TREATMENT EXPERIENCES

http://www.hepcsurvivalguide.org/comboguide.htm

No one will have ALL these side effects and some have very few side effects but all of them are listed here with a little humor thrown in and helpful tips to cope. Good luck and hang in there! Everyone reacts to treatment differently.

Dreux

Day One:

The first dose of Ribavirin had little effect, a bit of tummy upset and nothing else.

The shot - Pegasys - Took it around 8PM but made sure to take 1000mg of Tylenol at 7:30PM. The shot was painless, with no reaction at the injection site. Around 11PM I began developing fever and chills, decided it was time for bed. I woke up around 2AM and my hands were shaking, but it quickly went away after I sat up in bed for a few minutes. Drank 16 oz of water and took another 500mg of Tylenol and went back to bed and slept for the rest of the night.

Day two:

What a hangover! (I don't drink now, but did as a youngster) And that is the only thing I could compare the feeling too. Major headache and fuzzy brain. Fever and chills. Ringing in ears. Drink lots of water here, it really helps and take as much Tylenol as your doctor allows.

Day three:

Headache was better today, fever and chills subsided a bit. I had a very bad arthritis flare up which started on this day (but if you haven't been diagnosed with "HCV related arthritis" it probably won't happen to you). A little nausea when taking the ribavirin but tums helped.

Day Four:

All symptoms began to subside. Started feeling better except for joint pain and weakness.

Day Five:

Almost back to normal, except for a little weakness, dizziness and the joint pain.

Well, that's been week one so far. It was definitely tolerable and a lot better than I expected. It was really no biggy, at least for me.

I'll try to post in when I'm almost done with week 2 to let you know how things are going.

Was a little better than week 1. Fever was not quite so bad, but I noticed stomach upset got a little worse. I did end up getting a rash at the injection sites but it clears itself after roughly 10 days. I feel weak and extremely fatigued and found that if I do something immediately about the stomach upset, the woozy feeling never starts. I usually mix up Carnation instant breakfast with about 8 oz of low fat milk. This cures the stomach upset and gives me a little energy boost.

My arthritis pain is "off the wall" but the docs prescribed percocet and celexa to help me deal with that.

I do strongly urge anyone considering interferon treatment to discuss taking an antidepressant with their physicians, even if you have never had signs of depression previously. I don't quite know how to describe this other than to say that the interferon can "squash" your personality for awhile and the depression from it can be intense. So intense it feels foreign somehow. My doc increased my Celexa from 10mg to 20mg and I'm back to my old happy self, despite the pain. I've never had issues with depression before which is why, when the interferon depression started I could recognize it for what it was and reason my way out of it. (Shook my head, closed my eyes and repeated "It's only the medicine, it will pass" until I felt better) It only took a few minutes to get over it.

Hang in there all!

Dreux

Weeks three was much like week 2. I got my 2 weeks blood test results and my CBC looks good, no anemia yet, but my RBC, HCT, HGB and platelet volume are dropping. Week three was a struggle as I'm getting more worn out by the day. Can't seem to make it past lunch without at least a 1 hour nap.

My PA says this is normal for week three and it means treatment is working well. She handed me the form to have my 4 week viral load checked next week. I can't wait for the results...biting nails here to see if tx is really working for me.

The arthritis pain has been very bad and even on percocet I've learned to be careful. Just because it's taking care of the pain, doesn't mean it's stopping the damage from occuring. I found this out quickly enough when I forgot about the pain (had taken 1/2 a percocet) and decided to close my window with just the fingers of my right hand. Ooooowww! boy did that smart.

So, for week three of your treatment, please take supplements like carnation instant breakfast or another nutritional drink (your pharmacist may be able to recommend one). Even if you take them in between meals it will really help. The "brain fog" is really starting to come in now and I find my thoughts are becoming a bit slower. Need more time to think about things (this may be due to the fact that my doctor increased my Celexa to 20mg).

I am getting some rashes at the injection site but they go away after about 10 days. (usually a red rash about 2 inches around that gets very sore after day 3).

So....on to week four. Will take my shot on time tonight.

Hugs to all,

OutofRheum

Hugs

Dreux

Hugs Dreux

Happy Dragon Slaying! You can do it~

Peace

Pam