Sarcoidosis after 6 months treatment for Hep c

[jjhvc]

Has anyone else had Sarcoidosis pop up after or during treatment for Hepatitis C ? Is this a side effect of the treatment?

[merryBe]

sorry you are encountering this, I did read it listed with the serious side effects, here's one article that backs up tx as a cause:

Sarcoidosis Associated With Pegylated Interferon Alfa and Ribavirin Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis C
A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Eva A. Hurst, MD; Theodora Mauro, MD


Arch Dermatol. 2005;141:865-868.

Background  At least 2.7 million Americans are infected with chronic hepatitis C. An increasing number are treated with interferon alfa plus ribavirin regimens. Not surprisingly, this immune stimulation is associated with the development of autoimmune and cutaneous diseases. Several cases of sarcoidosis have been reported with hepatitis C treatment, most recently in association with pegylated interferon alfa plus ribavirin. Systemic manifestations of sarcoidosis are usually treated with oral steroids, which unfortunately often increase the hepatitis C viral load. Thus, it is important to ascertain whether systemic corticosteroids are required to treat interferon alfa–associated sarcoidosis.

Observations  We report the third case of cutaneous sarcoidosis in association with pegylated interferon alfa plus ribavirin treatment. Our patient had both cutaneous and pulmonary involvement, which has been spontaneously resolving since his treatment regimen was completed. In addition, we review the 12 previously reported cases of cutaneous sarcoidosis that occurred in patients undergoing hepatitis C treatment with interferon alfa.

Conclusions  As the number of patients being treated with interferon alfa and ribavirin for hepatitis C increases, it is essential that dermatologists recognize the association of this treatment with sarcoidosis, because skin lesions may provide the first clue to diagnosis. Development of sarcoidosis may relate to hepatitis C as a possible antigenic trigger in the presence of an enhanced helper T cells type 1 response from treatment. Sarcoidosis with skin lesions in patients undergoing hepatitis C treatment often follows a benign course, and interferon alfa therapy may sometimes be continued with resolution of sarcoidosis occurring spontaneously or within a few months of completing treatment. Cautious use of systemic corticosteroids is warranted given their adverse effects on hepatitis C viral loads.


Author Affiliations: Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco.

[fretboard]

That's terrible, sorry to hear about that unfortunate sx as a result of the HepC tx.  Is it ocular sarcoidosis or skin lesions that you're having problems with and did you have any eye trouble prior to the HepC tx or did it just pop up out of nowhere?  Thanks for sharing your story, I did a little bit of reading on the subject.  There's alot of information on pubmed about this, and unlike "cotton wool spots" where they stop or reduce inteferon tx right away.  This sarcoidosis seems to be a result of both inteferon and ribavirin both.  good luck

[annekynch]

i was diagnosed with sarciodosis shortly after eot.  mainly it's bumps
on my arms and buttocks.  at first i had some large bumps but now they
are all small and seem to be going away.  i had a lot of trouble breathing
for a few weeks but now i'm fine.  my chest xray was clear so the thinking
was i had one in a lymph node.  all in all it wasn't a big deal and now i'm six
months post and they are almost gone.

[jjhvc]

Thanks for the responce .
I'm going to get some tests next week to see if it is affecting lungs and eyes. The lumps are ugly but not painful.
No eye trouble before treatment   I hope my bumps reduce in size as well.
I've been 4 months undetected now and was feeling better every day . Now it's this chalange. At least the hep C is gone for now . All the best to all of you . Thanks , jjhvc

[jjhvc]

The granualomas are now gone . 10 months post tx  still clear .Lung Cat Scan clear . Eye exam good .  Oct . will be a year feeling pretty good except for the Brain Fog thing . Doc said it will get better but I do not think I'll ever ever be the same in that respect. Sometimes I remember sometime I don't . So I've named my new problem "Sometimmers"  Anyone else post tx experiencing  this ? Did anyone get better recall skills post 2 years or more ? Oh some of this might be my age 56.
thanks to all of you who responded. All the Best to all , Jan

[merryBe]

wow, I'm really glad to hear this cleared up for you!!

It was helpful to read that most cases cleared after treatment, yes?

Some of the scarier things, like this, especially in the lungs (which seemed more disconserting to me....things inside are scarier than skin anomalies aren't they) are really hard to handle when they happen to US.

It's pretty amazing though that even with all kinds of weird reactions to the chemo in most cases the body heals itself and returns to normal as the chemicals clear the system.

I'll bet you are very relieved.

Thanks for sharing that with group.

The newly diagnosed or new treaters need to know this usually does clear up!!

mb

[alagirl]

"sometimers"  I like it.

A lot of the brain fog has cleared up, but the recall isn't what it used to be...

[Odin999]

Glad to hear your sarcoidosis has cleared up. I knew a Vietnam vet who developed that. Agent Orange was implicated at the time. Thank goodness you are still clear of the virus.

As for cognitive issues, I treated for 14 weeks. Even after that relatively short amount of time I find that my memory has been affected. New memory retention capacity is reduced and I have also lost some old information. I am still functional though. Stopping Ribavirin improved the Brain Fog very quickly. I am 52, some of it is age, but really the rest of it is defintely the drugs. I had much more processing capacity before treatment.

Try some mental exercises to see if you can rebuild your brain physically. Actively rehabilitate yourself by repetitively doing whatever you struggle with most. I think improvement is possible. I always bang on about this, but I really believe that physical and mental rehabilitation should be part of SOC. People shouldn't just be cut loose after treatment. There would be better outcomes if post-treatment diet, exercise and mental training exercises were developed and put into practice immediately. Just like you woudl expect to have physio after a shoulder reconstruction.