HARVONI and side effects

[WalkingEagle]

good morning all, and hope UR all doing well, and good
I have 8 days left, on a 12 week plan, and have been SVR, sense first blood work @ 4 weeks, and still SVR today

does the sides, ... go away after a while, like the insomnia, fatigue, I know I'm not going too be 19 again,(66) now, but I can't do much of anything, any more, with out just giving out, thus the grouches setting in, aggravation, and having to stop and rest, (nap) I guess I'm just worried, and venting, and thank you all, for your time, and ear may God bless, and take care of you all

..........walkingeagle / Steve    

[keepingOnkeepingOn]

Kill da monster Yesssssssssss. So far so good. You are on your way.
Sides will take care of themselves with lots of self care.

[patra_]

Only FIVE more days!  You Go, Guy!

Won't be long now.

Here's to another Dragon biting the dust (or snow?) :  -)

Pat

[48weeks]

Good morning - I finished my 12 weeks of Harvoni treatment on 3/3 and did my lab work yesterday for my pcr test.  I have an appointment on 6/17 and hopefully will find out then if I am SVR or not. My main side effects were headache and sleep patterns. For my headaches, I stopped eating as much sugar including a lot of carbs and they went away.  For the sleep patterns I just kind of catered to my body and when I was tired I slept. Often at lunch I would just close my office door and catch a 20 minute nap that would help immensely.  Now that I have been off treatment for 3 months, I feel a lot better, more alert, better memory, more normal sleep patterns, and I'm working out more regularly.  Harvoni is not without side effects, but they are extremely minimal when compared to all the other junk I've put in my body to try to fight this disease including, an interferon treatment, two interferon + ribivian treatments, and a Telaprevor + Int,+Rib.  Compared to these treatments Harvoni has been a cakewalk. Best of luck to all of us for SVR.

[johnny679]

When you finish treatment just careful to stay away from people with colds , etc as your immune system need time to adjust .
Very easy to catch a cold right after treatment

[hepcandme]

Hi Steve

Yes, I have been keeping a loose tally on how people are faring post-treatment. As Pat said, most indicate feeling better in some regards straight away.

But others seem to have some long-lasting sx. Remember, these are powerful drugs and we are part of the big experiment to determine how patients do after achieving SVR. Still, these new regimens are Light years ahead of what used to be available and that many of our friends suffered through

Good luck, you'r almost there!!

BTW, loved this: "I know I'm not going too be 19 again,(66) now, but I can't do much of anything, any more, with out just giving out, thus the grouches setting in, aggravation, and having to stop and rest, (nap)" because that pretty much sums up what a lot of us in treatment are feeling

[patra_]

Hi, WE, Glad to hear that you are so close to completing treatment.  

I am also glad to hear that you have been UND (Undetected) since Week 4.  One of the things about the Harvoni is sometimes it takes to Week 8. (BY THE WAY, SVR - Sustained Viral Response - comes after treatment, when you have been Undetected for 12 weeks after End of Treatment).

As for the fatigue and insomnia, that should begin clearing up, within a week weeks after you finish treatment.  it takes a little while for the meds to get out of your system.  THEN you should feel like a new you!  This shouldn't tkae as long as if you were taking Ribavirin, too (one nasty med!).

Venting is good, just don't lose your enthusian for life.  Take those naps, your body knows what it needs.  

Hang in there, it's only 8 more days!

Blessings,

Pat