Aa
side effects of medication
how bad are the side effects of treatment and when is the new drug being released on the market
There's no one here who can tell you whether you can work or not. You need to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Some people get knocked down hard by the drugs. Personally, I did 48 weeks on PEG Riba and soem other pills and never had any side effects. It happens. But I had friends and coworkers prepared if things didn't go that way.
Hi there. I can't answer your queries, but I suggest you write this as a new question. This thread is nearly 2 years old, and you will get the best replies if you use the Post a Question link at the top of the page.
God bless I'm glad to hear that your undetectable. My concern is that I am a certified nurses aide n my job is heavy. The doctor says it will be tuff for me to continue working under the treatment. I need to work so I can pay for the treatment. I don't know how much temporary disability will give some say 60 n some say 70 of my salary. I start the triple therapy in 2 weeks.
My question is me being a certified nurses aide on this treatment would it effect me due to the fact I do heavy work physically.
AJ,
I took the riba/inter treatment about 5 years ago for 48 weeks, I didn't take anti depressants and I worked the whole time. It was very difficult to be sure - I had all the side effects everyone talks about - But I did it - you can too... Now they have an additional drug and I am going to try again - Talk to your doctor and try not to let it get you down mentally...That will cause a heavy burden on your family and yourself...Best regards...Fred
I took the riba/inter treatment about 5 years ago for 48 weeks, I didn't take anti depressants and I worked the whole time. It was very difficult to be sure - I had all the side effects everyone talks about - But I did it - you can too... Now they have an additional drug and I am going to try again - Talk to your doctor and try not to let it get you down mentally...That will cause a heavy burden on your family and yourself...Best regards...Fred
THANK YOU SO MUCH...IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO HEAR THIS..I ALSO, HAVE TO
WORK AND TAKE CARE OF HOME AND FAMILY.. I AM IN GOOD HEALTH, AN D HAVE NEVER TAKEN ANY DRUGS...I AM GOING TO START ON THE NEW DRUG
THERAPY AS MY DR. SUGGESTED I WAIT FEELING THAT I WOULD HAVE BETTER
RESULTS AND WAS IN NO IMMEIDATE DANGER....I AM GOING TO BE VERY UPBEAT ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I DO NOT LIKE TO BE SICK OR DEPRESSED...I WAS
WORRIED WHEN EVERYONE WAS SAYING THEY TOOK ANTIDEPRESSANTS....DID YOU TAKE THEM.....I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE INFO AS I AM VERY
NERVOUS ABOUT STARTING TREATMENT....AJ
WORK AND TAKE CARE OF HOME AND FAMILY.. I AM IN GOOD HEALTH, AN D HAVE NEVER TAKEN ANY DRUGS...I AM GOING TO START ON THE NEW DRUG
THERAPY AS MY DR. SUGGESTED I WAIT FEELING THAT I WOULD HAVE BETTER
RESULTS AND WAS IN NO IMMEIDATE DANGER....I AM GOING TO BE VERY UPBEAT ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I DO NOT LIKE TO BE SICK OR DEPRESSED...I WAS
WORRIED WHEN EVERYONE WAS SAYING THEY TOOK ANTIDEPRESSANTS....DID YOU TAKE THEM.....I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE INFO AS I AM VERY
NERVOUS ABOUT STARTING TREATMENT....AJ
AS YOU CAN SEE I AM A WRECK...I NEED TO WORK...I HAVE NEVER TAKEN ANY
MEDS SO I AM FRIGHTENED BY WHAT IT WILL DO TO MY BODY....
HAVE A GOOD SUPPORT TEAM,,BUT WANT TO START AND GET THIS OVER WITH...
I HAVE HEARD FROM QUITE A FEW PEOPLE THAT THEY COULD NOT FUNCTION
AT ALL...WERE IN BED FOR A YEAR...CANNOT IMAGINE...AJ
MEDS SO I AM FRIGHTENED BY WHAT IT WILL DO TO MY BODY....
HAVE A GOOD SUPPORT TEAM,,BUT WANT TO START AND GET THIS OVER WITH...
I HAVE HEARD FROM QUITE A FEW PEOPLE THAT THEY COULD NOT FUNCTION
AT ALL...WERE IN BED FOR A YEAR...CANNOT IMAGINE...AJ
The thoughts are that if a person has ever had issues with depression in the past, there is a good chance that interferon will cause it to come back. You have to understand that depression is caused by an underproduction of serotonin and/or norepinephrin which are neurotransmitters.... chemicals that are in the gap between nerve cells. If there aren't enough of them, the impulse has a hard time passing from one nerve to the next, which depresses, or slows down the messages from one part of the brain to the other, or to other parts of the body. We aren't sad because we feel so rotten on treatment... our brain chemistry gets screwed up and ADs help keep it in a more normal state.
All kinds of things are changed in the body with the drugs we take. I was on only Interferon and Ribavirin, and I had the depression, my oil glands in my skin stopped working, so had to use lots of lotion, lost about 1/3 of my hair, lots of body aches, my RBCs and WBCs decreased quite a bit too... so apparently the bone marrow doesn't work as well as it should either. The Ribavirin was rough on my stomach, so I couldn't let my stomach get empty or it really hurt. Others are the opposite and can't stand to eat, or can't keep it down. They loose lots of weight, but I gained 15 pounds. I've been done with tx for a little over 2 months and have lost 10 of those pounds already. My RBCs and WBCs are almost back to where they used to be too. My skin getting back to normal was really weird. One day it was dry and suddenly the next day the oil glands started working again and it was almost like when I was a teenager... greasy, shiny face by noon... UGH!!!! But after a couple of weeks it started to level off and the skin on my body is getting soft again... used to feel like alligator skin.
So, lots of things didn't work normally while I was on tx (treatment)... but they are slowly and surely getting back to normal... except for the depression, I'm still waiting and hoping that that will normalize. I had to do 48 weeks, so if you can wait for the new drugs to get going, hopefully you will be able to stop at 24 weeks, and things may not be as bad. My last 2 months were the worse.
Yes, it was pretty tough, but the virus has been undetectable (UND) since my 12th week of tx, so there is a good chance I'm free from it, which is worth all of the unpleasantness.
Diane
All kinds of things are changed in the body with the drugs we take. I was on only Interferon and Ribavirin, and I had the depression, my oil glands in my skin stopped working, so had to use lots of lotion, lost about 1/3 of my hair, lots of body aches, my RBCs and WBCs decreased quite a bit too... so apparently the bone marrow doesn't work as well as it should either. The Ribavirin was rough on my stomach, so I couldn't let my stomach get empty or it really hurt. Others are the opposite and can't stand to eat, or can't keep it down. They loose lots of weight, but I gained 15 pounds. I've been done with tx for a little over 2 months and have lost 10 of those pounds already. My RBCs and WBCs are almost back to where they used to be too. My skin getting back to normal was really weird. One day it was dry and suddenly the next day the oil glands started working again and it was almost like when I was a teenager... greasy, shiny face by noon... UGH!!!! But after a couple of weeks it started to level off and the skin on my body is getting soft again... used to feel like alligator skin.
So, lots of things didn't work normally while I was on tx (treatment)... but they are slowly and surely getting back to normal... except for the depression, I'm still waiting and hoping that that will normalize. I had to do 48 weeks, so if you can wait for the new drugs to get going, hopefully you will be able to stop at 24 weeks, and things may not be as bad. My last 2 months were the worse.
Yes, it was pretty tough, but the virus has been undetectable (UND) since my 12th week of tx, so there is a good chance I'm free from it, which is worth all of the unpleasantness.
Diane
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INFO....I HAVE NO SYMPTOMS RIGHT NOW...DR SAID TO
WAIT FOR NEW DRUG AS THIS MIGHT CUT BACK TREATMENT TIME AND HELP WITH SIDE EFFECTS...I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE DRUG WILL BE ON THE MARKET
THEY FEEL I AM IN GOOD HEALTH AND LIVER IS NOT AFFECTED,....SO FEELING IS
I WILL TOLERATE TREATMENT A LITTLE BETTER.. I CERTAINLY HOPE SO... I AM
DETERMINED NOT TO BE SICK....WHY IS EVERYONE ON ANTIDEPRESSANTS....
IS IT THAT BAD....
CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING...AJ
WAIT FOR NEW DRUG AS THIS MIGHT CUT BACK TREATMENT TIME AND HELP WITH SIDE EFFECTS...I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE DRUG WILL BE ON THE MARKET
THEY FEEL I AM IN GOOD HEALTH AND LIVER IS NOT AFFECTED,....SO FEELING IS
I WILL TOLERATE TREATMENT A LITTLE BETTER.. I CERTAINLY HOPE SO... I AM
DETERMINED NOT TO BE SICK....WHY IS EVERYONE ON ANTIDEPRESSANTS....
IS IT THAT BAD....
CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING...AJ
As for risk factors.... I get so aggravated because everybody seems to think that only IV drug users get HCV, or people who have had blood transfusions. Since I found out that I was infected a little over a year ago, and I had been infected for 25 years BTW... my research has come up with people getting infected by sharing a straw while snorting cocaine and some other drugs... it only takes once. I read about a clinic in Nevada that does colonoscopies that infected over 1000 people because they were re-using syringes and just changing the needles. I read about people in the military who got infected with the air guns they used to use to give shots to many people at a time. They didn't even know how to screen for HCV before 1992 and there are many shots and immunizations that they make from human blood, or used to, and anybody back then could have been infected and not known it. I have Rh negative blood and had to have Rhogam shots after I had my babies.... that is made from human blood too. Just last summer I read about a Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL who's radiologist was shooting himself with part of the pain shots and then giving the rest to the patients... and he was HCV pos.
So actually, as you can see... almost all adults could have been exposed to HCV, and in my opinion, all adults should be checked for it because by the time symptoms show up we have been infected for YEARS and damage has already been done.
I also had to stop working, but that was because my job required really good concentration with lots of distractions around me. The brain fog was pretty rough.
Diane
So actually, as you can see... almost all adults could have been exposed to HCV, and in my opinion, all adults should be checked for it because by the time symptoms show up we have been infected for YEARS and damage has already been done.
I also had to stop working, but that was because my job required really good concentration with lots of distractions around me. The brain fog was pretty rough.
Diane
I could not work, I came back to work PT at the end. For me it was like a timeout from real life.
thank you for your comments...i have no idea how i got this as i come from a family of
drs. and have not taken any drugs.,,,not even as a teenager,, no suregery, not even
stitches....i cannot imagine being on all this medication....did anyone have to stop working? thanks for all the input...i am terrified of the whole thing have not started treatment yet....
drs. and have not taken any drugs.,,,not even as a teenager,, no suregery, not even
stitches....i cannot imagine being on all this medication....did anyone have to stop working? thanks for all the input...i am terrified of the whole thing have not started treatment yet....
If you are refering to Interferon and Ribovirin then although variable I found the side effects to be very dibilitating and contnue after the course ends [re.Hepatitus C Trust Post Treatment Survey].Having said that the possibilities if you do not get treated are far worse.Good luck.
aj I was one of the lucky ones. After a few months I actually felt better on tx than the years b4. During a year an a half I took 4 Tylenol total. I was fatigued but less so than b4 starting, and so on. Just saying sides vary widely from person to person. You may be as likely to end up on the easy end as not. Here's hoping it so. Good luck.
You realize you still have to take the other drugs too, right ? It's now triple therapy. Victrelis (Boceprevir) has been released and is available now, looks like Monday for Tela approval.
Magnum just posted an excellent thread with videos for Dr. Palmer on these two drugs, she goes over the sx. Look at his profile find the thread, the videos should be seen if your considering these drugs.
Magnum just posted an excellent thread with videos for Dr. Palmer on these two drugs, she goes over the sx. Look at his profile find the thread, the videos should be seen if your considering these drugs.
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I didn't take any meds prior to the treatment meds either...not even cold medicines because they would knock me out...but the treatment meds didn't effect me any worse than anyone else. My blood counts dropped significantly but never went "too low". Treatment was successful for me.
Keep a positive outlook on this. In my opinion, one of the worst things a person can do is to go into treatment with a negative outlook. Keep one foot in front of the other...the little engine that could...one day at a time...etc.