25 beginning treatment

[TiffanyMarie84]

Hello, I have been perusing this place and finding helpful info, however im still scared. I start tomorrow, pegasys ribavarin. Im 25, i have two beutiful boys, one eight and one 18 months. Im in college , and in january Im supposed start the actual nursing school. This is important, and Iam afraid about being able to study and remember things. I have noticed people talking aout brain fog and memory loss. Does anyone know if age is a factor in whether or not some side effects will be worse or more likely?

[portann]

You'll have to wait and see how you react but with a good support system and strategy for dealing with different side effects that may pop up, you'll likely manage your studies just fine.

There were several young members who participated on this forum while they were treating. One had almost no sides, worked during the week and went on phenomenal hikes on the weekend that I could only dream about. The other (a dear, dear gal) is a full-time student. She had a fair number of sides but managed to get through a very heavy academic year.

You can always consider requesting an extension from your prof for medical reasons if the need does arise.

[nygirl7]

You will be ok.  You are young and you found out you have this disease early in life so you have an advantage some of us old guys didn't have - probably your brain will work much much better than ours at remembering but then probably it's just oldage sinking in and making us forget like those old people you see on tv going "ha what Sonny?"   ;)

Just hang in there and take it one day at a time that is really all you can do while trying to remember just why you are doing treatment - to kill this disease.

Good luck.

[RobertBeWell]

Yes, Tiff, welcome, and we're glad you're here. Fear is everyone's first reaction, and it can be overwhelming. I just did my first shot/pills yesterday... and I can tell you that the anticipation was far worse than the actual thing. I took all that stuff, drove 35 miles to the airport in SoCal traffic, and jumped on a plane. I was very pleasantly surprised that I was able to function with no issues at all.

While everyone is different, being young and strong as you are, I think you'll do fine.

Remember, education is the key to mastering this disease. It is curable, and the future is looking better for eradicating it.

Good luck on day 1!

Robert

[vik97]

Hi Tiffany,

Welcome to the forum!  It is normal to be afraid.  We were all there once.  The hardest part is getting started.  This website is a  great resource of information and it can keep you busy if you can't sleep at night.

On the topic of brain fog and memory loss,  this is something I am going through right now.  I am in week 41 of 48 weeks of treatment and I notice my mind is not as sharp as it normally is but I can function ok and nobody notices the difference.

I think you'll be ok to start nursing school in January, but the treatment affects everybody differently and you can decide as you go along.

Vik