Very little sleep...

[Bassin_Bill]

Hello... new boot with an old thing.  I've got HepC and have had since (I'm betting - May 6, 1986) from a blood transfusion at Medical City in Dallas, Texas.  Of course they didn't test for HepC back then, pity.  Regardless, I get to deal with what I have.  I am having major issues with little or no sleep for days (make that nights too.)  Itching, burning skin on swollen legs and ankles and joint pain issues are worse than bad breath from a buzzard but not worse than not sleeping.  At some point, I got angry about it but that did no good.  Now, I'm just tired and have the same ol' same ol'.  Disgusting, isn't it?  I'm amazingly not depressed but feel like I have every right to be.  I am very open to any information or ideas that might help.

I'll shut and listen now... thank you for your info.  

[ceanothus]

We would all love to help, or at least discuss some of the options available, but we have nowhere near enough info about your condition to really say anything. Who gave you the HCV diagnosis? They should have told you about the need for regular surveillance. Have you been following up on it with regular checkups with either a gastroenterologist, or preferably a hepatologist? Are you getting annual (or twice annual) ultrasound scans of your liver and regular blood tests to check liver enzyme levels and other metabolic functions and blood counts?  Have you had a liver biopsy to determine the amount of damage the virus has done to your liver so far? These are all very much necessary screening tests for people with HCV, and are the only way to really know what the virus is doing to you and what you should do about it. If you have some of these test results and can post them we would be happy to talk to you about them. If you don't have them, then the first order of business for you is to get serious about your health, find a good liver specialist (hepatologist) and start getting more information about your health so you can make good decisions about how to improve it. Do you have more info to share, or do you need help in finding a good doctor?

[trolleater]

  I have hep c and have been living with the same issues (blood transfusion in Houston 1983) I did a sleep study and was diagnosed with severe central sleep disorder, they gave me(insurance/co-pay bought), a bi-pap machine it helps dramatically with sleeping, I have also been diagnosed with neuroaothy in both legs, and diabetes, my legs cramp so bad that I tell my doctor that it feels like bubbling crude oil that hurts, my feet were swollen all the time, and because I could not sleep, I was a mess.  I am now on treatment for the hep c and it is working (the triple treatment with incivek), funny thing is that the cramping in the legs is gone, so is the bubbling oil feeling, I am not going to lie to you the hep c treatment in itself is horrible, but my liver functions are going closer to normal again, and I do not need as much insulin anymore, so I recommend this, get the hep c not in check but gone, yes I said gone,  do a sleep study, and if your Dr. will let you have them ambien really helps me fall asleep, but watch out because once you start them its hard to quit.
  I and my Dr. believe that almost all my problems came from the advance stages of the hep c virus, and although i am only starting week 7 of a 48 wk treatment, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is a little blurry from the side effects of the triple tx drugs, but it is there.  Good luck my friend, and you will find all kinds of support on this web site, do not be afraid to ask or talk about anything that is bothering you, someone here will help you through it, there are so many of us with hep c, you are not alone in this battle....... ANGER,RAGE,FRUSTRATION,DEPRESSION,HATE,MADNESS, AND SO MUCH MORE. its all just a part of it      Good Luck.......Trolleater

[HectorSF]

" I am having major issues with little or no sleep for days (make that nights too.)  Itching, burning skin on swollen legs and ankles and joint pain issues are worse than bad breath from a buzzard but not worse than not sleeping. "
Most persons with hepatitis C have no symptoms until their liver disease becomes very advanced. Which is why most of the 3-4 million Americans that are infected are unaware that they are infected.

Questions to understand your condition more:

Have you seen and doctor regarding your symptoms?
If so what do they say is causing these symptoms?
Have you had recent blood tests?
Has your thyroid been checked?
Do you itch all over or mostly in certain areas?
You say you have swollen legs and ankles...if you push in on the skin does it return to the normal shape our does it stay indented?
How enlarged are they? Can you wear your regular shoes?

Do you find you days and nights reversed. Meaning you can't sleep at night and only during the day?
Do you have other signs of memory loss, confusion, irritability, tremors, difficulties with coordination, feeling like your head is in a fog all the time?

By the way... there was no test for hepatitis C in 1986 so no one including your hospital could tell blood products were infected with the virus.

Cheers!
Hector