Oct 2007 TX Class

[tedinoregon]

Hi everyone.  I just started Hep C treatment Oct 5th (friday) and had my second injection tonight.  I take 1200mg ribavarin daily along w/ weekly injection of 180 mcg Pegasys on Friday night.   I am a 39 yo male and weigh 250.  I have genotype 2 and it is estimated my treatment will last 24 weeks.  Here is an update on my TX so far:

-1st injection/ribavarin pill I got flu like symptoms about 6 hrs later.  Had insomnia that night.  

-Next day I was very sore, but still managed to go to gym and ride stationary bike for 45 minutes.  Was very tired the rest of the day.  Slept 10 hrs that evening!

-By Sunday I felt OK, except the headache.  Lifted weights and felt good.  Sleeping good.

-the rest of the week was good, occassional headache and "brain fog," I assume associated with Ribavarin.  It hasn't affected my motivation, even though I am more tired than usual.  Kept my normal workout schedule and ate regularly.  I was actually hoping it would decrease my appetitie a bit, but so far no luck:)

-It has been about 5 hrs since my Pegasys injection tonight and starting to sweat a little and I have some chills.  I am hoping this will go as well as last week.

For all those other newbies please post your experiences thus far.  Hopefully we can all get through this together and with advice from the more advanced TX people.

[tedinoregon]

Thanks for posting your TX experience so far.  I guess we'll keep sharing our experiences and labs as we go along.  Good luck and I hope you continue to feel well.

[mphillips]

I too started tx on 10/05/07. I had the same sx fever aches & chills the first night. The next day kinda felt like I had a hangover and tired. I did my 2nd shot on 10/12 and did'nt have any sx except for tiredness. I even trimed the shrubs around the pool saturday. I felt pretty tired on saunday and today and have some muscle pain in my lower back but nothing other than that. I have been drinking alot of water since starting tx. I hope that I am one of those that have minimal sx . Oh yeah I am geno 2a with cirrhosis and 43 yo male

[tedinoregon]

Thanks for all the input thus far.  Lady Lauri, thanks for taking the time to elaborate on your experience.

Week 2, 2 days post second injection and feeling pretty good.  I exercised today and felt really good.  This may not mean much to alot of you, but 265lb bench for 8 reps.  So far it's not effecting my strength.  I do whole body workouts 2x/week and they last ~40 minutes.  I also did 30 minutes on stationary bike and maintained HR of 126 beats/min.  As a former athelete I pride myself on my natural strength.  But I am sure that over the course of 24 weeks it will take a hit.  I don't mind being whimpy:)  For my traveling I bought a bunch of the Powerbars w/ 300 calories and 23 g of protein/bar.  Hopefully this give me added boost of energy on the road, since I am going to definitely try and avoid missing meals.

I travel 65% with my job.  Being a technical support specialist for the pharmaceutical industry (Roche being one of my clients), I have no choice.  The doctor wanted me to take off for a couple months.  Easy for a doctor to say, because I think my employer wouldn't be so understanding.  Anyway, I am trying to stay optomistic and not think about what could happen.  If things start to go down hill I'll cross that bridge if need be.  Otherwise, it's life as normal...l'm home this week, then Chicago the following week.  My biggest obstacle is a trip to Amsterdam coming at end of November.  It appears I will need to take my Pegasys injection on the plane.  Dpearture times to Europe from Portland don't give me any other option.

I'll keep posting and let you guys know how I'm progressing.  

[Lady Lauri]

(D*m, that WAS long!)
On the loosing mucsle mass, I'd said (somewhere) think as men normaly have more m. mass, that is a big part of thier weight loss. I am 49, was always very 'fit' and have no m.mass nor extra fat to loose :{  Trying to milkshake, chocolate my arse ON :}

  AND........NOONE doing this TX is whimpy, whimpy, whimpy ! M.mass loss or not!
You'll be 'hot' again :}  
( as I am starting to look like my grandmother!)
and remember, "muscle memory", you can get it back.

                                                     Lauri

[Lady Lauri]

Hi all, as a 'newbie' myself I'll share my experience thus far, and this site will help so much. I was on here mths. before I started TX. Fabulous bunch of people.
First tho, tedinoregon..... I am also 2b, so we are fortunate there, tho right now 20 more weeks sounds LOONNGGG! I was told with type 2’s the 'standard' Riba was 800mg. I am finding out here not so. I am only 125lbs. (now), sure they must be weight basing mine. I am VERY worried about my weight tho, as I had tried to gain before tx, only got to @ 134 and lost 6 lbs in the 1st 10 days! I really can't loose much here!
  As I go into week 4, and let me reiterate what debnevada said, not all are the same, don't look for sides. I didn't, from advice here.
Week 1.... nothing but a few night sweats on shot night and very tired next few days.
week 2 ...the same, more tired
week 3..........3 days after shot......sh*t has hit the fan :{, THO could still be much worse, no rash, yet, etc. but man, it has just slammed me! I was also an emotional wreck, migraines, sick, went from pigging out 1st 2 weeks to can't eat anything, and could not even drive a car if I needed to! (could, but SHOULDN'T be behind a wheel, OR on a bike that I have parked now :{
NOW.....still going on , feel pretty bad, BUT here’s some things I think, I KNOW, I did wrong!
As I was 'breezing' thru, I kept up my fast paced, 12-16 hr.non stop days, handling everything, cleaning the house as I like it, decorating for Halloween AND working another job. THAN, stopped eating as per no appetite and didn't MAKE myself get ANYTHING NUTRITIOUS down, (and I am real blessed with help here-IF I'd let them and a man and son that bring me food, smoothies, etc.) So basically I got stupid and had posted the "need women’s in put' post (which the advice suits both) and I HAVE to slow down, hand over a lot of what I do to others, GET REST and most importantly, nicely explain to them how sick I really am getting, how I REALLY feel, and they have taken over much and asked for 'list's. Me keeping my nose out of it and not getting up to supervise is the problem now :}
I missed our mthly horse flight (shipping them) yesterday and it bothered me a lot, but NO WAY could I go do that 20-24 hr. day! And d*m good thing I didn't as plane is 'broke down' in PR, my sons are there waiting (in a hotel on the beach, poor things:} and I would have STILL  been pacing in Orlando, on the phones and stressing.
You are in week 1....it IS going to affect, change your life for awhile, but as I do with type 2, keep reading here and we 'only' have 24 weeks, greater chance of SVR and helps keep my chin up.
  Being so fatigued.... I haven't even been on here much and this is one thing that helps me a lot.
I went to the other job sat., had a 'meeting' with the girls, told them how it's going to be (when they work for me, we make real good $, so they want to! I am loosing @ $300.-$500 a wk. giving up half my time!) BUT.....If I can work, I will, If I can't I WON'T! And I will never have 1 of my sons drive me 30 miles, help me work and drive me home because the fill in has a date, than sit's and get's drunk ....again! Love her, but NOT!
I had ‘planned’ ahead for this, yet still let my daily life take over whats best for me right now. PLAN now what you can change, hand over to others IF you need to.
As one of the posters put it (Deb, Nygirl?)….the world WILL revolve if I stay in bed :}
willfightit, tedinoregon, best to you in this. Especially willfightit as I know you are type 1, read your 1st post and may have a longer road ahead. I believe the Riba is causing way more than the interferon and many here say so and I am on a lower dose.! I also know it 'builds' up and things can get worse so slow down NOW, as I did not!
keep us posted and I'll update if my slowing down has helped. Keep your chins up and your arse's resting :}
(sorry so long, when i do get on here, tend to babble:}                         Lauri

[Willfightit]

Took 1st shot last night and about 4-5 hours later, the triple flu gradually hit me.  I was cold and shivering, temperature was elevated, and my bones and muscles ached.  I hope shot #2 will not be as intense.  Today, I feel much better. The only problem that I am experiencing is a change in my sense of taste.  I do not feel fatigued today.

[PSP-n-Me]

best of luck to all the new comers on the Interferon train - buckle up and keep hydrated

[mremeet]

"Is there a direct correlation between extent of side effects and decrease in VL?"

Do you mean in the sense that slow VL decline = minimal sides and fast VL decline = bad sides? If so not really, some people have bad sides and their VL decays very slowly and never gets to UND (eventually failing treatment). Conversely, you can go UND very rapidly with minimal sides and then develop awful sides long after going UND (like what happened to me for instance). The only caveat I'd add is that the amount of ribavirin you take is definitely proportional to the amount of side effects you'll have (inteferon usually not so much). The more you take, the more you're going to suffer from it. And the more you take, the faster your viral load will decline (generally). So in that sense, yes there is a correlation between side effects and decrease in VL.

[tedinoregon]

Good like with the first one.  I hope all goes well.  

[tedinoregon]

I am truly hoping I am not like everyone else and the side effects are minimal.  After the second injection last night I feel fine, relatively speaking.  I mean I feel as if I have a hang over, I have the "brain fog" and headaches, and my scalp is itching like crazy.  But no fatigue and no loss of appetite.  I was going to go workout this am but my wife suggested I take it easy for a day.  Probably not a bad idea.  

I just hope the drugs are working.  Is there a direct correlation between extent of side effects and decrease in VL?  I don't see the doctor until the 29th, so I guess we'll see what the tests reveal.

[debnevada]

I think Pro has it just right.
The first 16 for me was the direct side effect stuff as well, fast hemoglobin drop (now much increased), fatigue, minor hair loss, etc.

Since week 16, the rubber truly has met the road. I have had many infections, lost about 2/3rds of my hair, am now getting over pnemonia, lost so much of my muscle mass. I've lost right at 30 pounds, most in  the last 12 weeks.

the only reason i write this is to give a full picture. The one thing newbies must NOT do is assume they will be like anyone else.   Don't go looking for sides, though.  Either they will present themselves or they won't

deb

[Willfightit]

Start treatment tonight with my 1st shoot and pill.  I hope all goes well with no or minimal sides.  Can't wait to get pass the uncertainty.

[Proactive]

My personal opinion, for the first 16 weeks or so one is mainly dealing with the direct side effects of the drugs, some fatigue,insomnia, rash, minor hair loss etc.
After week 16 the rubber meets the road, and one is now dealing with the sx's AND the cummlative effects of the drugs...I've worked construction most all my life and was in pretty good shape for 48 years old, now at week 51, I've only lost about 7 lbs., but the amount of muscle mass loss is staggering, no ***, no thighs, no chest...whimpy/whimpy/whimpy (G)

[JodyLynn]

Hi tedinoregon good luck to you, its been about 10 weeks for me....i also wish this would decrease my appetitie  lol but it didnt, cant taste the food much but still eat it hahaha. Sleeping is something i just dont do on this treatment lol....im lucky to get 1 to 2 hrs a night..... but in the day time i need a few naps. WOW if you can still workout thats great, if i even walk to bathroom i cant breath, but i know its a side affect. I will know on the 17 if they will take me ouff treatment, i pray everyday after 3 months of this they dont,its been so hard, but he said if this blood test i had last week dont show that its working he will take me off. I wonder whats next for me if he stops treatment? : (

[tedinoregon]

PS,  I have developed a very dry scalp and noticed considerable dandruff.  This is never been an issue for me until this week and I assume it is a side effect of one of the drugs.  I am going to limit shampooing to a weekly basis and use conditioner more often.  Any other advice/tips?