SVR / Alcohol Consumption

[Mordred]

I have two questions. First, what is SVR. Second question is with HepC being so deadly if you drink, why are all of these doctors telling their patients "one or two drinks a night is fine"? Shouldn't these doctors know to tell their patients not to drink?

[Mordred]

Xanax do come in two mg pills. You can break them in half or swallow the whole pill.

[AK - Hepper]

I'm not really depressed, I just feel all weird and anxious anytime I'm the center of attention, my heart starts beating really fast, coupla times my hand cramped up when I was onstage. Kinda hard to play guitar when you can't move your fingers. :-)
I only take 1-10mg. Xanax and it gives me a pretty bad hangover the next day, if I take a half of one it doesn't help with the anxiety. I still feel weird from the one I took last night and it's 24 hours later.
Zoloft or Paxil is probably next on the list, the doc started me out on Lexapro cause it's the easiest on the liver, but it doesn't seem to be doing much good.
She mentioned trying Beta blockers, don't know how hard those are on the old liver, though.

Mordred, do the Xanax come in 2 mg. pills or do you have to break them up?

[honey1616]

hahaha  how funny!  Only you Chev,,,would read that into AK's post!  Awwww,,,,Sounds pretty good to me,,A shot with a lime!  Wish I could!!! Just for New Years LOL

Jane,,,Everyone has their own ideas on hep c and drinking so you just have to go with what you feel best with. I'm steering clear until I clear this boger but alot don't think a drink here and there will hurt.  Just do what you feel best doing,,,

[cbee]

Have you tried any AD like Zoloft?  I know several people with social phobia who have done well with it.  I took it for depression and it worked well for me too.  Be careful with those benzos (xanax, ativan).  They are very addictive and so so hard to come off of. I took them for about 5 weeks last year for anxiety and not even regularly. My anxiety went through the roof when I went off of them and I did it so slowly.  I didn't sleep for so long and I looked and felt like a zombie.  It was so bad that even though I have some anxiety now, I just can't bring myself to take them.  You can read about this all over the web.

I hope you find something that helps you.

-cbee

-cbee

[harley dude]

Ak, maybe your taking to many ha-ha- I started the xanax while on tx and sure helped me out. I hadn't done valium since the old days either(but I remember they made me feel better than xanax- it's worth a try. The old river is still running as usual-never stops. Sure hope you get over your depressed feeling, I'm sure there's something out there that can help. I'll be the first to admit that I miss my cold beer in the evenings, when fishing,or grilling some thick T-Bones or just whatever, but I'll just have to believe in the Ole Doc and give it up, that's what he recommends. It was funny, my first barbecue without my beer didn't do so well- lets just say everything was very very well done(burnt)- just couldn't stay focused(ha-ha). Hope you find somehting that will perk you up- See Ya- HD

[Sioux]

Food for thought .........

With HCV "the dragon". We have to be careful what we feed it. (food or drink) Alcohol seems to be fuel for the dragon.
If you want the dragon to grow and gain stength, drink all you want. However, why take a chance on not having an SVR ? The decision is up to each individual. I chose NOT to drink. And will not in the future. I want my liver to be happy.

[Mordred]

I've been taking 2 mg of Xanax 4 times a day for the last 11 years. It's the only thing that keeps me from going mad. And I've been on sleeping pills for 11 years as well. (both are prescribed) Without them I'd probably not leave my house.

[AK - Hepper]

No,no,no!!!! I never did like that stuff, even back when I was a drinker!!! :-}

[AK - Hepper]

Alcohol ALWAYS stirs up a big nasty debate here. You just have to take it with a grain of salt..... :-)

[Jane_s]

Why is everyone so judgemental of everyone else? My Dr said a few drinks a week while on treatment won't hurt, maybe it does depend on the state of my liver... I have no liver damage, I have also never had elevated liver function tests, have always had low Hep C levels and was negative at 12 weeks... if it comes back then it comes back, no-one can prove one way or another whether it would have with or without the drinks. Those of you that accuse anyone on here of having serious drinking problems when they ask if a couple of drinks a week is OK have bigger problems than these poor people. Why don't you all lighten up and stop attacking people for having a differing opinion or asking a question you don't like.

[AK - Hepper]

I been trying Xanax, but it gives me a pretty good hangover the next day, plus it makes my liver hurt a little, too. Haven't tried Valium, yet, leastways not since my younger days, if ya get my drift. How's life on the big river these days, HD?

[harley dude]

Give xanax or valium a try, guaranteed you won't have social phobia, just my opinion- Harley Dude

[AK - Hepper]

I've been wondering if it's OK to drink non-alcoholic 'beer', after all it does have less than .5 percent alcohol.

Yep, this disease really sucks goats, it's hard to have a whole lot of fun going out when you have to stay sober.

On top of HCV, I have social phobia. I used to self medicate with alcohol and managed to do OK with it. Nowadays, I can't figure out what to do about it. I tried Lexapro but it's made me so damn lazy I don't feel like going out anyway. Mostly I just sit around the house playing my guitar or surfing the web, too much stage fright to actually get out and play in public. Life hasn't been a whole lot of fun the last 7 years, but I suppose it could be a whole lot worse.

[Mordred]

I swear I'm not making any of this up. I live in the Tampa Bay area, have insurance which should help me find the best doctors in the area, and have already switched my doctor 3 times. The latest is the one that told me to not get "too wasted" on New Years Eve. I don't know what the hell to think anymore. I have medical professionals telling me not to drink too much, and others telling me not to touch any alcohol. I'm confused when I have blood work drawn as well. I always tell any medical professional that's going to draw blood that I have HepC because I don't want to give it to anyone else and they still don't bother putting on gloves. I have a friend who is employeed by the VA hospital here and she tells me info I want to know. My AST/ALT levels dropped in half from six months ago, which I thought was a good thing, but my friend said a lot of times when the numbers drop that far down in such a short time can mean the liver is extremely damaged. I've started to wonder if I'll be dead within a year. I'm definately concerned about New Year's Eve. I've always drank Red Deaths and shots of Rummpelminze to ring in the new year. I'm wondering if I should be chained to a wall for the evening. I hate this disease. I've destroyed my life because of it.

[eztagger]

My 2 cents: Even the local specialist who knew less about HCV than I do immediately told me to quit drinking alcohol. He didn't have to tell me because I quit the day I received that awful letter from the blood center and did some research on the internet. And, let me tell you what, y'all. I do love my ice cold beer and occasional Jack Daniels straight up.

[Sioux]

Alcohol = miracle grow
Alcohol + HCV = bad things for your liver

[harley dude]

I think anyone that has HCV and liver damage and was or is being treated for it and even if you SVR your stupid if you continue to drink(even on occasions) during or after tx. If you can't stop seek help, stopping alcohol isn't that big of a deal unless your are an alcohol, than you need help. Most of our livers were damaged by the alcohol while having HCV and continuing the alcohol will only hurt it. "Only my opinion, but a good one!!- See Ya'll and Happy Holidays- Harley Dude

[Lynne5477]

Whether it's okay to have a drink or two every now or then or none at all probably depends primarily on the state of your liver.  My doc said it was okay but I had no liver damage.  I still did not drink while on tx.  I do now have a small glass of wine about once weekly (if I am enjoying it) when we are out with friends.  Mostly, I don't enjoy it like I used to.
  I have a friend that has some chirosis and her doc said NO drinking whatsoever.

Secondly, this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone drawing blood without gloves in quite some years.  Once the AIDS scare came out, everyone started wearing gloves.  Personally, I wouldn't want anyone drawing blood, cleaning my teeth, etc that didn't wear gloves.

Who knows what they may have been into before tx me.

Good luck to you.

[ellissg]

Back at Ya! Have a great holiday. It feels good to have posted that little dissertation. It seems it never fails that when you tell the truth, you feel better.

A beautiful Holiday season to all you great Heppers out there!

Steve

[Tony-z]

I work in the medical profession, and see many times per week where fresh blood is present and staff (this includes LPNs and Rn's) clean it up without gloves or proper disinfecting.
I have personally gone to our infectious control unit to complain, because I don't want someone to end up in my condition. But it has been to no avail, infectious control says the standards are in place.
I have had blood drawn on many occasion at the Kaiser facility were I was treated, and the phlebotomist did not wear gloves, it seems to be better over the last 2 years.

<B>I should restate my post on alcohol.</b>
At the time my Dr's said a couple drinks a week were OK, started back in 1989 till around 1995, at that time I had no, to very little fibrosis ..........

               God Bless.........

[AK - Hepper]

My doc advised me to quit drinking altogether, so I did, back in '98. It took me a few months after diagnosis to actually get there, the habit was pretty well entrenched.
I've had a few drinks a couple of times since, and got really hammered once. I had a hangover for 3 days, it wasn't a whole lot of fun. A couple of those times were right after I finished tx, the doc later advised me that I should at least wait till after my 6 month PCR to drink.

I read somewhere once that if you drink with hepc you're 10 times more likely to progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

[jonihs]

I don't believe that most Dr.s do say that it's okay to drink. Mine definitely did not, and I think most people here got the same advice.  Sometimes I think folks here what they want to, to some extent.  Joni

[scruffy]

Doctors are human beings and as such are sometimes wrong, sometimes right, sometimes smart and sometimes stupid. As are we all.

[Christie2004]

And you are right about some people not wearing gloves--but as a nurse I NEVER draw blood on ANYONE (hepC or not)without gloves.