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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.
Welcome to the forum. I don't think anybody was capable of understanding how I felt on treatment except other people who had gone through it. So I stayed glued to this forum. I wasn't interested in cooking, cleaning, socializing, talking on the phone, doing my projects, or anything else while on treatment. Holding a conversation took more effort and energy than I wanted to put forth. I was couch bound for about 20 weeks out of 24. I viewed it as a 6 month medical time out that would allow me to live a better life later. Stick around and we'll help you get through. Reid
Thank you, I am already feeling better just being on this forum and knowing that I am not alone...my doc prescribed me Remerol an antidepressant and sleep aid. I hope that this helps me. It got so bad that I contemplated suicide, although I would never ever be able to go through with that, I am taking the medicine to live, not die. Doc told me that the Remerol should start to work very quickly, it certainly has helped me to get more than 3hrs of sleep a night-I was miserable because of the medicine and the lack of sleep also. Thanks for your time and I hope you are doing well! :) Cherie
Thank you so much, it truly helps me to not feel so alone. No my family has no clue about what I am going through right now, I did explain it to them, but I have a feeling that they think I am superwoman...which I did my best to be that is before I started the meds. I just saw my doc on Friday and she did prescribe me an antidepressant called Remerol. One of the side effects is drowsiness which I definitely needed especially since I have such terrible interrupted sleep lately. Also you hit the nail right on the head with all of the other side effects of the meds...I have them ALL. I was having suicidal thoughts and I am taking the medicine so I can live a great life, not to die...decided that it was time for the antidepressants. Thanks for your time I truly appreciate it!!! :)
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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.