Aa
Finishing week 2 of treatment
Hello,
I am new here. Just finishing week 2 of treatment. Week 1 I had nausea that I was able to control with ginger capsules. The beginning of this week I was extremely weak and nauseous. I have been reading about the rash, I am trying to keep that away by using Gold Bond in the green bottle. I take my third shot on Saturday. I am nervous that I am going to continually feel worse with treatment. I started using Nioxin to try to combat the possible hair thinning I have read about also. I welcome any support throughout this journey.
I am new here. Just finishing week 2 of treatment. Week 1 I had nausea that I was able to control with ginger capsules. The beginning of this week I was extremely weak and nauseous. I have been reading about the rash, I am trying to keep that away by using Gold Bond in the green bottle. I take my third shot on Saturday. I am nervous that I am going to continually feel worse with treatment. I started using Nioxin to try to combat the possible hair thinning I have read about also. I welcome any support throughout this journey.
So happy to hear your blood labs are good, that is a blessing, just one more set of side effects you don't have to endure! I just found out today my platelets went back up to 60 and my hgb back up to 11.4 with no intervention. I'm hoping they at least stabilize there. Sounds like you are hanging in there like a real trooper...hope things continue to be manageable and that you get good news after the 30th labs. Keep us posted.
Well I just got my first set of blood work done testing my red and white blood cells...everything was good. I go on the 30th to have the tests done to see if meds are working. Doing good though, just tired and a little weak.
I am on the 24 week treatment, I take 600mg riba a day, I had my first set of blood work done yesterday. I do get out of breath easily and the smallest things make me tired. Thankfully I am sleeping pretty good through out the night. Of course the earlier I take the Riba, the better I sleep. My biggest fear is getting the rash.
You are getting great advice here and I just want to reinforce the idea that symptoms can very rapidly change. A number of us started out with mild nausea that was manageable with ginger, and suddenly it turned into an uncontollable vomiting of anything that went into the stomach, including our essential meds. Its a good idea to get an Rx for Zofran before then so youcan have it on hand if the nausea gets much worse. It's really not good when you can't keep your meds down. I found 4mg of Zofran, every 8 hours as needed was a lifesaver. It dissolves on your tongue and works VERY rapidly, 10-15 min. for me. Most days I only needed one dose in the morning and could get by without it for the rest of the day. Do not try any other prescription anti-nausea meds, as many of them interact badly with Incivek. Many people have also required prescription topical steroids. Since oral steroids are contraindicated with Incivek, I wanted to avoid topical ones too, just to be safe. I made it about halfway through the Incivek before I had to give in on that. I'm now on week 25/48 and since the Incivek rash was immediately replaced by a ribavirin rash, I'm still needing the topical steroids on a daily basis.
It's just a good idea to be prepared with the prescriptions in advance, as the crises nearly always occur on weekends, usually on Friday nights! Best wishes for a relatively easy ride to SVR.
It's just a good idea to be prepared with the prescriptions in advance, as the crises nearly always occur on weekends, usually on Friday nights! Best wishes for a relatively easy ride to SVR.
Hi and welcome! :)
I am not too far ahead of you..I will be doing my 9th shot on Friday. I have had a lot of exhaustion as well along the way. How is your Hgb holding up? I knew mine had to be falling quick as I have to even take breaks doing daily tasks as showering and getting dressed! I'm barely breathing by the time my 15 minute shower is over and have to sit on the couch wet in a towel until I have enough wind to brush my hair and teeth and get dressed! I have a great amount of respect to those that work everyday while feeling as I do! So you are very much normal with how you have been feeling in that aspect. My riba was reduced from 1000 to 800 wk 5 due to the anemia so that atleaat took one brick off of my chest;p
So other than your weakness and tired feelings I am glad you are cruising along! I do remember feeling like the first four weeks would never pass..but now I'm so close to being halfway done! (As long as I stay UND as I have since week 4) I very much hope you have an rvr as well! Looking forward to hearing those very shortly:)
My only advice is a lot of the same stuff all the cool kids have been saying;p Don't let sides snowball, rest when you need it, and take all your medication as you should. I don't think there is one person that has done treatment perfectly. There are a lot of hiccups along the way, we just do the best we can.
Good luck and well wishes,
Laura
I am not too far ahead of you..I will be doing my 9th shot on Friday. I have had a lot of exhaustion as well along the way. How is your Hgb holding up? I knew mine had to be falling quick as I have to even take breaks doing daily tasks as showering and getting dressed! I'm barely breathing by the time my 15 minute shower is over and have to sit on the couch wet in a towel until I have enough wind to brush my hair and teeth and get dressed! I have a great amount of respect to those that work everyday while feeling as I do! So you are very much normal with how you have been feeling in that aspect. My riba was reduced from 1000 to 800 wk 5 due to the anemia so that atleaat took one brick off of my chest;p
So other than your weakness and tired feelings I am glad you are cruising along! I do remember feeling like the first four weeks would never pass..but now I'm so close to being halfway done! (As long as I stay UND as I have since week 4) I very much hope you have an rvr as well! Looking forward to hearing those very shortly:)
My only advice is a lot of the same stuff all the cool kids have been saying;p Don't let sides snowball, rest when you need it, and take all your medication as you should. I don't think there is one person that has done treatment perfectly. There are a lot of hiccups along the way, we just do the best we can.
Good luck and well wishes,
Laura
Started week 3 on Saturday, extremely weak and tired. Other than that doing good.
Good luck , I am in week 13/24 take week 14 Sat I am also on pegasys and rib. my dosage is 180 micrograms peg rib 400 mg. am an pn, First 2 weeks were good for me just little tired. Then it hit like whammy, very tired could not sleep and I was falling a I had night sweats real bad. Went back to dr at 4 weeks UND told him he gave me ambien for sleeeping helped some. Now the days are about same so far no hair loss no rashes no real bad sx but the tiredness is really bad. Hang in there I stll have UND at week 12 so Thanking God but my liver inzimes are still high was not to high when i started but now go up each time scaring me to death and dr laughed said no worries >I said yes it is me not u so scaring me. But dr 's dont see to care you another face.
I did have the butt reaction for a couple of days...I NEVER want to see that again!
It is nice to have found a place that I can talk to people who are going thru the same things I am! I can talk to my husband but he doesn't really know what to say.
I am taking the pegsys 180mg, Incivik (two pills three times a day) and Riba ( one in the morning and two in the evening). The doctor said my viral load was 500,000 when I started. I go for my two week blood work on Monday and my first follow up dr appt on April 30th.
I do my 5th injection of peg next Tuesday and I am doing riba. My experience has been that it hit me harder the first couple of weeks, but the symptoms I did have seem to have gone away....not to say there won't be new ones. I feel lucky to be on SOC because I don't think the sides are like when they add the third drug, but again, IDK. I have to say it's not as bad (yet) as I had prepared for it to be. My hgb dropped rapidly and my fatigue escalated from that, but the sides of that have leveled off, too. I thought maybe my hgb was actually maybe going back up because I felt so much better, but it was actually still dropping. It's a one day at a time thing and to keep in mind we are better off than those with bigger health dragons to slay. We at least give our livers a little break during tx and that has to be a good thing for us. Options seem to be abundant for everything that can or will come up, you will find this site a God send!
Welcome to the forum. You are in the company of some very knowledgeable people. Side effects do. Ary from person to person. In addition to following pooh's excellent tips and advice by saying please stay on top of your sides.... If your nausea worsens, ask the doctor for something to control it. If you develop a rash, monitor it. Make sure your treating physician has a plan in place for possible anemia, and know what it is. Get a copy of your labs each week....by Knowing what your blood is doing, you can stay on top of sides as well.
Best of luck in your treatment!
Best of luck in your treatment!
Hello and welcome to the forum.
I am not sure which drugs you are taking. Regardless, the side effects will vary from person to person and they will also come and go.Most of the side effects you just have to live with (fatigue, malaise, aches).
However, get treatment for the side effects that you can. They tend to snowball, so if they appear get on top of them immediately.
I got a prescription for Zofran 8 mg every 8 hours and that did the trick for nausea.
Fluocinonide ointment and Hydroxyzine 25 - 50 mg every 6 hours took care of my generalized rash and itching.The over the counter meds did nothing for my rash.
The flaming butt was prevented by keeping the stools firm and by keeping the anal area very clean with showers, Huggies baby wipes, using Prep. H suppsitories, etc. The "passing of shards of glass" was eliminated by by keeping the stools quite firm. The minute they get soft, the butt will act up.
If you can keep those three side effects under control you will feel considerably better than if they get out of control and snowball. Don't count on the docs to offer you anything. You will have to ask for a prescription if you get these symptoms.
I never had any problems with my blood counts so hopefully you won't either. If you do, they can give you procrit or neupogen or even transfusions if necessary so that you can continue treatment.
If you get side effects, post on the forum and people will offer their tips.
Best of luck to you.
I am not sure which drugs you are taking. Regardless, the side effects will vary from person to person and they will also come and go.Most of the side effects you just have to live with (fatigue, malaise, aches).
However, get treatment for the side effects that you can. They tend to snowball, so if they appear get on top of them immediately.
I got a prescription for Zofran 8 mg every 8 hours and that did the trick for nausea.
Fluocinonide ointment and Hydroxyzine 25 - 50 mg every 6 hours took care of my generalized rash and itching.The over the counter meds did nothing for my rash.
The flaming butt was prevented by keeping the stools firm and by keeping the anal area very clean with showers, Huggies baby wipes, using Prep. H suppsitories, etc. The "passing of shards of glass" was eliminated by by keeping the stools quite firm. The minute they get soft, the butt will act up.
If you can keep those three side effects under control you will feel considerably better than if they get out of control and snowball. Don't count on the docs to offer you anything. You will have to ask for a prescription if you get these symptoms.
I never had any problems with my blood counts so hopefully you won't either. If you do, they can give you procrit or neupogen or even transfusions if necessary so that you can continue treatment.
If you get side effects, post on the forum and people will offer their tips.
Best of luck to you.
You are doing the right thing by staying active on this forum. I didn't find this web site until I was well into tx, and so it was hard at first as I didn't have anybody with tx experience to bounce things off of. Stay proactive with your tx, and stay in contact with your Dr. as things pop up. You might not have a lot of the things other people do as far as sides go. I never had the rash, and my hgb never went below 10. I didn't feel good a lot of days, but some days it was not much more than being very tired. It is very possible that you have already seen the worst of what you will get. Drink the recommended amount of water and always do your labs as directed. TX is doable, and you can make it!!
I also set an alarm on my phone to remind me to take my pills on time. Inc for me. I had a tough time with brain fog and I found out a little reminder was easier than stressing about forgetting medicine.
Welcome to the forum, and slay that Dragon!!
I also set an alarm on my phone to remind me to take my pills on time. Inc for me. I had a tough time with brain fog and I found out a little reminder was easier than stressing about forgetting medicine.
Welcome to the forum, and slay that Dragon!!
Welcome to the forum. I used ginger chews for the nausea and they worked for me. I mostly needed them the first couple weeks. For me, sx fluctuated a bit. I had weeks where I thought it was all downhill from then on only to have a better week the next week. Best to try to keep on top of the sx and if one thing doesn't work, try another and of course talk to your doc. Your doc can prescribe something stronger if needed.
Wishing you the very best.
Wishing you the very best.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis C Community
Learn about this treatable virus.
Getting tested for this viral infection.
3 key steps to getting on treatment.
4 steps to getting on therapy.
What you need to know about Hep C drugs.
How the drugs might affect you.
These tips may up your chances of a cure.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
