most popular PI. Crixivan is also excellent but must be taken with strict dietary requirements. You Must drink a lot of water with it (to prevent kidney stones) so one has to go to the bathroom all night. Other PWA's at the seminars tell me if Viracept had been available when they began Crixivan, they would have definitely opted for Viracept. Viracept has been out for less than a year and is by far the best Protease Inhibitor, being the most user friendly. Once Wall Street finally figures this out and believes it, the stock should double over night. Sales wil tell the story. I love Viracept and own the stock. Cherry

To: Izzy who wrote (2784)	11/16/1997 5:15:00 PM
From: BriBear	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6136

Izzy: My experience with HIV meds (and yes, I have a position in AGPH) You directed the question to Cherry, but I will also respond. Summary here, details further on - Rx & schedule: D4T, 3TC (6:00am & 6:00pm) & Viracept (6:00am, 2:00pm & 10:00pm); minor alterations in breakfast & lunch schedule to coincide with Viracept times, as AGPH has indicated 40% greater bioavailability with a meal (see Viracept package insert) & their test subjects ate _full_ meals. Bedtime dose is with a heavy snack. On the whole, pretty easy to take, except when I want to sleep in on Saturday :-) Side effects: Minimal (thank the gods), occasional insomnia, diarhea directly related to size of meal - if I eat full meal, no diarhea; light snack = the runs. Have had no need to use Immodium. Test results: starting load=78,000 & CD4=150. After 1 month load=2700, count not taken. Anecdotal results: Before this combo, I was getting sicker very rapidly - decreasing energy levels, loss of ability to concentrate, immune hyper-sensitivity (mosquito bites would raise welts the size of a quarter & if I ate Italian food, I looked like I had a mild sunburn for 2-3 days & felt like hell - see details below if interested in my theories about food/HIV interactions) however, I have never had an AIDS defining illness. After 1 month on combo, I feel infinitely better - I can concentrate, don't feel fatigued (I swim 1/2 mile 3 times), can eat broader range of foods (but still have to be careful of Italian - damn!!) Cost: HMO co-pay $10/script IMHO, based on experience with friends on other regimens, this combo is the best: effective, least side effects, easier to take Details, intended for the MDs among us or the truly thread compulsive!! Previous med experience: 1) Underground DDC for 3-4 months (in retrospect, a dumb thing to do...) after I had found AZT utterly intolerable - SEVERE headaches, nausea, dizziness, insomnia, etc, etc. 2) Study of AZT+DDI+3TC: based on my previous experience with AZT, I _knew_ that pill was placebo so by process of elimination based on the arms of the study, I was on real DDI & real 3TC. DDI is a bitch to take - BID, but with the same (or more stringent) food prohibitions as Crixivan. Blew my liver enzymes out the roof, dropped out of the study. Started with CD4 count of 350, left with count of 200. Scares me a bit that I may have already developed 3TC resistance... Other meds: Isoniazid (have been positive for TB since I was 5 years old), Zovirax (400mg TID prophylaxis; I get herpes outbreaks otherwise), Dapsone (had a _violent_ reaction to Septra, required ER visit to control), Pamelor (chronic depression) Adherence: Fair - I've never _missed_ a dose, but I've been a few hours late occasionally. I'm one of those that gets completely absorbed in the task at hand, sometimes have no idea of the passage of time. Food: I think some foods activate the immune system & I suppose, viral replication. For me: spinach, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (!), peanuts (!), chocolate (!!), caffeine (!!!), tomatoes (!!), all of the herbs in the mint family (!!!) including oregano, basil & thyme, red & yellow artificial food coloring. I would write this off to normal allergies, but I ate all of the above with no ill effects until HIV.