First Injection night in ER

[Charismatic786]

I am female, 50 year old. Geno 3a.  Started Hepa C TX last Thursday. Took my first interferon inj at 6 p.m. At 1.am night woke up to go to wash rm. while coming back collapsed in the hallway and was taken to emergency..They told that my BP dropped and thats the reason for my fainting. Is it the side effect of inj. Has anyone on this forum experience such side effect. They gave glucose drip and felt better afterward. My next inj is on coming Thursday and already scared about it. Can anyone advise to be better prepared this time around. I want to finish my 24 wks TX. Thanks

[babs824]

good luck tomorrow. being in a medical setting should remove some of the stress of doing injections w/o support. be well, babs

[Charismatic786]

Thanks for all the encouraging and kind words. Tomorrow is my 2nd inj at dr office and hopefully my nurse would also suggest some precautionary measures.While in ER they ran all the blood tests and even did the head CT scan Everything in the normal range except blood sugar level slightly higher than normal. I am not diabetic but the result shows may be I am getting close to be one. Again thanks for good suggestions  

[nygirl7]

I never have read of this happening either however later on in treatment when hemo drops and causes anemia I know it can also drop the BP so you will have to be very closely monitored at all times it would appear.

I've historically always had a low BP too but it didn't really affect me until the anemia - which was the worst.

I hope they can figure out a solution for you.  if you have to get up please make sure you have somebody around to make sure you dont fall and be careful on stairs and driving and stuff ALL of the time just in case!

[FlGuy]

Glucose drip?  Were you maybe dehydrated or do you have blood sugar (high or low) issues or are you on any kind of diabetes meds?  Blood sugar levels can drop while sleeping.

[capealava]

The side effects can be horrendous, everyone is different. I was also on neopogen two times a week for the entire 24 weeks for low white cells. Hopefully yours will not be to bad. What ever u do hang in there. Look for help from your doctor, such as anti-depressants, pain medication, sleeping medication -anything that gets you through.

My side effects where killer, but I made it through with all the medications mentioned and am so far undetected genotype 3. As for your fainting certainly you should tell your doctor and follow his/her advise.

[Charismatic786]

Thanks for your responses. Nurse in  drs office is giving me injections. Yes I have a history of low BP but I have never fainted because of my low BP. I was expecting shivering and fever, body ach but I did not experience any of these side effects. I hope my 2nd inj won't be as bad as the 1st one

[Diane12855]

I have never read about that kind of reaction to the shot. It seems to me that since the glucose drip made you feel better that you may have gone without eating for much too long. Could that be it?

Drink a large glass of water before taking the shot and take some Tylenol if you have fever or bad body aches.

Good Luck,
Diane

[babs824]

could you plan to do your second injection with a nurse at your docs office who can monitor b.p for a while. did it drop in the first hour?  do u usually have problems with blood pressure high or low?