Hepatitis C dull arm pain

I was diagnosed with hepatitis C and went through the Interferon/ribavirin combination treatment without success. After 48 weeks I did not remain free of the virus; it showed up again a few weeks later.

After the first injection, I began to feel a lot pain and the flu-like symptoms. It's been about 3 years since I finished my treatment and I have some dull pain on my shoulders, shoulder blades and arms. I feel they get tired very easily.

I work as a programmer, but had to cut back my hours. I now work part time. I drive about an hour to work, another hour back. I had attributed the dull arm pain to my work and the long drive.

Any similar post-treatment experiences?

The main symptoms is feeling: my shoulders/arms very tired and worn out (slight burning feeling). I can especially feel this at night, when I have problems falling asleep except with the help of medication.

Any similar experiences out there? Can I attribute this to the hep c?

[frijole]

Welcome to the forum.  I relapsed too.  Bummer isn't it.  I relapsed a little over a year ago.  I don't have the problems you have, but I have read tht joint pain and fatique are the two biggest symptoms that hep C patients complain of.  What was your liver damage? I recently had a biopsy and there was no change in mine but it is grade 1, stage 1 so I can't complain too much.  I do think I am way too tired also.  I don't know if I can blame that on C or age.

Have you tried excercise?  That may help your problem.  I don't know, but when it impacts the job, you have to try something.  Good luck,

frijole

[medchepc]

The damage was state 1 also, before the treatment. I need to see a gastroenterologist again.

I've been putting off a visit to a dr; I was told that if I go through the treatment again, the chances of getting rid of the virus were even less than 50%. I don't want to go that treatment again.

Exercise helps, but not tiredness problem. I know it is important to exercise, but I've been lazy. I sometimes walk, but if I walk too fast or too long, my arms hurt more. So sometimes I don't exercise because of that.

My pain doctors have said I have cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve in the neck area).  But the problem is not seen on the MRI, only a nerve conduction test. And on some NC tests it does not show.

I am somehow almost sure the interferon treatment has messed up some of my nerves. But I can't prove that. So it's either the hep c, interferon damage, or my work. Or a combination.

[Mary4now]

Why dont you try getting a massage or sitting in a hot tub, trying to work on the shldr arm itself as a possibility that maybe you do have  pinched nerve.  Nerves are very insidious and require alot of TLC.  another good form of exercise is Tai Chi.  over time it helps w/ the immune system as well.  Good Luck, blessings, M4now

[medchepc]

OK, let me ask this: do any of you after the treatment/relapsing feel tiredness that you can attribute to hep c (even stage 1 liver damage)?

[sfbaygirl]

I relapsed too. A week after tx I had the worst shoulder pain ever, like a 12 on the pain scale. Took some pain meds and had other joint and bone pain. I went to a rhemy and he watched, put me on Neurontin, which drove me round the bend. Now I am on Lyrica. After having flare ups of pain over a year, sleep being a biggy, he dx'ed me with fibromyalgia. I felt awful pain for a couple months as I upped the dose of the Lyrica, then it started working!  Not saying this is what you have, but perhaps you can check it out. I had that tiredness too. I am a stage one and am feeling much less energy than before, but some of it is from the FM.  

[medchepc]

Sorry to hear that, fibromyalgia (pain all over) does not sound good. I've tried Lyrica with little effect before. But I've never tried increasing dosages, I try to keep my Neurontin to as little as possible, because I'm afraid of future damage to my liver.

I do find the Neurontin helps, but it is limited help. Sometimes taking a nap, helps me rest my shoulders and I'm rejuvenated.

Before I went through the hep c treatment, I had complained to my family doctor about arm pain, but he told me to concentrate on finding out why my liver functions were high. Then I found out it was hep c, the treatment began and the pain increased.

The pain was worse during the treatment. But I think what we have in common is whatever pain conditions we had before the interferon treatment, the interferon made it worse ;(

[sfbaygirl]

Yep, I think the tx drugs caused this all to happen. I hated Neurontin.  Sometimes my pain isn't all over but just in my legs or joints. Sometimes it is all over. If I forget to take the lyrica for the whole day, I am hurting all over the next.  I am only taking 150mg a day and it helps me, but many people take up to 450mg a day. My dr wants me to up my dose by one, but if this is working I don't see why, so I talked him out of that. If it does stop working I will go up. I did one for a week, then 2 for a week until 3 a week. That helped although I still get breakthrough pain. At the moment I have had horrible pain inbetween my shoulder blades for several days. I had a massage Tues and I am wondering if this doesn't make the FM worse. My masseus says she has a few FM clients and they are torn on if it helps them.  Sleeping is essential and part of the problems with FM/CFS are not getting restorative sleep. I always feel worse when I don't sleep well. I take ambien once in a while if I can't get to sleep and it works.  

Hope you figure this out, I hate pain!  

[Thisisbarb]

I am new to this forum, and am a little worried, nevermind, alot worried about a relapse, I am 2b geno, I had good responses to the treatment in the beginning, but could not finish the 48 weeks...... now I am always tired again, and have this stinkin joint pain , is it appropriate for me to ask my Gasto Doc to run another blood test to check the numbers again, not just the liver functions, but viral load etc...... And do you know is it possible to have good liver function tests, but still have the Hep C? I am going nuts not knowing......I would be willing to give it my all and try again the combo treatment.
Barb

[DoubleDose]

I did not relapse, and have been SVR for over four years.  I still get the worst sort of shoulder, neck and arm pain on a regular basis that far exceeds what pains I had before my tx'es.  I go from mild to moderate neck and shoulder pains to periods of (like now) severe stiff neck, stabbing shoulder pains and a feeling of weak, heavy arms.  It is pretty nasty stuff, and makes it hard to sleep well, if at all.  Sometimes I cannot sleep on either side, because the shoulders ache too much, and when it is the worst, it hurts sleeping on my back as well, which was my last refuge from night pain.  I feel like there is a knife buried in my cervical vertebrae frequently, and turning my head can be torturous.  I have had the requisite MRI's, exams by neurologists, and spinal doctors...and they only find mild skeletal changes that you would expect at my age.  I think my skeletal nerves, and connective tissues are undergoing some sort of dysfunction or disease process.  And I definitely think the interferon helped it become this bad.  I am not sure what else to do, but I can also agree with the posts above...its no fun.

DoubleDose

[sfbaygirl]

Go to a Rhemy and check it out, sounds similar to some of my symptoms. I hope you don't have FM or CFS!  But the Lyrica sure helps!  Sleeping is a big symptom of FM and  I am pretty sure mine was caused by interferon.  

Hi Barb!  Did you get a PCR after tx ended? As a 2b, 24 weeks is standard. Don't worry, go to the Dr and ask for a PCR TO find out if you did relapse and let us know!  Welcome to the forum, I haven't seen you here before...I think!  

Linda

[willows]

I tx'ed in 2003 and experienced viral breakthru at 30 weeks and no matter how it shakes out, it is a real bummer to not be successful.  Now I have dealt with my non response, but like you, the fatigue is the one "gift that keeps on giving" from my hep c.  In 2002 when I was diagnosed, my doc said fatigue was "all in my head", but since then, there have been studies to show that there is indeed a basis in fact for fatigue and joint pain.  Something about the liver being inflamed, not filtering particular toxins like it should because it does have a fever and even tho it is small amounts, the end result is fatigue.

If your day is filled with the majority of exertion being carried out by your neck and shoulders, then I can understand why you feel pain there the most significantly.  I had a KILLER massage therapist that could find the exact spots I was hurting, in my shoulders or neck and then thru some "send you thru the roof" massage, she could make the pain go away for awhile.  Something about muscles storing lactic acid in them.  

I guess the point is...if our livers have a virus and it is causing inflammation, however minor in comparision to total body mass, then the most used or exercising parts of us will feel less than stellar...and some plan to help those muscles and parts out would be good.  I am like you and do not exercise like I should to help build up energy...but I still frequent a good massage person to help with neck and shoulder pain.  

It should not be so damn hard to explain to a doctor about Hep C and how it manifests itself in my day to day life.  One pill, with a bit of anti-inflammitory and a bit of opiate and a bit of stimulant..taken once a day would make my quality of life one heck of a lot better.  I get so tired of being tired all the time and I know from reading posts here for the past two years that I am SO not alone in that complaint.  

Try to formulate a plan to feel better...makes the waiting for the next new treatment a lot easier.  And my doc gave me numbers that sucked big time regarding my chances for success the second go round, about 15%.  But if the protease inhibitors and polymerease inhibitors don't get approved soon, I fear I will have to give those odds a whirl.  Beats the hell out of zero odds by doing nothing.

Hope you feel better.
Willow

[medchepc]

DoubleDose, your symptoms and experience are very much like mine. Excuse me for quoting you a lot below.

You said: "I still get the worst sort of shoulder, neck and arm pain".

I have shoulder pain, it is not a sharp pain, but it is 'tiring' kind of pain. I use the computer all day and drive a lot. It is like lifting a not-too-heavy object for a long time (like holding a book up all day) and then releasing that, anybody will be tired. I do take breaks at work constantly, and I try to rest my arm and not put a lot of tension on my arms while driving. But they still get tired.

You said: "feeling of weak, heavy arms"
Exactly.

"Sometimes I cannot sleep on either side...it hurts sleeping on my back..."
Very much so. Sometimes the Neurontin works for me as a muscle relaxant (for me is used for nerve pain). It helps me to fall sleep. But if the shoulders/arm/neck/back is all tired and with this dull burning pain, I can't fall asleep. I have to wake up my wife to give me a massage with BenGay.

"knife buried in my cervical vertebrae"
You might have Cervical Radiculitis (diagnosed on me), which I believe resulted from the hep c meds + the type of work I do.

Like sfbaygirl said, have you visited a doctor? I have tried orthopaedic but they really did not help. The one helping now is pain management doctor. The one I have lets me try different types of treatment, including the meds. The one helping me is Neurontin. Massage helps, but is only temporary, and some massage people don't know what they are doing and can hurt you.

DD, I'd be interested to know what type of work you do (even if it's staying at home).

Best wishes to all.