First shot

[ellissg]

2b doing first shot 5:00PM Friday. My Doc is out of town. Do I start the Rebetol pills that day, or can I wait until Saturday morning? By the way, I'm scared to death, not only to inject mtself, but what sides will stifel this 64 year old body.

[mumsie]

Took my pills at 10 am,felt a little push from them,I mean Im usually quite full of energy,maybe I was just looking for something to feel,anyhow,going to take some tylenol 8hr,& then my first shot in an hour,9pm, then at 10 benadryl and second set of pills and hopefully a good nights sleep though haven't had one of those for awhile.Been eating well & drinking lots of H2O thanks for all the advice, been dropping in for awhile but only got a board recently...I'm loaded up with all kinds of stuff for any given nuance..thanks again.. Sue

[jonihs]

My nurse had me practice giving my injection on a spone ball taped to my thigh..Get an x-tra syringe fron d.c or nurse to practice w/.The most important thing is that to leave the needle in for 30 to 60 seconds, because then there will be no drop left and the med is for breaking down cells, and that is the biggest cause of burns and infections at shot sigtt. Good luck and join the dragon killers brigrade.   Joni

[honey1616]

Lori Girl...I'm proud of ya! Sounds like you have it down exactly how to whoop any side that is even thinking of entering your body that night!  haha I hear ya though!!  I'm going to be so much more prepared this next week.  Today I felt really good so went to Academy to buy some heat warming socks.  LOL  Now...how exciting is that??  Of course..I have noticed my feet seem to stay cold especially at night so hey if it helps, I'm going to try it.  I guess it just sucks that this is my life now haha  If I don't laugh about it though, I would never quit crying.  I just want to be a normal 40 something year old again and not being going through what I'm thinking should be maybe in 30 to 40 years!  Picking out warm socks, pj's, tylenol, etc...Oh well guess I will deal with it today!

[honey1616]

Lori Girl...I'm proud of ya! Sounds like you have it down exactly how to whoop any side that is even thinking of entering your body that night!  haha I hear ya though!!  I'm going to be so much more prepared this next week.  Today I felt really good so went to Academy to buy some heat warming socks.  LOL  Now...how exciting is that??  Of course..I have noticed my feet seem to stay cold especially at night so hey if it helps, I'm going to try it.  I guess it just sucks that this is my life now haha  If I don't laugh about it though, I would never quit crying.  I just want to be a normal 40 something year old again and not being going through what I'm thinking should be maybe in 30 to 40 years!  Picking out warm socks, pj's, tylenol, etc...Oh well guess I will deal with it today!

[ellissg]

Great ideas!!! I can do this, mostly because of being able to communicate with all of you. I can't thank Y'All enough!

[berlynn]

ellissg.... I am a 1 on pegasys, Female, 46 yrs, and just did shot33/48. Only 15 more to go...WOOOHOOOO. Anyway, I take my riba at 9:30 am and 9:30 pm, that way, I never have to wake up early to take my meds. It works well for me. I always make sure that I have a little something in my stomach. I do my shots on Monday evenings anywhere from 8:00 to 10:00. I prefered to sleep through any sides I might have. If I monitored mine...I'm sure it would have been worse...I would have been suspect of any little ache and pain...or talked myself into sides.

Fortunately I took the year off from teaching, so I don't have to worry about work....and I wanted to try and feel better on the weekends to be more available to my family.Reason for doing shot on Mon. I had no serious sides after the first few shots like others have had. My only main side for the first couple of months were tiredness. I tried to monitor the days of tiredness so that I could plan around the "bad" days...but found that there was no rhyme or reason to the days that I would feel more tired. So much for organization....teehee. My sides did not get difficult until almost halfway through tx. And they are still bearable....if I take care of myself. I tend to overdo it on my good days....but that has landed me in bed for the next couple of days after...many times. I have a hard time slowing down......even though I'm not working.....There is always much to do. Good luck, and remember that sides  and their strength vary between different people. So hang in their...it may not be that bad.  :)

[mumsie]

can you take you first riba and go to work? is it the shot that gets you,willthe pills make me sick right off?

[mrBenny]

You're doing Pegintron right? (I scanned down the threads and it seemed that that's what you were saying.)

I did Pegintron/Rebetol (was genotype 2, still clear 12 weeks after a 24-week treatment), and the first shot was definitely the worst, followed closely by the second, then there was a big dropoff in flu-like symptoms.  I did my shot at 9pm on Fridays, and the worst seemed to hit the next afternoon and night.  I think Pegasys might take longer to introduce itself.

[Bartt]

The first shot is definitely the worset. This may scare you a bit but I think it is important to know what to expect and not to get alarmed. I took my shot 6:00PM on Friday evenings. I took the reb before going to bed. After the initial shot it took 4 hours to hit me and that it did. I got tremors, chills and my heart raced. My Dr. said to take Benadryl along with the shot. I didn't listen and regretted it. I took Benadryl every Friday night afterwards. TY PM is great for helping you sleep as long as you let your Dr. know. Some folks are further advanced than others so you have to be careful what you injest. Drink lots of water daily. The shots do seem to have lesser side effects after the first but some days are worse than others.

You are fortunate to have 2b. That's what I had. I just passed my third anniversary post treatment. NO HEP! Good luck with the treatments. They are tough but you can do it.

Regards,
Barry

[cindee]

ellissg, Hi and welcome to our hep c family. I did my 1st shot @ 3pm w/ the help of my pegasys counslor. Then I started my capsules the next am. I was working then and I took my morning caps. @ 6, and I took my evening caps.@6. I did my shots on Fridays aout 5pm, but always took 2 tylenols 2 hrs before shot. Everybody has some of the same sx.(side effects), some worse than others. I wasn't one of the lucky ones...my sx. were awful. I did 48wks of tx.(treatment), finished on Nov 6th. I was geno 1a, and SVR (Sustained Viral Responder), the whole time. I do another blood test in April @ get results on May6th. I am sure the nasty 'ole dragon is dead!!!!! You have found the right place to come too. There are so many wonderful people in here, and will always be here for you! I have a few tips, if you have the taste of metal or yukky taste when you eat, try plastic utensils, also try to find canned foods, veggies,fruit etc. in the cans that are lined inside with that white lining, this will also help with the taste. It was also easier for me to eat cooled food, sometimes the smells get to ya. Most of all DRINK< DRINK< DRINK, your WATER!!!!!! Best Wishes and prayers will be with you. Cindee

yucatanchic, Hi and welcome!!!! Both meds make you feel bad.... please read what I posted above. I hope it helps you and hang in there. Always remeber if tx. gets tough on you, come here...that's the way I made it thru. These people on the forum and with the forum are the most caring and kindest people you will ever talk with. We will help you all we can. Much Love, Cindee

[yucatanchic]

Thanks you all but its my husband who has the hep c...but im writing and printing it all down....thank you so much..

[lackalustre]

about your finger needle *****.  it is easier to get infections while on treatment.   anytime i got cuts or whatever on my finger i would soak the finger in very warm epsom salts water.  about a tsp. in a cup or so of water for about 10-20 minutes once or twice a day.  then put a band aid with antibiotic ointment on it.   the epsom salts eases the soreness and seems to draw out infections.

[Ambush]

I take my Riba and 2 tylenol at 9PM and the shot at 10PM on Saturday night, curl up in bed and watch TV.  Has worked well for me and am never awakened by any sides (well, just the bathroom "side").  I very often have quite an energetic day after the shot.  Mid week is when I feel the most fatigued.  It's so different for everyone ~ sure makes it hard to know what to do.

[Revenire]

It is the shot that gets you, first time off generally. You can take the riba and go to work. Just take it with food.

[Revenire]

One more thing: I take the shot and go to work. It usually takes anywhere from 12-24 hours for me to feel anything from the peginterferon. And, if you can, why not feel lousy at work and get paid for it rather than do the shot on a Friday and feel lousy during your weekend?

[DebbieDo]

Thanks for you reply, I have been doing that(soaking and neosporin)....i have several cracked dry areas on my fingers.....they have been taking a long time to heal.......

[scruffy]

I do my shot about midnight friday(work 2nd shift) and usually go to bed.I always have a glass of water by my bed these days and awake frequently from dry mouth to drink and go pee. The plus side is that I sleep just fine in between, but not everyone is so lucky. I started the rebetol(ribavirin) the morning of my first shot day so I already had it in my system before the shot.I don,t use other meds for sides as mine have been bearable but for some it seems to help a lot. Good luck and try not to stress too much.By the way I,m 55 years old male and I,m doing well.

[jg2001]

Just a quick question.  I went to my orientation class this evening and left there a little more relieved knowing that there is a chance that I may "score" a "0" on my tests!  I thought that if I you tested positive for the virus, you go through the biospy and then the treatments, if that what I opt for.  I go tomorrow morning to get the rest of my tests done..geno type, stage and something else...I think.   I should know in a week or so. She said that even though I have elevated levels, doesn't mean that I have a bad liver!  She strongly suggested everybody have the biopsy though.  Just curious if I am getting too optimistic or not.  My brother passed away a year and a half ago from liver failure, HepC and a couple other livr related disorders.  We use to use together and share the same "outfits".  We knew that we didn't have HIV, and knew NOTHING about HepC, so it wasn't a concern.  Does anybody know the stats on "testing positive with elevated levels that didn't necessitate treatment"?

[britgirl]

Both - but not necessarily "immediate" ones, just ones that build up over time.

[yucatanchic]

Is it the shot you get sides from or the pills or both?

[DebbieDo]

Sorry to barge in......after doing my shot on Monday night I started to fold back the needle guard and i pricked myself .....Today i notice that my finger is kind of festered and sore.......i hope it doesnt get infected....has anyone ever done this?

[ellissg]

Thanks.......I'm going to try 5:00pm, eat at 6:30, then take Tylenol PM at about 9:00 and try to sleep. I will do the Rebe the day of the shot.

[britgirl]

I was also a "morning" person and not once did have a bad reaction to the shot. I believe our bodies are stronger first thing and I liked to be awake to monitor what happened - nothing ever did! I would generally do the injection about 9am.

[lackalustre]

my sides used to take anywhere from 4-6hours or longer to start coming on.  the first day or two after the shot were the worst.  then the sides would ease some for the rest of the week.  i took mine early in the day so i could monitor how bad they were going to get and deal with it.  some take it at night to sleep thru the sides.