long term side effects after taking pegasy/ribrivan

[beachmomma04]

I'm 44 yr old female dx with Hep C genotype 1a stage 3 by liver biopsy, did treatment for 72 weeks 3 months after treatment i relapsed.  it will be 6 months on feb 19 since my last treatment.  I still have serve muscle and joint pain, fatigue, insomnia, white blood count still low, chronic diarrhea, shortness of breath, and can't REMEMBER things (brain fog).   My doctor told me today that my illness wasn't from the treatment but from ANXIETY DISORDER, fibromyalgia,ibs and that i needed to see a psychiatry consultation.  Is there anyone that has Hep C and took treatments having long term problems? OR is it just me!!!  Please Help and let me know

[jules2551]

lol...I am still reading that 500 ct thread

[willbb]

Deb:
I believe Em removed that thread from the site..thankfully.

[nygirl7]

Same thread different day. Maybe you can just point her to the 500 comment thread, that should have enough information to last a life time in it.

I would but I don't know how to copy paste on this iPad.

[DoubleDose]

I guess my 'take' on all the survey information on the Hepatitis Trust site (and I DO recommend going onto the site and reading the FULL summary of results) is just this:  If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.... well you know the rest.  In otherwords, if more than half of people surveyed after tx seem to develop a set of common symptoms, many debilitating (arthritis, tendonitis, severe anxiety, mental confusion, etc.), and even after a year or two down the road anywhere from one-third to one-fourth of all treaters STILL are afflicted with the same symptoms...then we are definitely seeing something that is caused by the treatment.  There is NO coincidence here...the drugs are already known to be very powerful, and immune system altering.  Its no big surprise that for many of us, those immune system and CNS changes caused by these drugs, especially interferon, continue on and on, unabated, and in some of us seem to get more severe over time.  

Make no mistake, this is not a 'garden variety' depression or anxiety syndrome somehow inexplicably cropping up right after we end tx, and causing these problems...more like the depression and anxiety we experience are just a couple of the wide range of after-effects FROM the therapy.  These side effects range far beyond just depression and anxiety...and the whole basket of sympotms has been termed: 'post-interferon syndrome' by the Mayo Clinic.  Let's just call a spade a spade.  We need to get some attention focused on this widespread problem, and to have the medical community stop sweeping it under the rug!!  More than anything, we (The HCV community) need to stop being in denial, and trying to blame everything else but the real cause, on the post-tx problems that a very significant number of us suffer.  Again, just read the surveys conducted by the Hepatitis Trust...examine their background as an organization...come to your own conclusions.  

DoubleDose

[nygirl7]

Great post Jasmine, depression and anxiety can certainly cause those symptoms.  If your doctor believes you should be checked out, do it. It can't hurt and possibly could help a lot.

[beachmomma04]

Thank You for all the info I will check them out, but what does every one do about work, my doctors will not release me to go back and to work and i couldn't do the work if i had to.   Social Sucrity ( sorry can't remember how to spll this morning) has denied me twice.