Two of my friends from the Fellowship went on Interferon treatment this week and they are down with fever and stomach cramps. I was considering going for it myself and might go on it myself in a few months.
Are there others here who have undergone this treatment for their hepatitis C? I would really appreciate if you can share about it, especially the side effects and if it helped...
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
I have not had personal experience but I have someone I am close to who underwent treatment for a year and now their Hep C is barely detectable in blood tests. There were no lack of side effects during treatment, but since it has gone into remission, I'd say in this case it was worth it. Good Luck. Peace
-- Edited by nezyb on Friday 4th of May 2012 08:50:33 PM
"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
I too can't share personal experience but know several who have undergone the treatment. They pretty much agree that it was a horrible year, but now that they are on the other side they are glad they did it. Prayers for peace and health.
I went in for 6 month course. Hell and highwater, it was really bad because of side effects like weirdest of dreams, loss of appetite and increase in mental depression and extreme physical fatigue from the tablets.
The tablets work like this; the ribovarin brings down the white blood corpusule count so that the interferon will take effect. WBC is the bodys defense mechanism but cannot distinguish a curative agent. So their count is reduced so that the interferon will be allowed access to the hepatitis C virus, HCV. When the WBC count is down, the body is easily fatigued and this is a major drawback in the treatment. Being out of breath even after few steps was common. The only positive outcome of that side effect was weight loss.
Another thing is one cannot reproduce when in and after upto three years after treatment. A baby concieved during interferon treatment is alomost certain to be born with deformities.
Now all that said and done, the pain is a very small investment I made in order to be well. Thankfully, by the Grace of God, have cleared the virus and stayed virus free for about 2 and 1/2 years now.
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Raman an addict clean and serene just for today in NA Worldwide ; live to love and love to live the NA Way !!!
And yes, there was another side effect, stomach oain and muscle cramps.
Stomach pain was a constant; it may have been because i was given weekly pegulated doses that had to be taken near the navel.
And being in cold, cold England at that time, muscle cramps were a constant thing to deal with....
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Raman an addict clean and serene just for today in NA Worldwide ; live to love and love to live the NA Way !!!
And yes, there was another side effect, stomach pain and muscle cramps.
Stomach pain was a constant; it may have been because i was given weekly pegulated doses that had to be taken near the navel.
And being in cold, cold England at that time, muscle cramps were a constant thing to deal with....
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Raman an addict clean and serene just for today in NA Worldwide ; live to love and love to live the NA Way !!!
Hi About 3 year ago I went though treatment for 48 weeks Yes I had all of the above side effect and then some. It was hell!! The thing to remember is it effects every one different. Some people only have flu like symptom and others get all the side effects. Flu like symptom: muscle cramps,fever,weakness,chills and stomach pain Interferon has a warning may cause extreme suicidal depression in some people. may cause anxiety to the point of hallucinations in some people. may cause fits of rage in some people. Two other people in my area that has gone though treatment and my self had the rage problem I also had the suicidal depression and hallucinations that they didn't have. One person only had the flu like symtom.
Only 2 of the 4 people that have gone thought teatment are undetectable for the virus. My liver enzymes are normal and still undetectable for the virus.
Thank you Avid for the input and thank you so much Raman and Greg for your precious experiences and insights. Thanks for explaining what exactly both Ribavirin as well as Interferon do. Yes I also know of a friend who went through severe bouts of depression as a side effect. Weight loss sounds welcome like Raman mentioned.
Also, for some it was 6 months and for some others it was almost a year of treatment. Does anyone know why? Does that depend on the severity of the condition or are there two kinds of treatment approaches here?
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
And to be very honest Tahir, like Greg did say, suicidal tendencies come to the fore as do things like anxiety and unexplained rage. This may carry on way past closure of treatment. In my case, instances of un-explained rage and a bit of depression was Stepground.
But I was lucky to get to talk to a very skilled psychologist who said "The mind has many windows that stay dormant but open up when in disease or treatment. Interferon and Ribovarin will open these windows again. Patients under treatment may experience all sorts of hallucinations, weird mental imagery and such like, but after the third week that should settle down. The important thing is to not try and resolve each and every window that opens up, and to just let the mentation go on and observe as naturally as possible"
This reminded me of the old saying "Serenity is the ability to live at peace with unresolved problems and conflict"
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Raman an addict clean and serene just for today in NA Worldwide ; live to love and love to live the NA Way !!!
i was diagnosed with hep c genotype 1A and a high viral load, i started the triple therapy treatment , interferon , ribaviran, telaprivar, and was to undergo a 48 week treatment, at week 4 i had a viral load test done and it was undetecable, week 6 the virus was indetecable , and at 12 weeks undetecable, the add on drug teleapriver guidelines say anyone responding at week 4/6/12 can have there treatment cut from 48wks to 24 without jepordising treatment well that is what has just happened to me, what a lovely xmas present. i still have to wait 6 months after treament finishes for my final viral load test, but based on the way it has gone it`s looking very good, my sides effects to the tripel therapy were slight anger after interferon injection and up to 48 hrs after, then i`d calm down, always very tired and out of breath, slight itching of the skin in various body parts, in general i`ve been one lucky lad as side effects go, if your liver is in good condition with no cirrocis this helps big time, not with everyone but a lot, so now my final viral load test is september 2013 instead of febuary 2014 i`m very gratefull to the hep c tem at the hallamshire hospital sheffield and dr gleeson for there excellent support,
thanks sheffield
-- Edited by banjopaul100 on Sunday 16th of December 2012 08:42:27 PM
