Aa
3rd Day - and SO SICK!!
I had no idea that this triple treatment would hit me so hard and so early! Nausea that makes it tough to take in the fat needed for the Incivek, headaches from hell, waves of chills and fever, dizzy when I stand up, The inside of my mouth and throat feel like they are on fire too. I finally found energy enough to write this posting - please if any of you know what is the smallest amount of fat I can consume to hit the 20 grams let me know. I need as little as possible so I can keep it down and continue on. Doctor WILL be called in the morning for sure!
Thanks
Thanks
Glad to hear that you have the nausea under control. I, too, like everyone else,mould have to vary my fats. I got to where I could not even think about ice cream. Pimiento cheese on celery became a staple....as well as p-nut butter on either celery or graham crackers. I drank a lot of whole milk with these snacks too.
I had the incredible headaches from the interferon shots as well. Unbelievable! I do not typically get headaches so when these hit it was definitely an OMG moment. I became. Wry light and sound sensitive and my head would just bang. I only took Tylenol for mine but I would have to go to bed in a dark room and lay my head on a cold pad. Sometimes I would use a cold compress across my forehead and eyes too.
I did find that the longer I tool the interferon, the less intense the headaches would be.
Wishing you the best! It is a tough road, but you can do it....even if it becomes one minute at a time...........
I had the incredible headaches from the interferon shots as well. Unbelievable! I do not typically get headaches so when these hit it was definitely an OMG moment. I became. Wry light and sound sensitive and my head would just bang. I only took Tylenol for mine but I would have to go to bed in a dark room and lay my head on a cold pad. Sometimes I would use a cold compress across my forehead and eyes too.
I did find that the longer I tool the interferon, the less intense the headaches would be.
Wishing you the best! It is a tough road, but you can do it....even if it becomes one minute at a time...........
Happy to hear your doc responded and that the nausea is under control a bit. Now I guess you have to call back to find out what else they may suggest for the headaches.
I have often wondered if maybe a lobotomy might not be best to get through this....just my terrible sick humor today; please excuse me, but so many have suffered such terrible symptoms. It is always so heart-wrenching to hear.
You will get through, hope they can resolve the headaches.
My best,
Faith
I have often wondered if maybe a lobotomy might not be best to get through this....just my terrible sick humor today; please excuse me, but so many have suffered such terrible symptoms. It is always so heart-wrenching to hear.
You will get through, hope they can resolve the headaches.
My best,
Faith
I hope Zofran will help. It didn't help me. Like others, I just tried a variety of things. Can't eat some of them now cause it reminds me. Mine hit day 1 also.
Have you tried Boost shakes? I lived on those suckers. I'd find a sale at walgreens. When you feel better, you can make your own cheaper. Peanut butter, yeah. Pasta w/ olive oil and tomatoes? Baked potatoe with sour cream, cheese and bacon?
All my best to you, Karen :)
Have you tried Boost shakes? I lived on those suckers. I'd find a sale at walgreens. When you feel better, you can make your own cheaper. Peanut butter, yeah. Pasta w/ olive oil and tomatoes? Baked potatoe with sour cream, cheese and bacon?
All my best to you, Karen :)
Not sure what to say about the headache. My husband didn't experience severe headaches on treatment. Have you tried darkening the room and putting a cool cloth or an ice pack wrapped in a kitchen towel on your head or a cool pack on your eyes? I would say take the Tramadol as prescribed for a day or two to see if that kicks the headache out, but if not, call your doctor back. Is your vision affected?
Advocate1955
Advocate1955
The Zofran is great for the nausea - BUT the Tramadol is not touching these Headaches! The Hep and Cirrhosis gives me headaches all the time - so I am used to having them a lot. These drug induced headaches are much more severe of course. QUESTION to all of you wonderful folks--- tylenol, advil and this new one they gave me the Tramadol is NOT working..... what do you suggest..... ALL advice from you is greatly appreciated.
By the way - this has truly been a lifeline for me for the past few days as I figure it all out and try to cope, I thank each and every one of you!
GrammyA
By the way - this has truly been a lifeline for me for the past few days as I figure it all out and try to cope, I thank each and every one of you!
GrammyA
I am glad you got the zofran. The Zofran will make your treatment so much more tolerable.
The Doctor called in a prescription of Zofron and Tramadol for the headaches. Within 30 minutes of taking the Zofron I was able to cook and eat 1/2 of a bacon and egg sandwich.... miracle. Got to the last few bites before feeling the stomach rolls again but at least it stayed down. It is interesting that the Zofran has a huge warning on the bottle that says may cause headaches (which is another joyous side effect crimpling my style right now) and then he prescribed the Tramadol for headaches. Makes me want to sing out the lyrics from that 70's white rabbit song..... one pill makes your larger, one pill makes you small and the one that mother gives you doesn't do anything at all!
OOOUUUYYY VEEEYYY!!
OOOUUUYYY VEEEYYY!!
I completed the Incivek, viral load undetectable, have 7 more shots of Pegintron to go. My side effects were nasty, I found that two of the regular 325 mg Tylenol tabs helped the interferon side effects immensely. Milk is your friend with Incivek, I lost 8 lb the first week and a total of 31 during treatment, from a combination of nausea and just plain misery. The more fat you get , the more completely the incivek absorbs. Whole milk contains one gram of fat per ounce, so it's easy to calculate. Sunflower seeds and various nuts have high fat also. Always check labels for fat content. A multi-vitamin once or twice a week is sufficient to maintain nutrition. I didn't use anything for nausea, but that's because I was really paranoid about anything interacting with the Incivek. It's hard, but you will not believe how much better you will feel when the virus is gone. Keep positive by thinking of all the salads you're going to enjoy once the fat requirement is all done! Good luck!
My Doc gave me a prescription for anything I asked for (for relief of symptoms) and then some.. Zofran saved me many times. Greek yogurt made into a smoothie, avacados, peanut butter sandwhiches, lots of butter on toast, I ate all kinds of fatty stuff and still lost weight so have at it while you can.. cinnabuns were great! Hope you get to feeling better soon! You will. I was sick/vomiting daily there for a while. It will pass. Just get the help you need to get thru it!
Sorry, I meant to add that drinking LOTS of water helped me with headaches. Once I got into a routine of drinking this regularly throughout the day my headached dissapeared.
I found ginger and Full Fat Greek Yoghurt helped a lot especially when you really don't feel like eating much. Like others, I quickly found out that changing the fatty foods regularly is a must as you will quickly go off eating the same thing three times a day :-(. Stick in there!
I cannot thank all of you enough for taking the time to post your ideas and help!! It is only 6:30 in the morning and I have calls placed to the Doctor already - hoping to be first on the list for call backs.
I will let you know how that goes.
I am so very sick it is hard to imagine something this horrific will make me ultimately better.
GrammyA
I will let you know how that goes.
I am so very sick it is hard to imagine something this horrific will make me ultimately better.
GrammyA
I am so sorry to hear this, but do as you said, call the doctor, and do what others have said, advocate for yourself.
In reading this board over the last few months I have concluded that not all doctors/medical staffs are "created equal". Some do everything to alleviate symptoms and some basically blow their patients off. Some patients tend to dutifully respect the doctor's standing and just go along with his lack of help. Come back to this thread and let us know what he said and what they are offering you.
Yes, tx can be tough, but at the same time a lot can be done to make it doable. I hate to think of you suffering when you don't have to.
In reading this board over the last few months I have concluded that not all doctors/medical staffs are "created equal". Some do everything to alleviate symptoms and some basically blow their patients off. Some patients tend to dutifully respect the doctor's standing and just go along with his lack of help. Come back to this thread and let us know what he said and what they are offering you.
Yes, tx can be tough, but at the same time a lot can be done to make it doable. I hate to think of you suffering when you don't have to.
Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself in order to mitigate the side effects. You must get the Zofran! Whether you take it or not is up to you but you need to have it. If you are passive and wait for the M.D.'s office to act prophylactically and anticipate you side effects you will probably be let down. So research the dosage, call the M.D. and have your pharmacies telephone number available for them. When you are looking at that fatty item late in the eve on a w/e night you will be glad you have at least done what you could by demanding what you deserve. I think most will agree that once you start getting your PCR viral quantities back your depair will have meaning. I sincerely hope I am wrong but: expect nausea and anemia and act accordingly so you do not have to accept any more distress than you need to experience. I have been on both side of the looking glass: Through the triple tx. and it's challenges (and benefits!!) and treating many many patients over the years in Hospice and acute illness contexts. It is great that you are posting your experience and questions: Now on to your team to get some of these sides under control....My best. d
I buy a natural mouthwash, with tea-tree oil in it, and gargle with it, or mouth and throat problems.
Some of your symptoms are from the Interferon,
and those tend to get better as time goes on.
The nausea sounds like something that the Incivek is causing, so you should treat that with the perscription nausea medicine, recommended by folks, up above.
The whole yogurt was easiest for me to get down, but the Greek yogurt was just too heavy. Experiment with several brands and textures.
I also did peanut-butter (3 table-spoons will fulfill your Incivek at requirment) on a tortilla shell that I heated on my burner.
I am on Victrelis, the other PI, so I didn't have the fat requirment, but just found that ahigh calorie diet kept me more well grounded. Then again, I didn't have nausea.
I also used whole kefir, when I grew tired of yogurt~ hang in there, and treat your side-efects, via perscriptions, as they come along, beore they snow-ball.
Some of your symptoms are from the Interferon,
and those tend to get better as time goes on.
The nausea sounds like something that the Incivek is causing, so you should treat that with the perscription nausea medicine, recommended by folks, up above.
The whole yogurt was easiest for me to get down, but the Greek yogurt was just too heavy. Experiment with several brands and textures.
I also did peanut-butter (3 table-spoons will fulfill your Incivek at requirment) on a tortilla shell that I heated on my burner.
I am on Victrelis, the other PI, so I didn't have the fat requirment, but just found that ahigh calorie diet kept me more well grounded. Then again, I didn't have nausea.
I also used whole kefir, when I grew tired of yogurt~ hang in there, and treat your side-efects, via perscriptions, as they come along, beore they snow-ball.
I'm with Pooh: Get the Zofran NOW. My nausea went away after two weeks but I will never forget how incapacitating it was. Like you I was freaked when I sw just how funky and horrible the Incivek sides actually are. It is difficult to motivate yourself to do anything when you feel like you are going to throw up all the time. Once you treat your nausea you will feel better and this will all seem more surmountable.
I read about them and thought it can't be that bad. It was. Two tablespoons of walnut butter or almond butter meets the fat requirement. Be sure to have plenty of idea since what works one week may not work the following week. For some reason you can develop a food aversions really fast on Incivek. I still half half a jar of Organic walnut butter in the fridge and the other day I opened it and sniffed and I about rolfed. I finally threw it away.
I used good ol Tylenol for the chills and it worked.
I read about them and thought it can't be that bad. It was. Two tablespoons of walnut butter or almond butter meets the fat requirement. Be sure to have plenty of idea since what works one week may not work the following week. For some reason you can develop a food aversions really fast on Incivek. I still half half a jar of Organic walnut butter in the fridge and the other day I opened it and sniffed and I about rolfed. I finally threw it away.
I used good ol Tylenol for the chills and it worked.
advocate has great advice about the ginger. one of the hepatology nurses recommended ginger to ease the nausea. i found the alvita brand of ginger root tea bags at a local health food store and take at least one cup a day.
eric
eric
Ginger helps to ease nausea. You might try ginger tea, raw ginger, or ginger candies (can be found in an Asian market).
For the fat intake, when my husband was very nauseous, he ate 1 Klondike bar. He found the same thing that coeric said above, which is that he had to constantly change his source of fat because something would taste OK for a few days and then make him nauseous. For awhile raw almonds worked. Peanut butter worked for a few days. Avocados worked for a few days. Cream cheese worked for a few days.
Advocate1955
For the fat intake, when my husband was very nauseous, he ate 1 Klondike bar. He found the same thing that coeric said above, which is that he had to constantly change his source of fat because something would taste OK for a few days and then make him nauseous. For awhile raw almonds worked. Peanut butter worked for a few days. Avocados worked for a few days. Cream cheese worked for a few days.
Advocate1955
i also found i could do coconut oil (14 grams in a tablespoon) on a small piece of toast.
eric
eric
when i was on incivek i found that i had to constantly change my fat foods. at first i thought i could eat avocados, but then after a few days i would get nauseous just looking at avocados. the things that seemed to work the best throughout were the greek god, mention above, marie calendar's chicken pot pies (warning high sodium) egg nog. mild cheddar cheese (1 square inch was over 20gms), macaroni and cheese, cream cheese, i am not lactose intolerant and hope that you are not. i found that the more fat i was able to consume the less the adverse effects of the incivek on my GI tract. make sure you get the zofran. i was prescribed promethazine, but my primary said zofran is better.
eric
eric
Sent you a PM. You sound like you were as shocked as I was. This
treatment should require a class before you start.
treatment should require a class before you start.
When I was extremely nauseated I ate Greek Gods yogurt (regular, not low fat). It has the most fat per ounce of any yogurt. You may have to get it at a healthy or whole foods store or co-op or a place like Trader Joes may carry it or some of the upscale markets may carry it.
It was the only thing that saved me and I ate it at every pill time for almost 2 months (along with some rye flat bread or toast).
8 ounces will give you 22 grams of fat. (two 4 ounce containers or part of a big container).
If you are not a yogurt fan, this particular brand of yogurt tastes more like cream (because it is 9-10% milk fat). I got the original honey one in the brown container. Check the label because some of the fruit ones contain less fat per ounce.
http://www.greekgodsyogurt.com/html/yplain.php
Store Locator for Greek Gods yogurt:
http://www.greekgodsyogurt.com/html/yplain.php
It looks like there are 3 Krogers in Decatur that carry Greek Gods yogurt.
If you cannot eat yogurt, then full fat ice cream might work. I also added heavy whipping cream to the food I ate to add more fat.
As far as the nausea goes, I took Zofran 8 mg every 8 hours. It was hell before I was on the Zofran, but as soon as I was on the Zofran I was 1000% better and could eat real food again. Many people on the forum took or take Zofran. It works for the nausea caused by the meds. You may have to get assertive. Some docs (due to ignorance) are reluctant to order anything, but if you insist and explain to them that they are jeopardizing your treatment, hopefully they will order it. If you vomit the pills up, that is really jeopardizing the treatment.
I sure hope you can find something that works for you. That nausea and vomiting are terrible.
I also drank a quart of chicken broth every day. It helped soothe the stomach some and it also tasted better than water all of the time.
It was the only thing that saved me and I ate it at every pill time for almost 2 months (along with some rye flat bread or toast).
8 ounces will give you 22 grams of fat. (two 4 ounce containers or part of a big container).
If you are not a yogurt fan, this particular brand of yogurt tastes more like cream (because it is 9-10% milk fat). I got the original honey one in the brown container. Check the label because some of the fruit ones contain less fat per ounce.
http://www.greekgodsyogurt.com/html/yplain.php
Store Locator for Greek Gods yogurt:
http://www.greekgodsyogurt.com/html/yplain.php
It looks like there are 3 Krogers in Decatur that carry Greek Gods yogurt.
If you cannot eat yogurt, then full fat ice cream might work. I also added heavy whipping cream to the food I ate to add more fat.
As far as the nausea goes, I took Zofran 8 mg every 8 hours. It was hell before I was on the Zofran, but as soon as I was on the Zofran I was 1000% better and could eat real food again. Many people on the forum took or take Zofran. It works for the nausea caused by the meds. You may have to get assertive. Some docs (due to ignorance) are reluctant to order anything, but if you insist and explain to them that they are jeopardizing your treatment, hopefully they will order it. If you vomit the pills up, that is really jeopardizing the treatment.
I sure hope you can find something that works for you. That nausea and vomiting are terrible.
I also drank a quart of chicken broth every day. It helped soothe the stomach some and it also tasted better than water all of the time.
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