nausea

[O726]

I was exposed to hep c in 1992 by a shared needle. A few years after learning I had hep c I started getting extremely nauseated very suddenly.  One minute I would feel fine and the next minute I would be vomiting over and over again  accompanied by a sudden bowl movement.  It was like my body was trying to empty me of everything.  At this time I was on methadone so I was no longer using street opiates, but I did smoke a lot of pot. And because everyone said pot was good for nausea I smoked more during these bouts of nausea and vomiting.  This would continue for 18-24 hours when I would very quickly start feeling better and eventually I would be back to normal.  This continued for several months with the attacks of nausea occurring weekly.  When I quit smoking pot the attacks stopped and the nausea only occurred occasionally.
     I finally tied the attacks to most all street drugs and some prescription and over the counter drugs.  So as long as I was very careful of what I took for minor pains and cold symptoms I was ok. Until now. The attacks of nausea have returned, almost daily and the nausea never stops.  I don’t know what to do.  I have stopped taking all drugs except methadone. I still take 85mg daily it has never caused these symptoms before. Is this from liver damage?
     I’ve never been treated, though I did go to a doctor ten years ago.  He did a lot of blood work and said I had type 2. He said my viral load was moderate, he gave me a number but I don’t remember what it was.
I’ve never heard of anyone having these symptoms.  Is there anything I can do?  I am afraid my liver is so damaged that there is little I can do.
     Can anyone offer any advice , help.
Thanks for listening
Oscar

[reallyscaredindian]

Hi corklynn,

I have just been diagnosed with genotype 3. I am thinking about going for treatment. Ultrasound showed that liver was normal in size. no inflammation was detected. Viral load was 4.5 million.

Would you share your experience of treatment. Has it been very hard?
I work from 9 to 5 with an organization. I am wondering if its possible to continue working with the treatment. But if its as hard as people here are telling it is, then I may have to weigh my options.

By the way, i am 30 years old.

[corkylynn]

Hey, I understand about the nausea with Hep C as I know that it was a symptom of my disease cause I have been having nausea ever since I caught this disease and that was 17 years ago.  I'm a genotype 1a and am half way through my treatment with the new Merck drugs.  I still have the nausea and before treatment, I have been experiencing this for years.  I take premethazine or the ondansetron plus gravel at times for the nausea.  I also take gravol when I'm out of these other meds.  My Hep C advocate told me that his nausea went away as soon as he was finished treatment which was the old SOC (standard of care) in 2010.  

If you look on several of the different medical sites for Hep C, a common symptom of Hep C is nausea and sometimes vomiting.  I have been dealing with these for years and not before I caught Hep C.  Everyone is different and I was looking for some validation from others regarding my symptoms.  

I do agree with the other posts about getting on treatment soon.  I live in Canada and am on a disability pension with no other extra income because I cannot work anymore.  As of now, I am undetected after my 4 weeks are up but I'm still feeling crappy.  I need reassurance that all these symptoms I have will eventually fall away.  At least when you are cured, you can see what else needs to be done to be healthier and feel good.  I work on living in the NOW and not to worry so much.  That is easier said than done.  Instead of feeling like a victim, I work on being grateful for all the good in my life.  

I would suggest to ask your doctor about different meds for your nausea, headaches, etc. in order to feel comfortable now and during your treatment!!   Best of luck!

[ceanothus]

Welcome to the forum! I agree with candyman, this set of symptoms does not sound like it is related to Hepatitis C, but I do want to really urge you to get yourself to a good hepatologist or at least a good gastroenterologist ASAP, as it could be something possibly even more serious. When I was about 12 years into my HCV infection I had a few episodes like yours (in my case they occurred after eating a kind of fatty meal), which I described to my hepatologist. He didn't consider it related to the HCV, but he was alarmed. He ordered numerous tests to rule out things like pancreatic cancer (yes, I was scared out of my wits at that point). In my case it turned out that I had a very rare congenital abnormality of the gastrointestinal tract resulting in a choledochal cyst. This kind of cyst is harmless as long as it remains unchanged but in 25% of cases it develops into a cancer that has an exceptionally high fatality rate, so I was urged to have it surgically removed. I went through a very complicated surgery while infected with HCV and with cirrhosis, but I'm fine now. Problem fixed, and now the HCV is fixed, so all I have left to deal with is cirrhosis, and it is still compensated, so I'm doing very well.

I hope I am being unduly alarmist and that your symptoms are due to a simple food allergy or something on that level, but please go get a good specialist to evaluate it for you, and to also discuss starting treatment to get rid of the HCV. There is no reason to continue to carry that kind of longterm risk to your liver now that it is so treatable. Best wishes!

[cheflady]

hi and welcome to the forum. I know it is a long shot but do you think that it could be some kind of food allergy? i say this because my last husband at the age of 45 all of a sudden became gluten intolerent his symptoms for first few yrs came and went and that is why it took docs so long to diagnose it but eventually they realised what it was. I know it a long shot but a simply test could rule out any food allergys, hope you find a answer to it soon. All the best Jules

[can-do-man]

Just what is the cause of the nausea I wouldn't know, constant nausea is not a system of Hep C alone. Now add the methadone and it could very well be a combo. Maybe others could be of help with the methadone. What I do know is you have been infected for over 20 years, also as we age it seems to speed up the liver damage. You didn't mention drinking but that also plays a huge part with progression.

What I can tell you is your genotype is one of the easiest types to cure and with these newer meds about to be approved treatment time is shorter, interferon free and has very high cure rates. Please get into a Hepatologist  and get the process started on riding yourself of Hep C.

Welcome here and wishing you the best............