Aa
alcohol and interferon
So, why can't you drink if youre going through treatment? Does it make you sick? Or is it because youre doing damage to your liver
Yesterday I didn't drink enough water. I had a few beers, though its frown upon, and I woke up today with a fever a feeling really sick. I slept until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Everything was sore and achey...
Feedback please
Yesterday I didn't drink enough water. I had a few beers, though its frown upon, and I woke up today with a fever a feeling really sick. I slept until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Everything was sore and achey...
Feedback please
Who here has “NOT” taken anything other than Interferon, Ribavirin, Aspirin products and Procrit during treatment? Can anyone post here and say that they have not taken any of the four items listed, if so lets hear it.
geterdone
geterdone
Nicely said, As for AD's i've never understood why folks here encourage people to start on them even before starting TX. Alot of people never need them. Then you read from these same people that their still hooked on them long after ending their TX. and have bad experince's when they try to quit them. Maybe they feel because a Dr. writes a RX for them that their ok.... Maybe some day there will be a cure for hcv (i hope) and none of this will matter.
My comment on AndrewMK's comment being harmful was a bit obscure .. the harm I saw in it was him inferring that any of us thing it's okay to "drink your face off". I haven't seen anybody state that kind of opinion and when someone is weighing out different opinions, it's irresponsible to indicate that that's an opinion some people hold. I have NEVER seen that extreme of an opinion stated on drinking and HCV. So to infer that anyone thinks that way is potentially harmful, in my own mind. That extreme of opinion simply doesn't exist so let's stick to the current range of opinions which is enough.
I happen to agree personally with the point of view of don't drink while on treatment, which is the only opinion I'm dealing with here and which is what the original poster was asking about. I have come out strongly on that topic to others who are on treatment. To the poster here, I was astonished at the lack of knowledge on this subject but more concerned for what kind of medical care he's getting if he's on treatment and not aware of the harm that alcohol can do while on HCV, let alone on treatment.
However, this thread went in a certain direction and the one point that I felt is lost ... is that sometimes we're talking to people with drinking problems. And sometimes we're talking to people who are having trouble coping with treatment because of that. And sometimes, on those rare occasions, maybe we need to step outside of the box. I still see it as similar to people being on AD's. Just the other day, one of my treatment buddies was sharing with me that one of the guys in his support groups is on AD's to get him through, he knows he's potentially developing an addiction and, as I have seen posted here before, he's decided he'll deal with the addiction when he's done treatment...what he needs is to GET through treatment.
I guess that's incredibly unconventional, to think that the lesser of two evils is to have the occasional drink during treatment if that's the difference between making it through treatment or not. And that is the circumstance I'm referring to. I'm not talking about people who simply want the excuse to drink. My point is narrow and only directed at those who wouldn't get through treatment without the OCCASIONAL drink.
Anyway...I'll leave it at that. I think that narrow point gets lost in the emotion of this topic and it's not really worth me beating any kind of drum on it. In the greater sense, I concur with the consensus that not drinking while on HCV and while on treatment is best.
The lesser of two evils seems to be to tell people not to drink, not ever. And that IS best case scenario.
I happen to agree personally with the point of view of don't drink while on treatment, which is the only opinion I'm dealing with here and which is what the original poster was asking about. I have come out strongly on that topic to others who are on treatment. To the poster here, I was astonished at the lack of knowledge on this subject but more concerned for what kind of medical care he's getting if he's on treatment and not aware of the harm that alcohol can do while on HCV, let alone on treatment.
However, this thread went in a certain direction and the one point that I felt is lost ... is that sometimes we're talking to people with drinking problems. And sometimes we're talking to people who are having trouble coping with treatment because of that. And sometimes, on those rare occasions, maybe we need to step outside of the box. I still see it as similar to people being on AD's. Just the other day, one of my treatment buddies was sharing with me that one of the guys in his support groups is on AD's to get him through, he knows he's potentially developing an addiction and, as I have seen posted here before, he's decided he'll deal with the addiction when he's done treatment...what he needs is to GET through treatment.
I guess that's incredibly unconventional, to think that the lesser of two evils is to have the occasional drink during treatment if that's the difference between making it through treatment or not. And that is the circumstance I'm referring to. I'm not talking about people who simply want the excuse to drink. My point is narrow and only directed at those who wouldn't get through treatment without the OCCASIONAL drink.
Anyway...I'll leave it at that. I think that narrow point gets lost in the emotion of this topic and it's not really worth me beating any kind of drum on it. In the greater sense, I concur with the consensus that not drinking while on HCV and while on treatment is best.
The lesser of two evils seems to be to tell people not to drink, not ever. And that IS best case scenario.
Drinking, for the purposes of this forum is not a moral issue. While there may be some "safe level" of alcoholic consumption for people in general, I don't think there is wide agreement on if or what level.
It is certainly safe for people to be out and around the city exposed to all kinds of germs; the imune system just fights the bugs off and there is no harm to the body. However, if a person does not have a competent imune system, then these mundane exposures can result in exotic life-threatining infections that a normal person would never contract, though exposed. A person with an impaired imune system needs to take extra precautions.
So, having a liver that is impaired by a lethal viral infection, and likely with disease (fibrosis, cirrhosis), why would you want to take a chance with exposing yourself to toxins that clearly can impair the liver? It is a no-brainer for me.
Having said that, everyone chooses for themselves, and I would not interfere. There may well be a level of alcohol consumption that will not hurt a person with HCV. I just hope that nobody would use that as an excuse and continue drinking, losing sight of the original limits, exceeding them until they find themselves, at last with ESLD.
It's your liver and your life. Just don't make stupid decisions. First thing my Hep doc told me was NO ACOHOL, NONE. He told me this several times. It seemed pretty important to him, though I know he has no moral ax to grind on the subject. Neither do I and I object to being labeled a Puritan or an Alcohol Nazi because I believe that drinking is harmful to the liver.
I have a new liver, thanks to a deceased donor and a competent team of surgeons. The surgeon and possibly the donor would probably want to take it back if I started drinking now, and who could blame them?
Sorry if I got a little heavy there; it kind of touched on a sore subject when I started thinking/posting about it. :)
btw; the original poster (who was it?) really stirred it up here, no? Maybe that was intended. IDK.
It is certainly safe for people to be out and around the city exposed to all kinds of germs; the imune system just fights the bugs off and there is no harm to the body. However, if a person does not have a competent imune system, then these mundane exposures can result in exotic life-threatining infections that a normal person would never contract, though exposed. A person with an impaired imune system needs to take extra precautions.
So, having a liver that is impaired by a lethal viral infection, and likely with disease (fibrosis, cirrhosis), why would you want to take a chance with exposing yourself to toxins that clearly can impair the liver? It is a no-brainer for me.
Having said that, everyone chooses for themselves, and I would not interfere. There may well be a level of alcohol consumption that will not hurt a person with HCV. I just hope that nobody would use that as an excuse and continue drinking, losing sight of the original limits, exceeding them until they find themselves, at last with ESLD.
It's your liver and your life. Just don't make stupid decisions. First thing my Hep doc told me was NO ACOHOL, NONE. He told me this several times. It seemed pretty important to him, though I know he has no moral ax to grind on the subject. Neither do I and I object to being labeled a Puritan or an Alcohol Nazi because I believe that drinking is harmful to the liver.
I have a new liver, thanks to a deceased donor and a competent team of surgeons. The surgeon and possibly the donor would probably want to take it back if I started drinking now, and who could blame them?
Sorry if I got a little heavy there; it kind of touched on a sore subject when I started thinking/posting about it. :)
btw; the original poster (who was it?) really stirred it up here, no? Maybe that was intended. IDK.
I didn't take MKAndrew's comment as being "harmful". I expressed basically the same thing as he did in my post by saying "I don't care if someone wants to drink themselves into a stupor everday". My whole point and I believe his to be as well is that don't bother trying to eradicate the disease with high powered toxins and then add more toxins like alcohol to your system. I know this is a very controversial topic but what I'm not understanding is why anyone with any degree of intelligence can't or won't understand the common sense of abstaining from alcohol while txing or for that matter if you are infected with HCV. Alcohol effects the liver - even in moderate quantities. Personally, I've grown attached to my liver (or maybe it's attached to me!!) and want to keep it with me as long as possible!!! I don't want to slap it around anymore than I already have. So, that's what common sense means to me.
Trinity
Trinity
Ok I have one more question regarding drinking (I am thinking it is a stupid question and I already know the answer)
If you only drink small amounts for a short period do you believe that in itself will cause more damage...
I guess my questions is when I go to Italy and I have small drinks of wine will that really be bad...
Type 2B 2 grade
If you only drink small amounts for a short period do you believe that in itself will cause more damage...
I guess my questions is when I go to Italy and I have small drinks of wine will that really be bad...
Type 2B 2 grade
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