help

[namsdeel]

Ive been doing pretty well with my tx up till now , I was going to do my 10 th injection this past Friday and I felt a bout of sinusitis coming on that I used to have once every six months.

So I did not take my interferon injection this past two days and I stopped my ribavirin,because I am scared of getting more sick , I ve already taken 3rd day off from work , from part time job, commission only and no paid sick days.

I feel like it is either a sinus infection or a viral infection and feel achy and tired and congested.,plus stomach virus feeling
I will go to doctor tomorrow.

My last bloodwork , my wbc was below normal nd I am scared that this infection will be harder to fight

I was und at 2. 5 weeks and also at 6 weeks , but can I restart my tx this week if I can beat this thing?

[YuK]

Sorry to hear about your sinus infection.  Its not a good idea to suspend medication at any time during the tx, but so early is worse.  It's too late now but you should have discussed with your doctor before you decided to stop. Hopefully all is not lost.  Good luck to you and please keep us informed.

[merryBe]

You need to restart your treatment and never discontinue it again. Just postponing that shot 3 days is enough to cause viral breakthrough, and then all the effort of the last few months is undone.

The best chances of SVR occur when the virus is entirely suppressed for several months, that's why folks are left of tx for several months after going UND, because shorter treatments produce more relapses.

I remained on treatment even during abdominal surgery...I would not recommend going off of treatment for anything other than when doctors say to continue your SOC would be life threatening. Absent that you need to be faithful and timely with every shot etc. Otherwise you are wasting time, wasting money, and putting your recovery in total jeopardy, in my opinion.

Of course it isn't easy, of course having a cold, flu or anything else while on chemo is the pits, but you are trying to save a vital organ...VITAL to life...that's what your liver is...you can't just not take the shot BECAUSE you feel a bug coming on!!
.
The Riba builds up in the system, so missing an occasional dose should not prove as disasterous, but to skip the INF shot means you'll be back down to low levels of INF post haste, and that can allow the virons time to adapt, and become interferon resistant as well. This is an absolute no-no.

mb

[namsdeel]

I am taking my shot tonight , 2 days later than usual and started ribavirin, again,
missed about 3 ribavirin pills

[Trish77]

Don't stop your treatment drugs when you feel bad.  You will get a variety of side effects all through treatment - look for ways to deal with the side effects but don't stop your drugs unless your doctor tells you that you are in danger.  It's normal for your white blood cell and red blood cell counts to drop on these drugs. Your doctor should be monitoring this.  I hope you have a doctor who is experienced treating Hep C.  

You were UND at 2 weeks - that is a very excellent sign and increases your chances of success by quite a bit so you don't want to do anything to ruin such improved chances.  Hang in there - post your side effects and you will get information from others who have experienced the same thing and it will help you with ideas on how to handle it for yourself.  

Good luck.

Trish