Inflamed small intestine with HCV therapy

Dear Dr. Deitrich,

I am in my 24th wk of 180 mcg PEGINF 2a with 800 mg riba/day. Since beginning tx I have a burning from my stomach to my rectum. Endoscopy resultsstated inflamed stomach, sigmoidoscopy normal w/ internal hems, colonoscopy normal. Red blood, severe burning with each bowel movement... got much better when I stopped the riba for 4 days. Then worse after resuming 800 mg/day.

Constant acidosis feeling and constant metalic taste. The ph of my urine is 5.5 - 6.2 consistently.

I am 57 y.o. female, gall bladder removed, appendix and tonsild also gone. I eat very simply, having not much appetite. Home made chicken rice soup, millet toast, organic turkey, melons, pears, salad with home made cottage cheese/garlic dressing, no tomatos.

I am on bio-identical hormones, applied through the skin, very low dose.

Very healthy before I began tx. Durring tx painful Interstitious cistitis, kidney and back pain, in addition to the GI pain. Also my palms have become very inflamed w/ slight swelling in the past week, from my little finger down to my wrist on both hands.

All bloodwork is normal, slightly elevated glucose, no detectable HCV after 3 months of tx.

Am taking sublingual levsin 4x/day. Hips cannot tolerate Nexium or prilosec. Bentyl gave arythmias.

Can you please tell me anything I should be tested for, or anything at all that I can take or do to relieve this small intestine inflamation (inflammation)?

If I have another bout with extreme pain, I don't know if I can continue tx. That would be a shame, since I have come halfway through it. I do see my doc each month. So far they have not found the cause of my GI distress. I have been treated only with the above mentioned drugs.

I greatly appreciate any advice or information/light you can shed, and I thank you in advance.

Jan Rawls

[Douglas Dieterich, MD]

Sounds like you are getting everything done that is possible. You can take acid lowering medication like PPI's or H2 blockers if you like and that may help. Also I like to use carafate and reglan for the stomach to soothe it and reduce the nausea. See if your doc likes any of those ideas. Feel better! DTD