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1414174 tn?1304680526

Side effects..

I started Pegasys 180/w Ribasphere 1200/d on Friday the 13th at 2pm.  I started noticeing side effects at about 8pm, and they continued till this morning.  I experienced a low grade headache, aches in my upper legs and lower back, some difficulty sleeping, and an awkward kind of dizziness (which I notice now seems to immediately follow my Riba dose).  I am a Genotype 1b, with what I was told a 6log Viral load?? I have clean and sober for over 6 years, and am pretty sure I contracted the virus about 7-8 years ago..

My question is will my side effects continue to be the same? I almost feel "well" today, will I get worse this week at work before my next dose? And when I re-inject each week, should I expect the same effect??

Also, what is a 6-log Viral load?
7 Responses
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Avatar universal
why not stop the guess work and ask the doctor for "YOUR" test results. you can then take your time and go over the results and/or post any here that you need help with.
best of luck with your continuing treatment
Helpful - 0
1414174 tn?1304680526
Thanks everyone for your responses! I feel so much better talking to people who have been where I am today, and not just my doctor..

This whole thing has got me so baffled... I am constantly thinking of all different outcomes, and how each plays a part in the whole 50% sucess factor..

I question the 50% in ways like-

Does the percentage increase as you hit certain steps?

Ability to tolerate and continue treatment?
Four week response?
Twelve week response?

Or is the 50% calculated for the people who sucessfully complete the treatment with SVR?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm going with Bill's insight that the viral load page wasn't handy that day and that's why she didn't show it to you.

A 6 log (to the power of ten, anyway) is a viral load of one million IU/ml, which is fine, even though it doesn't sound fine if you haven't learned that yet.

When I first learned what my viral load was long ago, I thought I was in really bad shape. Well, I wasn't at all, and, according to biopsy, my liver was pretty good; Bill had a low viral load and was a stage three-four. So go figure.

And viral loads fluctuate. Bali had a lot of them pre-tx (and probably during tx) and said they bounced around a lot.

The thing about viral load is that it's useful for your doc to make decisions along the way while treating and doesn't correlate with how damaged your liver is. You get measured when you start tx and then over the course of treatment at certain key points, such as four weeks and twelve weeks. If you don't clear or drop at least two logs by your twelfth week, that's a big turning point in treatment decisions.

My nurse, in her exhaustion, forgot to check off the box for my starting viral load, which really put the doc and me at a possible disadvantage. Luckily, I cleared by week twelve, so no harm done.

At least you know you had the test, thank goodness, and next time, you can get a copy of it.

I had a very rough time with my first shot but then never again over forty-eight weeks. I quickly became anemic ( a positive sign, my doc said) and that put a big (okay, huge) dent in my lifestyle. By then, though, I had got the hang of it a bit. For me, getting the hang of it meant taking things a step at a time and figuring out how to deal with the side effects one at a time.

So I sure hope you stick around and post how you're doing as things keep moving along for you.

Best,

Susan


Susan





Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Bill gave you some sound advice and information.  

That is great you have been clean and sober for 6 years -- way to go!  

I'll get my 5th injection Tuesday.  For the most part, I haven't suffered many physical side effects, other than some annoying things like itching, and skin irritations on different parts of my body.  The second week, I did notice my vision seemed a bit blurry, and I saw silver zigzags and spots before my eyes.  To date, I haven't felt nauseous, had aches and pains, or any flu like systems -- yet.  I do at times feel fatigue.  I felt more fatigue last week than this week -- this weekend I've been sort of hyper.  It is strange to say the least.  The fatigue does sneak up on you -- I have noticed that.  Some days I feel more tired than others.  I'm just keeping myself open to experience anything, and hope that I can squeeze by without too much suffering.  Everyone is different -- our bodies react differently -- one size doesn't fit all.  Some people even feel better on treatment, and a few feel really sick.  Though I've gotten by without any physical ill effects at this point, I have been at times real emotional.  Last weekend I had a mental storm.  Some events occured that were out of my control, and that really upset me, and I went into a mental tailspin.  I'm aware of those feelings now, and how even minor issues can be real annoying, and when I start to feel too anxious, I try and relax and get on this forum and talk to people.  The folks on this forum have been fantastic and I can't prasie them enough.  They have really helped me navigate my way through this adventure, with all its surprises, both good and bad.  They are here for you too, so never hesitate to get on this forum and talk about issues that concern you.  

It is great that you have posted and keep posting.  The human touch, even just through written words, are theraputic and helpful.  I don't know what the future holds, but I know I can come here and get my questions answered, and my emotional and physical issues addressed.

Good luck!
Debbie
Helpful - 0
87972 tn?1322661239
For what it’s worth, viral load results are almost always on a different page than the rest of your labs; things like red and white cell counts are performed locally, while viral load is sent out to a central lab. She might not have had that copy in front of her at that time.

Most of us request hard copies of our labs and keep a little medical file for reference; you can ask your doctor for copies of labs and procedure results if you like.

Most importantly is the amount of reduction at given times in treatment, and not so much how high it was initially.

Best of luck—

--Bill
Helpful - 0
1414174 tn?1304680526
Funny thing is my doc told me that the 6log was pretty typical, but never showed me the actual results.. Thats the only thing she never showed me??
She showed me the results of all my other tests and biopsy.. But never my actual count?
I will be sure to find out what it is at the four week point..
Helpful - 0
87972 tn?1322661239
Hi there, and welcome to the discussion group.

There are a couple of ways to express viral load. One is numerically; an example might be, say, 1,600,000 (1 million, six hundred thousand international units per milliliter) IU/mL.

This same viral load expressed using logarithms (log) is log 6.20 IU/mL.

A log six viral load is rather typical; but rather vague without some decimals after it. Log six could range from 1,000,000 (log 6.00) to 9,999,999 (log 6.99). So, you know it’s less than 10,000,000 anyway.

You’ll likely not experience any severe, acute side effects again like the first injection; I had a pretty good whiskey-hangover-feeling after the first shot, but got it both times I did treatment. However, you’ll probably have other issues throughout; fatigue, irritability, emotional lability, etc. It’s unlikely they’ll be of the ‘hit by a truck’ caliber though, more likely sneak up over a period of time.

Congrats on clean and sober; that’s huge!

Take care, and stay in touch—

--Bill
Helpful - 0
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