Aa
I don't know...
Not to sound like a wuss, a complainer, or anything - but I can't even effin think straight. I fear by the end of this treatment I'll be in jeopardy of possibly turning my currently successful Internet business into a complete failure. I feel like I can't even read or comprehend much of anything (it's taking me 4x as much time). These are really one of the only side effects that I am getting besides anxiety and some fatigue. But jeez, I swear... I feel like I'm incredibly stoned or something. I have a few business partners across the country but they only do some projects with me so I can't rely on a helping hand to cover my a** when I feel f*cked up. The rest of my work is outsourced but there truly is only one person in my company (which is now incorporated) - I'm the only guy, I'm the president, I'm in control of the entire thing. My only co-workers are the people I outsource to but I do about 80% of the work (marketing, etc.)
My accountant asked me if I was OK today. I had about 4-5 moments when talking to her where I was completely spaced out and didn't know what she was asking me (I just grabbed my head and looked down). After she repeated herself once or twice I understood though! I dunno, I guess sometimes during the day it's a little better.
I swear right now I would rather have severe flu like symptoms because at least I could still sit down, relax a little, and think about what the heck I'm doing half the time. I know it's early but this memory thing/fogginess is already bad - I just got over a custody battle with my kids, I dunno... the last thing I want for them is to have a father who looses his business.
I dunno, I prey I'm at least a rapid or early responder because if I'm not I dunno what I'm going to do. BTW, it took me about three times the time it would to type this if I were sober (no, i don't think I'm sober right now... these meds are starting to make me feel really high).
And PLEASE, PLEASE, don't get me wrong. I knew before starting these meds that I could get this side effect... I wanted to try anyway just because deep down inside of me I felt like "maybe I won't get that all of the sx's". In my opinion it's better to at least test the medicine out than not try at all. I'm going to at least wait until week 8 to see if they consider me a early or rapid responder... if I'm not, it's going to be a tough decision for me but i dunno what I can do.
At least tomorrow I get my kids again for half the week (I get them 3 days a week) :) - I just wish I could have gotten a little more work done this week.
No nausea, no aches, some fatigue & dizziness, increased anxiety, little increased blurred vision, really bad memory/brain fogginess/ADD
I worship all you warriors who battled this out for 24-48+ weeks. Much respect to all of you.
My accountant asked me if I was OK today. I had about 4-5 moments when talking to her where I was completely spaced out and didn't know what she was asking me (I just grabbed my head and looked down). After she repeated herself once or twice I understood though! I dunno, I guess sometimes during the day it's a little better.
I swear right now I would rather have severe flu like symptoms because at least I could still sit down, relax a little, and think about what the heck I'm doing half the time. I know it's early but this memory thing/fogginess is already bad - I just got over a custody battle with my kids, I dunno... the last thing I want for them is to have a father who looses his business.
I dunno, I prey I'm at least a rapid or early responder because if I'm not I dunno what I'm going to do. BTW, it took me about three times the time it would to type this if I were sober (no, i don't think I'm sober right now... these meds are starting to make me feel really high).
And PLEASE, PLEASE, don't get me wrong. I knew before starting these meds that I could get this side effect... I wanted to try anyway just because deep down inside of me I felt like "maybe I won't get that all of the sx's". In my opinion it's better to at least test the medicine out than not try at all. I'm going to at least wait until week 8 to see if they consider me a early or rapid responder... if I'm not, it's going to be a tough decision for me but i dunno what I can do.
At least tomorrow I get my kids again for half the week (I get them 3 days a week) :) - I just wish I could have gotten a little more work done this week.
No nausea, no aches, some fatigue & dizziness, increased anxiety, little increased blurred vision, really bad memory/brain fogginess/ADD
I worship all you warriors who battled this out for 24-48+ weeks. Much respect to all of you.
I would have to say yes...'cuz my inflammation was / is on the mild side too. Enzymes are an indicator of something going on ( mine are wacky too ), and there may be licer compensation even if there isn't a large amount of damage. The liver is a filter and gets rid of toxins ie: ammonia. I work at staying away from red meat altho there are two schools of thought on that.
Talk to your dr too, I take lactulose which is a synthetic sugar. It makes you poop a lot and may take a few weeks to ' get used to ', but you'll have a nice flat tummy !
Talk to your dr too, I take lactulose which is a synthetic sugar. It makes you poop a lot and may take a few weeks to ' get used to ', but you'll have a nice flat tummy !
medicmommy:
I'm holding in here good. Yes, it's much easier for me when I'm not watching the girls. I'm still foggy and tired. I'm about to start an AD tomorrow for my anxiety and increased mood swings. I noticed when I have a half hour nap or so I feel a little better. Thanks for all your suggestions!
mayday557:
Could somebody have increased ammonia levels in their blood even if they have no fibrosis? My biopsy came back with just mild inflammation... my liver enzymes are still pretty high though.
I'm holding in here good. Yes, it's much easier for me when I'm not watching the girls. I'm still foggy and tired. I'm about to start an AD tomorrow for my anxiety and increased mood swings. I noticed when I have a half hour nap or so I feel a little better. Thanks for all your suggestions!
mayday557:
Could somebody have increased ammonia levels in their blood even if they have no fibrosis? My biopsy came back with just mild inflammation... my liver enzymes are still pretty high though.
I understand you do not have much liver damage and I do, so I'm not sure if this will help you or not. I was having a big problem with Brain Fog and I cut meat out of my diet. I have found that has helped me a lot. I try to get protien from other sources. Hope it clears up soon.
Just a suggesion ~ have your ammonia level checked. Mine was high and it
made me slower mentally. I was really in the land of ' duh '.
I seem to have troubles with numbers, and sometimes I forget what I'm saying
half way thru saying it !
Work at not getting frustated with youself - that seems to make it worse.
Try taking things a little slower.
made me slower mentally. I was really in the land of ' duh '.
I seem to have troubles with numbers, and sometimes I forget what I'm saying
half way thru saying it !
Work at not getting frustated with youself - that seems to make it worse.
Try taking things a little slower.
Drew, how are you holding up? Are you able to get any rest with trying to work and watching the girls? The first couple weeks seem to be the roughest...hang in there...
~Melinda
~Melinda
Drew, sweetie, you are SO early into the treatment...I'm starting my 8th week today, and I am really "hip to your struggle"...I know being self employed and running your own business doesn't give time for vacations...So, maybe this will help...If possible, take 1 20 minute nap every 2-3 hours during the day...Your body is waging a war right now, and until it adapts and decides what the "friendlies" are(may take 4-6 weeks), your energy is going to go towards defending itself...I found I was very short tempered and exhausted the first 2-3 weeks...Complete with brain fog (I was trying to do sewing and had to redo a task multiple times because I kept mucking it up!)...Be careful driving until the brain fog lessens...Your brain will be going at 25% and it can set you up to make some pretty poor decisions..
I found that an unbelievable amount of water, B-complex vitamins (or just subligual B-12 when I was really nauseated), the occasional Rockstar energy drink, and paying attention to when I needed rest, were the biggest helps...You will feel like you've had a lobotomy for a few weeks...and that you can't find your backside with both hands...Watch out for anemia around week 4..Your blood levels dropping rapidly can make you feel pretty crummy as well...Here's my good news...Though still anemic and only with an energy level at 75% towards the end of the week, my brain fog is much better...It only seems to effect me now when I'm really tired...Only in the following 2-3 days after the Peg, do I go at low speed...Oh, eat little snacks..Don't let your blood sugar get low...Dragon fighting requires a lot of energy...When you get that "UND" reading, at least you will be assured this CR*P is working! (((((((((((((((((HUGZ))))))))))
I found that an unbelievable amount of water, B-complex vitamins (or just subligual B-12 when I was really nauseated), the occasional Rockstar energy drink, and paying attention to when I needed rest, were the biggest helps...You will feel like you've had a lobotomy for a few weeks...and that you can't find your backside with both hands...Watch out for anemia around week 4..Your blood levels dropping rapidly can make you feel pretty crummy as well...Here's my good news...Though still anemic and only with an energy level at 75% towards the end of the week, my brain fog is much better...It only seems to effect me now when I'm really tired...Only in the following 2-3 days after the Peg, do I go at low speed...Oh, eat little snacks..Don't let your blood sugar get low...Dragon fighting requires a lot of energy...When you get that "UND" reading, at least you will be assured this CR*P is working! (((((((((((((((((HUGZ))))))))))
How long have you been treating now? In the beginning first months the brain fog and lethargy just overwhelmed me. My old boss wanted to fire me BAD (thank God the new boss came in and promoted me because he understood how hard I was trying). I was an IDIOT.
Then somewhere soon after that my brain ironed out for the most part. Still tired but not so desperately concerned that I had really developed a brain injury from the meds.
Just about all of us get the grey skin and under eye bags and hair loss and weight loss from treatment. I felt I looked like a vampire - a balding one but a vampire.
Somehow your body WILL acclimate a great deal to doing these meds. Don't ask me how or why but our bodies have an amazing capacity to suffer and keep on going.
Maybe instead of straight anti-anxiety you could try a paxill or something on top of the as needed xxanax? It helped me a LOT.
I did 72 weeks - have been post treatment for wow 15 months now and can tell you...........do whatever you need to do to get by during treatment. Pretty soon hopefully these things will iron out for you and you'll start to feel a little stronger.
Hang in there. SVR is worth the hard fight, it really is.
GOOD LUCK.
Then somewhere soon after that my brain ironed out for the most part. Still tired but not so desperately concerned that I had really developed a brain injury from the meds.
Just about all of us get the grey skin and under eye bags and hair loss and weight loss from treatment. I felt I looked like a vampire - a balding one but a vampire.
Somehow your body WILL acclimate a great deal to doing these meds. Don't ask me how or why but our bodies have an amazing capacity to suffer and keep on going.
Maybe instead of straight anti-anxiety you could try a paxill or something on top of the as needed xxanax? It helped me a LOT.
I did 72 weeks - have been post treatment for wow 15 months now and can tell you...........do whatever you need to do to get by during treatment. Pretty soon hopefully these things will iron out for you and you'll start to feel a little stronger.
Hang in there. SVR is worth the hard fight, it really is.
GOOD LUCK.
Thanks for your suggestions! I'm already on 75mg xanax per day and that barely seems to be doing the job for the anxiety/sudden panic. I used to be on adderall for 3 years (have always had a a slightly difficult time concentrating) but had to stop do to weight loss and panic attacks. For some reason when stimulants seem to give me panic attacks - I would love the adderall if I didn't get the weight loss/panic - I used to be able to do 1000x more than I could in a regular day... Just one day I couldn't handle it anymore - that's how my panic attacks begun. My doctor told me that I should limit all type of stimulants because of these things. Hopefully they'll just naturally go away on their own eventually...
BTW, the brain fog seems to be worse in the afternoon/evening. Also has anyone else had constant gigantic bags underneath their eyes? I have for the last week, it almost looks like I have two black eyes. I get plenty of sleep, eat a lot, and drink a lot of water.
BTW, the brain fog seems to be worse in the afternoon/evening. Also has anyone else had constant gigantic bags underneath their eyes? I have for the last week, it almost looks like I have two black eyes. I get plenty of sleep, eat a lot, and drink a lot of water.
I don't want my last comment to sound like I'm suggesting that you stop treatment.Only you can make that decision for you in the end. All I'm saying is that if you end up deciding that is what you MUST do, you are one of the lucky ones who has time on his side.
Regards,
Trish
Regards,
Trish
Drew,
Here's a document that talks about managing with HCV and addresses "brain fog" and a number of strategies to deal with it:
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/symptoms.pdf
Cognitive Issues
Some patients with chronic HCV infection report mental or cognitive impairment. Among patients, this is referred to as “brain fog.” There are many factors that can affect mental acuity, including stress, depression and fatigue. If you are experiencing “brain fog,” try to analyze your situation. Are you experiencing stress? Are you
getting sufficient sleep? Are you depressed? When it comes to health improvement, the brain is sometimes left out of the equation. However, the brain is an essential component of health and needs to be included in health maintenance. Here are suggestions for coping with brain fog and keeping the brain healthy:
• Be physically and mentally active on a daily
basis.
• Maintain a healthy diet. Do not skip meals.
Drink sufficient water.
• Manage stress. Meditation and relaxation techniques
can help you think more clearly, especially
when practiced regularly.
• Get sufficient sleep. The average adult needs
seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
• Breathe – oxygen is essential for our brains.
• Use tools to remind you of important tasks and
events, such as calendars, post-it notes and daily
or weekly pill containers.
• Create habits and daily routines. Write things
down and keep your lists in the same place.
• Stay organized
• Challenge your brain with games, puzzles – try
one of HCSP’s Hepatitis Crossword Puzzles.
• Learn to laugh at yourself if you forget minor
things or cannot remember a certain word. If
you laugh at yourself, others will be follow suit
and laugh with you, not at you.
Try the various strategies. I would put a fair guess to it that you're under alot of stress and have been since you started treatment. I would put some attention in that direction towards reducing your stress level, either through anti-anxiety meds, meditation and other stress reduction strategies such as get out for a walk every day or as much as you can and see what you can do to calm yourself down and turn this around. The more you get upset about your brain fog, the higher your stress levels go, resulting in even worse brain fog and so on. A vicious cycle.
In the end, Drew .... with you being as young as you are AND at Stage 0, you have the luxury of time. If you decide you need to choose a more appropriate time to treat, you have the luxury of doing that. There are alternative approaches you can take that will control any further damage and will potentially decrease your viral load towards treating at a more appropriate time for you. In your situation, if treatment is costing you far too much as in your livelihood .. with your specs, you could wait. And I'm more on the "early treatment" side .. but not a blind approach to it .. more taking into consideration ALL the variables and taking into account the big picture.
Good luck, Drew. Keep posting.
Trish
Here's a document that talks about managing with HCV and addresses "brain fog" and a number of strategies to deal with it:
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/symptoms.pdf
Cognitive Issues
Some patients with chronic HCV infection report mental or cognitive impairment. Among patients, this is referred to as “brain fog.” There are many factors that can affect mental acuity, including stress, depression and fatigue. If you are experiencing “brain fog,” try to analyze your situation. Are you experiencing stress? Are you
getting sufficient sleep? Are you depressed? When it comes to health improvement, the brain is sometimes left out of the equation. However, the brain is an essential component of health and needs to be included in health maintenance. Here are suggestions for coping with brain fog and keeping the brain healthy:
• Be physically and mentally active on a daily
basis.
• Maintain a healthy diet. Do not skip meals.
Drink sufficient water.
• Manage stress. Meditation and relaxation techniques
can help you think more clearly, especially
when practiced regularly.
• Get sufficient sleep. The average adult needs
seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
• Breathe – oxygen is essential for our brains.
• Use tools to remind you of important tasks and
events, such as calendars, post-it notes and daily
or weekly pill containers.
• Create habits and daily routines. Write things
down and keep your lists in the same place.
• Stay organized
• Challenge your brain with games, puzzles – try
one of HCSP’s Hepatitis Crossword Puzzles.
• Learn to laugh at yourself if you forget minor
things or cannot remember a certain word. If
you laugh at yourself, others will be follow suit
and laugh with you, not at you.
Try the various strategies. I would put a fair guess to it that you're under alot of stress and have been since you started treatment. I would put some attention in that direction towards reducing your stress level, either through anti-anxiety meds, meditation and other stress reduction strategies such as get out for a walk every day or as much as you can and see what you can do to calm yourself down and turn this around. The more you get upset about your brain fog, the higher your stress levels go, resulting in even worse brain fog and so on. A vicious cycle.
In the end, Drew .... with you being as young as you are AND at Stage 0, you have the luxury of time. If you decide you need to choose a more appropriate time to treat, you have the luxury of doing that. There are alternative approaches you can take that will control any further damage and will potentially decrease your viral load towards treating at a more appropriate time for you. In your situation, if treatment is costing you far too much as in your livelihood .. with your specs, you could wait. And I'm more on the "early treatment" side .. but not a blind approach to it .. more taking into consideration ALL the variables and taking into account the big picture.
Good luck, Drew. Keep posting.
Trish
A dad who's healthy is better than no dad or one with a damaged liver. Get RID of the virus while you can... I understand how you feel. I am a therapist. I'd see one person and have to go lay down for 15 minutes. Seen another etc. Then I couldn't sleep at night. No other adult in the house with 2 sons. I QUIT just a month early. I was good for years but now I FEAR it's coming back as bad as it was. I was so depressed. That's why my doc stopped the tx. I thought everyone would be better off without me. It's not true. I think you should do what you need to do to stay on the tx. Sorry I'm all emotional. Hep C gives you brain fog too....so does menopause!!!!
Sorry to here you're having a tough time with the "brain fog".....sometimes its bad for me too and then sometimes its worse. lol
I started taking SAM-e mood ~ advice from my doc! It seems to help me with the so called brain fog! I know how frustrating it is not to be able to spell or read sometimes! I've been tutoring chemisry and calculus...I can really see the difference prior to tx. I don't know if we can take ginsing on tx but its supposed to help with brain and memory functions. Please remember to ask your doc if these are right for you!
best wishes to you drew and hang in there it should get easier for you!
I started taking SAM-e mood ~ advice from my doc! It seems to help me with the so called brain fog! I know how frustrating it is not to be able to spell or read sometimes! I've been tutoring chemisry and calculus...I can really see the difference prior to tx. I don't know if we can take ginsing on tx but its supposed to help with brain and memory functions. Please remember to ask your doc if these are right for you!
best wishes to you drew and hang in there it should get easier for you!
You might speak to a shrink well versed in psycho pharmacology about trying something like Provigil or Ritalin, an AD, or even a combination -- if that fits your profile. All three were suggested to me at various time during treatment. I also tried Vitamin B shots but didn't notice much of a difference. But again, I'd only do the above under the guidance of a well-versed specialist as opposed to self-prescribing via an rx from your treatment doctor. Given you have zero liver damage, and depending how bad yours symptons get and how much of a priority your internet business is, stopping treatment is always an option although not a very popular one here.
-- Jim
-- Jim
OK - I was just gonna tell you to hang on.
Things that helped me when I needed it the most:
VITAMIN B shots --- talk to your doctor about administering them yourself.
EMERGEN-C
Caffiene (Coffee)
Lots of water...
These are the things I used when I HAD TO ABSOLUTELY concentrate.
NOTES everywhere - outlines and following them
Checklists
You can do this --- and you're going to have to buckle up and force yourself. BUT YOU CAN DO IT!
Hugs,
Meki
Things that helped me when I needed it the most:
VITAMIN B shots --- talk to your doctor about administering them yourself.
EMERGEN-C
Caffiene (Coffee)
Lots of water...
These are the things I used when I HAD TO ABSOLUTELY concentrate.
NOTES everywhere - outlines and following them
Checklists
You can do this --- and you're going to have to buckle up and force yourself. BUT YOU CAN DO IT!
Hugs,
Meki
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