Dr. De Meirleir

Dr. De Meirleir performed a study involving the administration of Nexavir or a placebo to ME/CFS patients. 63% of those ME/CFS patients in the treatment group responded to Nexavir while only 17% of those ME/CFS patients in the placebo group responded. Dr. De Meirleir finds that approximately 50% of his patients are pain free after 2-3 months of Nexavir injections. His patients generally experience a normalisation of sleep within 3 days of commencing Nexavir. Approximately 70% of Dr. De Meirleir’s patients experience a 20+ point increase (based on the Karnovsky scale) as a consequence of taking Nexavir

 Dr. Cheney

Dr Cheney formerly recommended Kutapressin as a treatment for ME/CFS. He stated that it is analogous to a weaker form of Ampligen. In the past Dr Cheney used Kutapressin/Nexavir injections however at some staged preferred using the gel form of Nexavir. He has also stated that his patients generally experience a 20-80% improvement as a consequence of taking Nexavir gel and secondary treatments. ‘ECHO terrain maps’ now mainly influence Dr Cheney’s ME/CFS protocol and he has consequentially stopped prescribing Nexavir. He now uses his own mix of five cell signalling factors instead of Nexavir. These are; porcine brain, bison liver, bison heart, bison kidney and bison pancreas.

Dr. Enlander

Dr. Enlander used Kutapressin for approximately 12 years until Schwarz Pharma ceased producing it. He then originally tried Nexavir on his patients however due to the preservatives within Nexavir, he trialled his patients on Hepapressin. Hepapressin is similar to Nexavir however it is an Argentinean bovine liver extract, as opposed to porcine liver extract. Dr. Enlander recommends that his patients take other substances in tandem with Hepapressin to increase its effectiveness. 67% of his patients have shown an improvement as a consequence of weekly Hepapressin injections in combination with other treatments. Recently, Dr. Enlander commenced a study alongside Dr. De Meirleir that examined alternative ways to administer Nexavir/Hepapressin.

Dr Teitelbaum

Dr. Teitelbaum has noticed a dramatic improvement in some of his CFS patients as a consequence of taking Nexavir regularly. He has found that those patients who took Nexavir three times a week didn’t gain much benefit as daily injections are a ?necessity. Dr. Teitelbaum has also observed that some of his patients’ CFS symptoms returned after discontinuing Nexavir.

Dr. Lapp

Dr. Lapp provided almost every ME/CFS patient that made an appointment with him, the opportunity to try Kutapressin. He has labelled it as a “wonderful alternative.” Dr. Lapp has stated that Nexavir was handmade for CFS patients with the main arguments against taking it being the cost and the necessary frequency of the ‘painful’ injections.

Combining Nexavir with Other Treatments

Many specialists combine Nexavir with other treatments to either increase the efficacy of Nexavir itself or through the means of multiple treatments increasing the chances of a successful treatment. Dr. De Meirleir often uses Nexavir in combination with vitamin B12 injections. He recommends 10mgs of B12 (either methylcobalamin or hydroxocobalamin) be administered twice a week. Dr. Enlander combines Hepapressin injections with injectable; magnesium sulphate, folic acid, B12, calphosan, glutathione and trace elements. Dr. Cheney (who no longer recommends Nexavir) formerly found combining Nexavir gel with Hawthorn leaf and flower an effective treatment. Some anecdotal reports indicate that combining Nexavir with other, more traditional prescription antivirals may increase the efficacy of Nexavir or one of the other antivirals.

How to take Nexavir?

Nexavir is to be administered by either subcutaneous or intramuscular injection. Different ME/CFS specialists have various protocols regarding dosage and frequency of Nexavir injection however the most commonly recommended dosage is 2ml administered daily. Some patients may experience a herxheimer type reaction on a 2ml starting dose hence it may be wise to work up to a 2ml dose. Dr Cheney (when he prescribed Nexavir) recommended that the dose be varied between 1 and 4 cc a day. Nexavir should be taken for at least 6 months to determine whether it may be an effective treatment.

Other Details

A prescription is required to purchase the injectable form of Nexavir. The only company that manufactures Nexavir is a Texan company called Nexco Pharma. A Texas pharmacy called Village Compounding produces Nexavir compounded as a transdermal gel. A prescription is also required for this Nexavir gel. ???Nexavir should not be confused with ‘Nexavar,’ a drug that treats certain cancers.

Negatives of taking Nexavir

The main negative of taking Nexavir is the cost. At 2ml a day (the standard dose), Nexavir will cost approximately US$450 a month. As the minimum recommended treatment period of Nexavir is 6 months (barring side effects), the total cost of a Nexavir trial is approximately US $2,700. This is not including the cost of shipping, syringes or needles. ?Some insurance companies may partially cover the cost of Nexavir. Another negative of taking Nexavir involves the cumbersome daily injections. These have been described by some Nexavir uses as “painful.” The final potential negative of using Nexavir as an ME/CFS treatment involves the possible side effects (mentioned in an earlier section.) While the likelihood of experiencing these side effects seems to be minimal, the possibility exists.

Source:  http://livingwithchronicfatiguesyndrome.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/nexavir-kutapressin-for-cfs/