wine blues

[kiwigal63]

i have been diagnoised with hep c since 1994 and my levels go up and down all the time.
When i drink wine i get terrible nausea if i drink wine for only a few days.
I now have had red spots all over my legs(no pain or anything) and cant get rid of them...anyone know why all this is happening and if its hep c related.
Thankyou in advance

[alagirl]

I don't know how all of you who work outside the home and treat at the same time do it.  I had a difficult time doing some sales from here and it wasn't much.  I couldn't even think straight and I would see people like Wyntr who MOVED by herself during tx and feel so inadequate.  

Sometimes too I would feel grateful for the fatigue because sleeping meant escaping from how lousy I felt.  Sometimes I wish now it was easier to sleep.

[alagirl]

sorry, it wasn't that I'd had enough or anything.  I just don't always get to check back or read everything I'd like to lately.  

I think that when people come to us for help, admitting their frailties up front, we should at the very least answer their medical questions and I felt like a bunch of us admonished about alcohol without ever advising her to have her kidneys checked regarding the lesions.  

That said, I have to admit that on the 7th I not only had a migraine but I was having a singularly horrible day.  and further... I juxtaposed magnum's post when I read it, thinking it was from kiwi, not to, therefore, I thought she'd already said her doctors had told her not to drink.  

I only went back to reread because of merry's post saying sometimes people don't know not to drink or do certain things.  and I thought, what are you talking about.  She said her doctors told her.  And then I saw that it was Magnum who'd actually made the statement and well.  so hey.  I stipulate that although I am usually perfect and I have all the answers to everything in the world, that on this one ocassion I may have uh... not.

I still believe that when we all jump on someone about the same thing we risk them not returning.  I don't know enough about addiction to have an opinion about whether or not it is an actual disease, or to really have many opinions about it at all.  But I do strongly believe that everyone who comes here deserves as valid an answer to all of their questions as we can give them.  

Now that I've gone back and reread, obviously, part of her question WAS about the alcohol (and I apologize to everyone for misreading Magnum's post), and absolutely the answer to that is a clinical one.  We can't give methods to counter nausea after drinking because alcohol provides a base for the disease to basically procreate exponentially.  But I still feel that the issues about the enzymes and lesions should have been addressed equally.  

[nygirl7]

When the anemia hit I remember I had to take a nap at my desk every lunch time just so I could make it through the day. Being SO tired but not able to sleep at night...it seemed during the day I could have slept like CRAZY for some reason but then the night would come again and I'd stare at the clock........

17 months later now and it's finally getting better...although I think I programmed myself to WANT to sleep :)

[mr.lucky66]

Thanks ,Marcia. I guess you will start TX soon? I don't think I get brain fog and no joint pain but I have a high viral load with a good biopsy. The fatigue is serious every afternoon.

[Marcia2202]

The brain fog part was for mr.lucky

[Marcia2202]

I definitely get enough sleep and I sleep like a baby. I might wake up in the middle of the night to empty my bladder, but i will go right back to sleep with no problem. The fatigue I'm talking about is severe. I am very weak at the same time. Brain fog is when you feel stupid. LOL! When yo are stoopid. Okay, I'll be serious.... I forget things, something like making food and burning it. It will totally slip my mind, that I was even making food. I walked out of a store without paying for the merchandise I was carrying in my hands. I couldn't remember my home number, when I was at the lab. Things like that. It seems like your brain is foggy.

Marcia

[mr.lucky66]

I guess we did hyjack this thread but the original poster is MIA. I have this afternoon fatigue but not joint pain or the other symptoms. What is brain fog? I usually don't sleep enough at night so by 3 I really cranky but feel my hep c is a big part of this. all the best in TX

[Isobella]

I have been watching this thread and can't stay away now that we are talking fatigue!  

My favorite subject---siesta.  I get so tired in the afternoons that I have to take a nap.  First it was 15-20 minutes, now sometimes it is an hour-I wake myself up snoring in the afternoon!  Seriously though, I have to plan my day around it now.  And I get at least 8 hrs of sleep a nite too.

I have the joint pain and muscle aches too.  Brain fog-yup, that too.  I think that is from thinking too much about starting tx tho.  Goodness knows what that will turn into when I do finally start.  

Working out doesn't seem to make it worse like I thought it would, so I have added exercise back into my days.  Hopefully that will help.........

[working dog]

i was wondering if you guys get enough sleep every night ? ...sometimes i think some of my fatigue is from staying up too late and getting less then 8 hours sleep...but i think a lot of it is hayfever..or maybe just the hep......billy

[mr.lucky66]

Marcia, thanks for telling me because it's just like me without that fog maybe. I not going ro be treated with interfuron and my GI wants me to wait for the new TX BUT IT IS A REAL DRAG IN THE AFTERNOON. I haven't forgotten about KIWI and hope she comes back.

[Marcia2202]

Are you on treatment?

I'm not treating, yet. But I have fatigue and it is always worse in the afternoon. I also have a low grade fever going one. (on and off) brain fog, muscle and joint pain and i have to take frequent naps. I have been feeling like this since the end of February now. At some times it was extreme.
For the last three weeks I have been feeling much better and could actually go some days with no naps. And the brain fog was almost gone.
Since three days the fatigue, low grade fever, etc have returned. And I'm feeling really crappy again. The brain fog is also slowly creeping back onto me. I have to nap several times now.

Marcia

[mr.lucky66]

Yes Marica you are right. Does anyone else here get afternoon fatigue? It's getting to be a real drag every afternoon like I'll turn into a werewolf by mid-afternoon if I can't lay down for a hour. Otherwise I don't feel sick. All the best to Kiwi.

[Marcia2202]

Kiwi is not answering my pm as well. Maybe she doesn't have daily internet access, who knows. Or maybe she doesn't want to be part of our forum. If she has been following the thread, she would probably come back.

So lets not worry. If she wants to, she will be back.

Marcia

[mr.lucky66]

I guess Ala had enough but too bad about Kiwi not checking back. Why does that happen so much?

[merryBe]

same thing here....my doc never tested me for HCV because I didn't fit the profile.

meaning, if she assumes someone is a drinker...then they get screened...if not they don't. So in spite of the fact that I was given plasma and then sick for years...she never tested me...

anyone diagnosed year ago wouldn't know all the good news either.
I'm glad kiwi got diagnosed before, but sorry that no classes or instruction were given,
Even the research, showing how much alcohol and pot advance the disease is hotly contested by some in here.

In any event, it sounds to me Kiwi like your liver is done handling the wine...and like I said before, the little blood bumps on the skin mean you need to get in and seen, and biopsyied, have you  iron panel done, and get started on treating, and soon. that's the best advice I can give you. People in here don't always agree...but we all try to give it our best shot when answering people.
mb

[can-do-man]

I think this is my first time ever to comment on the famous drinking threads here.

When i was first dx. with HCV i was sent to a local GI, i had no clue what hcv was then. One of the first things the GI did was looked at me and said, Humm you don't look like the type to have hcv. Then after a few more questions he asked me if i drank, not a big drinker but i did have a few beers a week. He told me that was no problem and go right ahead. This was not even knowing my liver condition.

I told my GP all this and he couldn't believe the comment on "you don't look the part" and not wanting a bx. So he send me to a Hepatologist, my bx. showed stage 4 grade 2.

My point is, (And not so much in this thread but any drinking threads about HCV and drinking) before we go off on people that ask that question alot of us had never heard of HCV before and when you go to what you think is a specialist and hear these things well.

By the way my happy happy heppo did tell me IF my damage was alot less a beer or two a week would not hurt me. Mute point for me being cirrhotic, plus

[Trinity4]

I don't get it either.  Always turns into an ethical or moral issue or whatever.  The girl contacted us - didn't mention concern about the fact she is drinking but what happens when she drinks, henceforth, the suggestions to stop and have yourself checked out.  Her bio says she has issues with doctors, that's not our fault.  She got sound, caring info and if stepped on somebody's toes, oh well.

[merryBe]

one assumes people know stuff...they sometimes do, sometimes don't.

like for instance, while my son has positive tests for virus and antibody, the liver DOC still told him, "it's OK to have a beer or two". (ok so you might have liver disease but hey...what the heck kinda good old boys club is that....my son tells him he's a mircobrewery connousier and so suddenly it's ok???? Like, well, since your a gormet go ahead and shot you liver??  what?

I could have clobbered him!!   Bad enough for uninformed patients to say...but when doctors tell you to go ahead....you have to know that long term that is much more likely to destroy that peosons liver....heart benefits of wine aside, you need both organs to keep foggin' a mirror!.
I hope the day will come when people diagnosed will get correct info from the start..
but look at what happen to you ALA!!  You were "pumped with iron by an idiot"...your own words. So why assume others have gotten good doctoring or info then??

My assumption is that maybe this person has not been told before...or gotten old and/or misinformation.  there's a lot of that out there. My hope is, he will get healthy.
mb

[mr.lucky66]

I never thought anything about transgender and wouldn't comment about that . Your way of looking at this baffles me. I don't see any fruitfullness in continuing a dialog about how to adress or not adress her drinking so I won't

[working dog]

i cut down to 1 to 2 beers a day for a year...my friends said that wasn't enough to do any damage...well my sx kept on getting worse...then i quit all together..and it took about 6 months to feel better ...still have some sx but not like before...it's been a year and a half since i stopped all drinking...i think once this hep starts up with sx you have to be real carefull and start thinking about future tx....billy

[alagirl]

Hep C for over 10 years and still drinking with obvious signs of distress is not being moralistic when we advise to stop drinking
-----------------------------------------

My point is that her post addressed several issues and several people in a row addressed only the drinking and didn't even attempt to answer her treatment questions.  Clearly, she knows she isn't supposed to drink, her post references several doctors who have told her that.  To me, its not all that helpful to pick only one issue out because it happens to be a hot button issue on the forum.  It makes me wonder if the purpose is to help, or simply to scold.  absolutely we need to advise people not to drink, its deadly if you have hepc, but at the same time I think it behooves us to also address the other issues and as a forum, my opinion is that frequently we don't sometimes in these situations.  

Also, I don't think transgender issues really have anything to do with hepc tx.  I'm not sure if that was a snide comment. but to me, its a privacy issue unless someone specifically addresses it, so I don't see why gender is a part of this conversation.

[mr.lucky66]

That may help. I'm not sure she is a she, acording to the blurb with the pic

[Marcia2202]

I have written a pm to kiwigal, explaining our situation a bit. So, if we scared her away she will hopefully understand why some of us have reacted so strongly.

Marcia

[mr.lucky66]

I agree it's not moralistic at all, it's common sense. No one was moralistic and I guess that was the contreversy someone wrote about. It always happens on the forums, someone writes about their problem that is being caused by alcohol or drugs and gets a lot of reponses and doesn't check back in. I just want people like her to get help and get better.