Vision/Balamce issues

[joyla69]

Hi, good morning, Ive noticed my vision is very foggy,, and my balance is way off, my legs are very wobbly. Im a hiker, and love the outdoors, and this is a huge problem for me, because I took a nasty fall on Friday doing something that used to be no problem for me..Very disturbing!! any advice???

[indy531]

I have had dizzy spells frequently and have low hgb-vic sx. Thanks for the info.

[working dog]

i ended up getting a cat scan mri to see if i had a tumor in my brain...i think the main reason why every symptom i got was so bad has to do with my anemia during tx....the high pulse rate with blood thinned down to a viscosity that looked thinner then water...not much oxygen getting around...as the blood is pushed into the capillaries that are use to normal blood then things can happen....sometimes i wonder if the folks that got symptoms really bad could drink less water...maybe that would help...also stand up really slow...sometimes thats hard to do getting out of a car...so i have to say maybe its not just the lack of oxygen but because of the lack of oxygen your pulse rate is really high and your blood very thin pushing deep and busting blood vessels....it is interesting to think about...then maybe once tx is over your blood gets thicker again..has plenty of oxygen and for a while after tx your system adjusts causing pain issues ...in all sorts of ways...i have done a lot of painting...sometimes adding water to get the paint to absorb better...as you can see i don't have the answers..just hope everyone does their best to stay on tx.....billy

[Sentinel13]

This is a very interesting & educational tread. I tend to view the world through my eyes and my vision problems on treatment were/are the result of hypoxia (not enough oxygen to my brain & eyes due to my anemia). Even the time I lost consciousness was because of the lack of oxygen to my brain. The experiences everyone has shared remind me things can be more complicated. Your detailed stories are not something I read about in the literature. Thanks for sharing.

[80mecheng]

Sorry to hear you had to stop treatment.  I am on Vic & all and when my hmg was low and dropping my doctor seem to think I could stop if I had to and still be SVR in 6 months based on the fact I was a rapid responder and the statics suggested only mild risk of relapse.  I did not stop and am 20 days away from completion.  Hope you remain SVR.

[working dog]

thanks ...i was taken off tx at week 19 because of bleeding in my retinas...had to stop interferon...my really bad eye stuff started at about week 17..sharp stinging pain ...it buckled me right over...there was no doubt it was a nasty pain...only lasting real bad maybe 15 seconds at a time...i did see a retina md specialist before tx and at 19 weeks...also 4 weeks post tx...and now in two weeks again......i think my eyes will be fine...just can't do interferon again so if my vl comes back i'll have to go for the newer tx in a few years...may 7th is my hopefully svr date....i think you do everything you can to hang in during tx..billy

[80mecheng]

Interesting experiences and I'll add mine.  I am on Vic & all and at week 18 my hmg dropped to 9.2 and was still dropping, my doctor added Procrit.  Within a couple of weeks, with little improvement in hmg I starting having vision issues specifically I had "flash events" (my term) where my vision would become out of focus and similar to what you experience after a camera flash.  Thing is it lasted 10-20 min.  Since Procrit can create blood clots I was concerned I was having a TIA, precursor to a stroke.  Bottom line went to the Opthamolgist per the Gastro docs instructions and he believes it was an occular migrain.  As he explained it, can happen when the blood vesels spasam and about 50% of his patients have a headaches associated with it.  A few happened after I stood up and became dizzy but many occurred as I was working on my laptop.  Bottom line is in my case the events have receded after about a week and doesn't appear to be directly related to treatment.

I would recommend you let your doctor know and make an appointment to see your opthamologist to have it checked out.  I assume you saw one prior to treatment to baseline your retina since Interferon can cause some issues.

[working dog]

one time during tx i lost almost all my vision for about 1 hour...maybe 45min...i was tired on my way to the docs 3 hours away...i had a driver..my girlfriend...it would have scared me even more but years ago i read this vision lose had happened to others on this forum....i think it was caused by being tired...anxiety can also make things worse....i'm almost four months post tx and on 175 readers now..was up to 300 during tx and started at 150's....my far vision is maybe better then before tx...my night vision is great now after tx...headlights don't phase me at all...i'm loving that..on tx i looked like i was dead with very low hgb almost all the time on tx....keep on top of things like blood work..vision..i hope you and your doctor have talked about when to bring in rescue drugs if needed...the drugs are probably working great...stay with it...good luck...billy

[joyla69]

I had blood work done yesterday, CBC, LFT, CMP. well see what that says.
my next appointment is on the 24th of this month, and Ill tell my doc I need a good nights sleep.He told me to take benadryl for hives I developed and he thought this would also help me sleep, which is true, but benadryl knocks me out to the point of being groggy all day.For lack of any better way to describe the effect Tx has had on me, Id have to use the term Vampire, I want to sleep all day, and Im wide awake at night untill the benadryl kicks in,white as a sheet with dark circles under my eyes,light sensitive eyes etc.Im hanging in there..Have a great week end!!

[joyla69]

I had blood work done yesterday, CBCs, LFTs, & CMP, so well see how that goes. I had reading glasses before Tx, but this is different?? Everything is hazy, and  kinda foggy, Ill discuss this with my doc on my appt. on the 24th.Yeah My hair looks the same lol!! Im looking like a twilight character as well.

[susy50]

Hi joyla I hope your tx is going okay for you ,just to let you know I took 2 nasty falls also on the pegasus hurt my back pretty bad ya i spook to my doc after my falls and he did say that was normal that you can lose ur balance on this tx just make sure you let your doc know also.Hang in there this tx can be a miracle when you can complete it .Have you had bloodwork done are all your lecels stable such as sodioum ,iron ,pottassium etc? just asking cause you say you cant get up to even make yourself something to eat

[crigger]

This treatment ain't for sissys.  I can not do anything I was doing before I use to swim a lot now I am afraid I could drown.  Be sure you let your DOC know about any side effect . Did you get an eye exam before treatment. These drugs can cause serious eye problems for some so stay on top of that. I know what you are talking about.Those dark circle under the eyes! I look like a character out of True Blood {so pale} and my hair looks like the rats have been sucking on it.  Hang in there

[joyla69]

Sheesh!! Feeling exhausted, and looking horrible, very pale, glassy eyed,deep circles under my eyes...With hardly enough energy to even get up and make myself any thing to eat....

[joyla69]

Yeah I hit my head, but most of the damage was to my elbow, but I was dizzy as heck before I fell but I was way to far out on the rocks of the resevoir, from now on no more rocky lake banks, Im staying on flat ground.And I guess Im going to have to realize that while Im on this Tx Im going to have to keep the hiking, and all day trecks to a minimum. hard as that may be to admit.

[joyla69]

Yes Iam on Incivek, but I take no other meds other than the Pegasys/Riba/Incivek, also Ive noticed my skin is way pale, with heavy purple bags under my eyes. I  realize im blonde with naturally pale skin, but at least before I started this Tx, I had a pink flush to my cheeks, now Im just white as ash and look sick, and feel weak??

[Advocate1955]

This may seem like kind of a dumb question, but did you by any chance hit your head when you fell on Friday?  Some of the symptoms you're describing are also symptoms of a concussion.
Advocate1955

[pooh55811]

I agree with the above. Talk to your doctor tomorrow.

You may also want to call your opthamologist about the foggy vision. Both Riba and Interferon can cause vision problems. Hopefully you had a baseline eye exam before treatment for comparision. When you call the opthamologist, be sure to state you are on Hep C treatment so they know the importance of talking with the doc and getting you in to be seen ASAP.
(I have had some vision problems on treatment and they always gor me in the same day.)

[Sentinel13]

My vision is affected on treatment. The eyes are very sensitive to hypoxia (the lack of oxygen to the brain caused by anemia).

I experienced tunnel vision, loss of visual acuity, fading of colors, and overall poor night vision.

Hypoxia can also cause mental confusion and coordination problems (among other things).

Definitely talk to your doctor about your symptoms. You might want to research some of the hypoxia web sites and talk to your doctor in those terms (if appropriate). I have "anemia hypoxia").

[Gerbils]

Hi,
I definitely agree that you should talk to your doc. Dee brings up a good point on the meds and you don't want to be wobbly. Also mention the foggy vision. That happened to me early in tx and I had to go get new glasses. I am now three months post tx use my old glasses (from before tx) and can even read without glasses. I really couldn't see well on tx. I talked to my doc about it recently and he said the tx can cause swelling of the corneas which would distort the vision and then they can go back to normal after tx!

Good luck on tx.
G

[Dee1956]

I agree talking to your doc might help
Also are you on Incivek? It can increase medications, or block them completely.  I was losing my balance then discovered that one medication was blocked one was was tripled and one was decreased with Incivek
I would go over all medications with doctor and the pharmacy.  My doctor did not learn there was a problem until the specialty pharmacist told me and I shared with doc.
Best wishes to you

[flcyclist]

These are symptoms you should discuss with your doctor since there might be other underlying issues causing this.  It could be low blood sugar or the direct impact of the meds accumulating in your body.  You're at about 3 weeks, a point of reaching full saturation and your body will feel this impact and begin to adjust.  If your Hgb gets very low, this can cause these symptoms also, so keep a close eye on the cbc's and keep a copy of all reports.  Discuss this with your doctor if this continues.  Good luck.

[pjhep62]

i would only hike on flat ground for awhile... lol

i think maybe its from the lowered blood counts/weakness issues i seem a bit unsteady at times too...