3rd Shot and Dry Eyes

[BronxRican007]

Folks,

Took my 3rd shot and it sucks but I'm doing relatively well. Just the normal BS, tired, achey (achy), CRS (Can't Remember S#&t), food doesn't taste good; etc, etc. By Monday morning I'm good to go! However, just a few weeks BEFORE treatment I started getting cracks on the outside corners of my eyelids. The weirdest thing is I wake up in the morning with my left eye all "cakey" and hard to open. It's not pink eye, I've had that before, but something different. I had my eyes checked a few weeks before treatment and I was fine but this dry eye problem is begining to bug me. My vision is OK.  I have another skin crack behind an ear that has the same type of problem. I know this is an extrahepatic(?) symptom of some sort and I'm wondering if anyone else has these problems and what they did to alleviate them.  I also have Lichen Planus of the skin (red liver spots) that seem to be going away, so I have a history of HCV related skin problems. Any advise? Thanks!

Bronxrican007

[jmjm530]

Glad to see you're holding up pretty well considering !

Treatment tends to dry you out including your eyes. Besides drinking plenty of water, I find many of the OTC "artificial tears" products very helpful. The "Genteal" brand is excellent. I use the "mild" during the day and when I had the "cacky" feeling real bad I used the thicker Genteal formulation at night (more like an ointment.)

Regarding your skin, hep c treatment often will flare any pre-existing skin condition, including lichen planus. For example, my psoriasis flared real bad after about 12 weeks. Best thing is to be pre-emptive and agressive. See a dermotologist if you haven't already and explain your situation. You don't want to let any skin condition to get out of hand.

-- Jim

[BronxRican007]

I was heavy into the oatmeal for about 6 months b4 tx, since I started tx I can't stand it anymore. I'll give eyedrops a try and maybe the fancy ones later if the OTC ones don't work well.

Thanks Folks!
br007

[Forseegood]

Oh, I was going to comment, others know better than I do about this, but isn't too much water something to be concered about? Even on tx? 2 gallons? maybe some of you can comment, I just want my So.Cal friend healthy. Best.

[SnoWav]

There are a lot of posts about drinking lots of water I tried it and it's not for me.Im lucky if I drink a quart a day and I still work 40hr+ . Seems like some people believe it helps with the sides but excesive water over a gallon seems to me would wash the minerals and vitimins away and in the long run make things worse.Are the people that are drinking large amounts of water having the worst time with TX??? Just my Riba influenced view.32 weeks on the trail

[Forseegood]

Oh and gotta remember that CRS, good one, the irony being that I prob won't remember it, ha!

[avidreader]

There is a condition caused by drinking too much water. I forget the medical term but it's sometimes called water intoxification--I'm sure someone else will know the real name. I'm in social services and have a client who has it and we actually had to turn the water off in his room to restrict his water intake because it was making him so sick. Having said that, I am one of the 2 gallon a day drinkers and I started treatment having trouble drinking a bottle or two a day. I'm finding my body craves it--I get terrible headaches without it and I definitely don't feel as well when I can't drink as much as I want. I think the anti-virals in general are so dehydrating that it would be hard to go overboard with the water while on treatment.

And for those of you who wished my fun at the Stones concert-- thanks.I am so looking forward to it. Even if I did have to pay more then 15 X what I paid for tickets the last time I saw them in 1970. You would think they would give an AARP discount to their fans at this stage in the game. I'd hate to add up how much I have spent on: Stone albums, Stones 8 tracks, Stones cassette tapes, Stones CD's in the last 30 years(LOL)!

[Forseegood]

I was one of those boppers groovin to Aftermath and Symptathy for the Devil, have a great time!!!!

[Forseegood]

Hi, personally, I haven't tried the Genteel(?)brand of OTC eyedrops Jim suggested, they sound pretty good in that they sell an ointment for the very dry cakey feeling, so I can't comment on them. For all I know they may be just as good or better then the ones I want to tell you about.

A few years ago I started developing dry eyes, I read up on it and it can be a symptom of many immunological diseases, including menopause. This is funny to say but I'm a "moisture freak" I "have" to have moist skin, moist eyes, I cannot stand that dry feeling, I'm really weird about that. So I tried every OTC product out there, from the expensive ones to the inexpensive, and though they would help briefly, (but not to my satisfaction, my eyes still felt dry) I would have to keep using them constantly with not very good results.

Then I tried some "homeopathic" OTC drops and they didn't really help either...So I tried some drops my opthamologist prescibed, again, not very good. So as is my wont, I went online. I found this website run by a couple of opthamalogists in New Jersey.

visionworksusa.com

They had a whole array of eye products leaning on a "natural" approach, also eye exercise tapes, everything "eye." They give you a free phone consultation and suggested that I try these
Natural Ophthalmics dry eye drops for Women. (They also have the same product for Men.) I couldn't believe it, they worked right away, and after awhile I didn't have to keep using them all the time. The doc said that what they do is induce your own tear ducts to work better, so that you don't have to keep replacing moisture. They work really, really well for me. And they aren't that expensive at all.

My dad is 98 and of course has dry eyes from age, so did my mom. I sent them bottles and they were both very pleased in that they both  had tried everything including some prescibed from docs. I know I sound like a big commercial, don't mean to, I'm just really satisfied with these drops. I have told some people on other hep c sites about them and they had really good results as well. I actually went to the actual website of the company, seeing maybe if I could even get them cheaper, and they said they only distribute to opthamologists, but I guess you can get them online at the first site I suggested w/out prescription. As you can see I really like these drops. At this site they also have more expensive ointment type drops for more severe cases.

I also drink aloe vera juice for my skin, works really well and is a great anti-oxidant. I use this OTC cream Alba Very Emollient body lotion for skin (aloe vera and chamomile extracts in it.) Of course, if you have a medical problem with skin, you need to see a dermatologist. BTW, at the risk of sounding immodest, I have the softest most moist skin of anyone I know, and I'm 52. Hope this helps you, just suggestions.

[Forseegood]

Also, forgot to say, I eat oatmeal almost every morning (maybe not appetising during treatment, at least at first) and I dont think there is anything better for the skin, topically or internally.

[HepCinLA]

Hey Foresee...how's it going!!

I did my second shot last Friday and so far so good.  

One thing that is driving me crazy is my skin feels and looks so dry.  I had dry skin to begin with and even though I drink 1 to 2 gallons of water a day while on treatment, my face still has that taut feeling.  Those small laugh lines around my mouth have gotten really noticeable in the last two weeks.  

Do you use the Alba cream on your face or just your body?  If so, where do you get the cream?  If not, can you recommend any other intense moisturizers for the face.

Many thanks!

[Forseegood]

Hi Sweetie! So your journey begins huh? You sound good. Why don't you drop me an email. I'm a skin freak and you know I'll have some suggestions, ha!

[Forseegood]

Of forgot to tell you, the Alba is for the body, you can get it at any high end drug store or health food store. Great stuff.

[HepCinLA]

Okay, just sent you an email.  by the way, is Alba sold at Trader Joes?

[Forseegood]

Sorry, they don't have it at Trader Joes, wish they did. One thing they do have is "Shikai" aloe and oatmeal Shower Gel, great stuff too. I use this on my face as well. Soap free and leaves your skin really nice. You can get it there at Trader Joes for a third of the price you get it at health food stores.

As far as the Alba, if you buy the smaller size and like it (at a health food store or drug store) I'd suggest getting it online by the gallon (you can do a search for the cheapest, type in "alba very emollient body lotion 1 gallon" and see what the cheapest price is. I got after a quick search, "vitaglo.com" at 36 bucks with free shipping. I bought the gallon over a year ago and still have a lot. Really saves you a lot of money cause the smaller 12 oz costs like 10 12 bucks. You do the math.

for the rest of you, sorry there is so much promoting on this thread, but dry eyes and dry skin is a problem for both people with the virus and on treatment, and I thought maybe others could benefit from all my trial and error, cause I have tried a lot of things and I always try to find the most economical thing to do with the product. I don't try most of the mainstream stuff, I find they don't work half as well and they have too many additives and stuff in them, besides the product. Of course, like I said before, if you have a medical problem with the skin and/or eyes, you have to see the docs.

[cuteus]

yes, it is not good to listen to others telling you to drink tons of water. It is not healthy to go the extremes. HYPONATERMIA is one consequence. You have to calculate your wt and add water accordingly, plus a  little extra for the meds and extreme hot weather.  I could not muster more than 8-10 glasses without feeling ill.
It is funny how an excess of. a vitamin for example, will give you the same symptoms as its deficiency.
Be careful.

as for the dry skin, it gets pretty bad in the winter, invest in a humidifier and/or vaporizer/ I used U lactin most of my adult life due to very dry skin, it works wonders for the scaliness.  I used the same vaseline chapstick tube for the eyes that I used for the mouth corners. But eventually had to use Atarax for a while for the itching and eyelid swelling.

[GoofyDad]

On the subject of hydration, what about the dehydrating affects of caffeine? I'm about to start treatment. I already drink a fair amount of water, and I'll be able to step that up a notch no prob. But I also drink coffee. And iced tea. And sometimes lattes.

One RN told me to plan on equal amounts of water to offset each caffinated bev, but that doesn't make sense to me. That puts Snapple on par with esspresso (though Tejava is my tea of choice). If I were stranded on an island and drank lots of iced tea, I don't think I'd meet my demise due to dehydration, right? On the other hand, forcing that extra water down the gullet as suggested by the RN would slow down my iced tea/coffee habit, wouldn't it?

[friole]

I have been finding that as I increase my water consumption, my consumption of coffee and other beverages has decreased.  I think once you develope a thirst for water, nothing else satisfies that thirst.

There was a pretty heated discussion a week or so back on coffee and its antioxidant qualities for the liver.  YOu might go back and try to find that -- it was the day the news hit all the newspapers about coffee and antioxidants. In any event, it will proabably not be necessary to give up your coffee habit.  Just remember that nothing flushes the system like h2o.

Kathy

[cuteus]

I wish you an easy trip down hcv lane! I had to give up coffee during Tx, ;-[ It made my stomach upset! I still drank coke, though. Maybe one reason so many loose a lot of wt during tx is the fullness they get from all that water, no room for food.
GL on your first shot

[GoofyDad]

Thanks guys!