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Week Six of 3 med tx/ALL ALONE
Hi everybody, I hope that you all can help/understand exactly what I am going through right now on this tx. I am on Peg-interferon 2b/Ribavirin and Victrelis. I feel very strange, for lack of a better word. I have zero liver damage right now and I am hoping that I am not putting myself and my family members through absolute hell all for nothing. I have become depressed and irritable. I hope that this does not cause me to get divorced. I have NO sex drive and I also have zero desire to even cook meals for myself never mind my family. I feel so alone and my hope is that someone here can help me through this right now. Thanks in advance.
Hey there,
I too, was on the victrellis. I clearly remember feeling weird when I first added it to the other meds. Soon you will adjust. A small amount of exercise each day also helps the mental part of this treatment.
You may look fine to your husband, but it may be helpful to show him on paper, your blood counts. As the hemoglobin in your blood decreases, it causes the fatigue.
Keep your eye on the prize. You deserve a bright future and these meds may well, be your ticket.
Cheers,
C
I too, was on the victrellis. I clearly remember feeling weird when I first added it to the other meds. Soon you will adjust. A small amount of exercise each day also helps the mental part of this treatment.
You may look fine to your husband, but it may be helpful to show him on paper, your blood counts. As the hemoglobin in your blood decreases, it causes the fatigue.
Keep your eye on the prize. You deserve a bright future and these meds may well, be your ticket.
Cheers,
C
hi and welcome to the forum just to back up what the others have said use this site often and i promise you you will not be alone and we will give you as much help info that we can, i know through experience that without this site i would have been lost to understand what hubby was going through. Glad you are on anti- depressents while treating they will really help you. Just remember it is for a short time in your life and then you can get on enjoying a long and healthy life.
Hi Cherielynn, what a pretty name.
I think everyone above has given you excellent advice. I also started treating in Sep 2011 and this forum was a life line to me. While my husband was just great it is very isolating. Others think you look ok so you must be ok.
I did not want to do anything at all. It was a very hard tx. Recently another member said that he forced himself to walk and that seemed to help.
Other members did the same, I did not think I could do it so became a real home body. I know you will receive a lot of support on here.
Everyone is so kind, it is like a huge family. While I did get to SVR 6 months ago, I, like many others still come back to help. You will find people in all stages of treatment and recovery on here. I come back to help others as I was helped and I think that is why others are here as well.
We all helped each other continue the tx
Hang in there.
Dee
I think everyone above has given you excellent advice. I also started treating in Sep 2011 and this forum was a life line to me. While my husband was just great it is very isolating. Others think you look ok so you must be ok.
I did not want to do anything at all. It was a very hard tx. Recently another member said that he forced himself to walk and that seemed to help.
Other members did the same, I did not think I could do it so became a real home body. I know you will receive a lot of support on here.
Everyone is so kind, it is like a huge family. While I did get to SVR 6 months ago, I, like many others still come back to help. You will find people in all stages of treatment and recovery on here. I come back to help others as I was helped and I think that is why others are here as well.
We all helped each other continue the tx
Hang in there.
Dee
Cherie, welcome to the forum. You are among friends here and lots of good advice. Since many have already gone through what you are experiencing, it helps to guide you down the path which can be overwhelming at times.
The first months of trt were a major period of adjustment for me. There were times when I didn't understand my own behavior with some major mood swings. These meds are do alter your mood in addition to making you feel like crap, so there's a lot going on for you to adjust to. My wife was not able to recognize this since I looked normal. I expected her to understand how I felt, but realized that wasn't possible. Although I was in no mood to do it, I had to explain how I felt until she understood what was going on inside. I wanted to escape deep inside the "man cave" and be left alone, but that wasn't the way to deal with this, since my trt lasted for 48 wks. Fortunately, she was able to recognize and understand these moods, and things actually began to taper off for me as I adjusted to the new norm.
As mentioned by swimmer, try to do some for of exercise if you feel up to it. It helped me tremendously. It can be as simple as a short walk, but getting up off the couch and getting some fresh air really does help. But only if you have the energy to do it. Once this trt is over you will feel normal again, so keep your eye on the finish line and take this day by day. If we can do it, you can too. Best of luck to you.
The first months of trt were a major period of adjustment for me. There were times when I didn't understand my own behavior with some major mood swings. These meds are do alter your mood in addition to making you feel like crap, so there's a lot going on for you to adjust to. My wife was not able to recognize this since I looked normal. I expected her to understand how I felt, but realized that wasn't possible. Although I was in no mood to do it, I had to explain how I felt until she understood what was going on inside. I wanted to escape deep inside the "man cave" and be left alone, but that wasn't the way to deal with this, since my trt lasted for 48 wks. Fortunately, she was able to recognize and understand these moods, and things actually began to taper off for me as I adjusted to the new norm.
As mentioned by swimmer, try to do some for of exercise if you feel up to it. It helped me tremendously. It can be as simple as a short walk, but getting up off the couch and getting some fresh air really does help. But only if you have the energy to do it. Once this trt is over you will feel normal again, so keep your eye on the finish line and take this day by day. If we can do it, you can too. Best of luck to you.
Wow! You sound EXACTLY the way I feel right now. I don't even want to do ANYTHING AT ALL! Not talking on the phone, being out in public gives me panic attacks & cooking/cleaning forget it. My husband is angry with me because he works 10-12 hr days & doesn't understand why almost 4-5 days out of the week that I just CANNOT make him dinner or do the dishes. It ***** because he makes me feel like s**t & worthless. It makes me very sad. I wish he could understand a little bit. I know he's tired after a full day of work & I'm so lucky to not have to work right now, cause I just would not be able to hold a job. He says he can see how I feel terrible but could I plz just do this or that...no he truly doesn't get it, but he's HCV+ too & 1 day if my tx works he wants to do it too, maybe then he'll get it. Never mind the insomnia & depression, I have gone days w/out a shower cause I feel like I just don't care to, or it's too much work to even wash up. That's pretty bad. Sorry for the lengthy post but I am in desperate need of understanding. On Friday I & started Remeron & beside it being an antidepressant it's also a sleep aid and since I have gotten a few nights of decent sleep I feel a little bit better already...thank God! Thanks for "listening" to my rant! I truly appreciate the support & friendship from someone that KNOWS!!! :)
just remember to get up and at least walk around outside. it helps to get some exercise or the sx will feel worse. and also drink LOTS of water! that's very important. i forced myself to work out 3x/weekly and i was glad i did. my sx were minimal thru out the 48 weeks. best wishes. belle
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Your symptoms are very common side effects of Hepatitis C treatment. Interferon and Ribavirin cause numerous side effects and the Victrelis adds even more side effects.
The symptoms that you mentioned ... depression, irritability, lack of motivation, lack of sex drive ... are all side effects from the medications. Other common side effects include fatigue, no energy, inability to concentrate, brain fog, flu like symptoms, aches, pains, headaches, dry mouth, nausea, gastrointestinal problems, rash, itching, gum problems, chills, dizziness, weakness, and many other side effects.
If you are feeling depressed please contact your doctor and let your doctor know you are feeling depressed. Interferon can cause severe depression in some people and mild depression in others. Your doctor should be able to refer to a psychiatrist for an urgent evaluation to determine if you need antidepressants and, if you need them, which AD would be best for you to take. Do not ignore this depression as Interferon can cause people to become very depressed, even to the point of being suicidal, so it is important to get an evaluation ASAP and treatment if indicated. The psychiatrist can also evaluate your irritability, which can also be a symptom of depression (and a side effect of the Hep C treatment drugs).
As far as your other symptoms, there is not much you can do about the sex drive while you are on the drugs. It is a side effect and should resolves by itself after you finish treatment. Or, it may resolve during treatment. Some of these side effects come and go.
As far as fatigue and no motivation, that is from the drugs. You just have to slow down and try to do the best you can while treating with these drugs. You will feel better after finishing the drugs.
The fatigue and no motivation can be worsened by anemia so be sure to keep a very close eye on your hemoglobin and other blood counts. You should have complete blood counts at least every 2 weeks and more often if your blood counts are low.
It sounds like your family has no idea what you are going through and how debilitating this treatment is. Can you sit down and talk frankly with your family and let them know how debilitating this treatment is, how sick you are, and how bad you feel. Is there anyone who understands who can sit with you while you try to help your family understand that you are sick. Anyone who can give you some support and back you up. Your family needs to understand that treatment is very difficult and that you need to focus on treatment so that you will be cured. They should be helping you attain a cure. Perhaps you could let them read the responses you receive in this thread.
If they still do not understand or will not support you in this treatment, then please know that we do understand and we will try to help you get through treatment as much as we can. You are 6 weeks into treatment. That is a very good start. We will support you and help you. Just post any time you need help or have questions or just need to vent.
(Just for the record, several of us did take antidepressants during treatment with very good effect.)
ADVERSE REACTIONS
PEGASYS alone or in combination with COPEGUS causes a broad variety of serious adverse reactions (see BOX WARNING and WARNINGS). In all studies, one or more serious adverse reactions occurred in 10% of patients receiving PEGASYS alone or in combination with COPEGUS.
The most common life-threatening or fatal events induced or aggravated by PEGASYS and COPEGUS were depression, suicide, relapse of drug abuse/overdose, and bacterial infections; each occurred at a frequency of <1%.
Nearly all patients in clinical trials experienced one or more adverse events. The most commonly reported adverse reactions were psychiatric reactions, including depression, irritability, anxiety, and flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, pyrexia, myalgia, headache, and rigors.
.....
http://www.druglib.com/druginfo/pegasys/side-effects_adverse-reactions/
Please visit the forum often. We will respond to your questions and give you support as you go through treatment.
Best of luck.