Interferon is it worth it?

[anyonelistening]

I'm seriously starting to wonder if I made the right choice about treatment. I was very!! healthy prior to starting treatment and now my body is a very messed up to say the least. Will i ever get better?now instead of the virus will I be forever effected by side effects of the treatment drugs (victresis triple)I've put in my system for a " cure". I would be interested in hearing stories of post treatment.  Are we nothing more than an experiment? for pharmaceutical  profits.?  And are these companies then profiting of of our hope Maybe  I'm going mad but really starting to question

[hrsepwrguy]

When I was diagnosed @ 46 yrs old (thought I was 100% healthy) I was already at late stage 3, so waiting for me really wasn't an option and more than likely HCV would have caused me major problems in the future, but I think desrt said it best.

"I really can't say whether my health would now be better or worse if I hadn't txd, but I'm satisfied with the decision I made"

[gsx1250fa]

Interferon is worth it if you are advanced and need Tx ASAP. With that being said....I will never go back on interferon again. I have had 3 tours of duty with it in the last 3 years (Tx failures). The side effects of the last Tx were twice as bad as the first time. Long term side effects...who knows. A body can only take so much. 3 rounds is enough for me.

[flcyclist]

Mark, you have a great attitude and are a wonderful inspiration for those pushing forward, whether they are currently in trt or waiting for the next step.  Thanks for those wise words.

[chiefdag]

I was put on treatment 6 1/2 yrs ago i went thru the 48 wk treatment and it didnt get rid of the dragon so i asked the doc if a year and a half on it would do it seeing that it gets rid of it while im on treatment he agreed that it may work but to my dismay it did not so he put me in a trial for 48 weeks and that didnt do it. so i waited then i got a call from the trial nurses who said they had new meds and a new trial so i agree so lo and behold out of 300 plus patients me and 1 other guy got the placebo so thats another 48 weeks. at the end of that we were offered the real medicin so i took it and after 48 more weeks we cleared the virus and now after almost 2 yrs it is still gone.
My question is I have not felt right ( dont sleep, i am exhausted all the time, no energy, etc) and was wondering if the meds have done this to me? im physicaly in decent shape but i feel malaise all the time and cannot think clearly or focus and its hard for school seeing i cant remember alot of what i read, Does anyone else have this problem even after being off the meds for awhile?     I guess im not alone

[maybe368]

I am about 2 months post treatment (failed). I have treated a total of 4 years and 4 months with interferon based modalities. After each one, I quickly returned to my pre-treatment condition, although this time with 5 fewer teeth and a few scratching scars. I am currently training for a marathon and am up to 7 miles every other day. I recommend concentrating on your physical and emotional well-being, Try to lose weight, if that is necessary, try to  concentrate on those things that you have control over and try not to stress about those thing that you don't. I know that is easy for me to say, but anyone can do it. It takes dedication. As a young man, I had this notion that I could get into shape and then not have to work so hard. I came to the realization that this was BS and that exercising is for life, but the life is much more enjoyable. Despite all of my failed treatments, my fibrosis level has not gotten worse since I was diagnosed in 1997 or 8, 3 on the Ishack scale.I attribute that to my conditioning, without any scientific reason, just my attitude about it  Also, the only thing that you have 100% control over is your attitude, which is something I had to work on also, good luck...Mark

[ActingBrandNew]

P.S. Treatment is a gamble....it always has been in more than one way. If people dont like to lose...they shouldn't play.