what happened to my muscles??

[IMstacie]

I don't get it.  I have the same leg & arm muscles as I did when I started tx 13 weeks ago.  I could understand muscle atrophy if I were bed-ridden but I am still working (barely) and continuing (trying) with the same routine.  3 months ago I could run up 3 flights of stairs easily, now I can hardly get up 1 flight before I have to rest.  It's embarrassing!!!  What is happening to my strength?  

[Kathy73]

I'm praying for you!

[all_is_well]

I'm adding whey protein powder to my smoothie every day, but this don't seem to help me a lot pertaining to my muscle loss. Like I said I've lost weight (8lbs so far - 10wk), but my clothes still fit me. Maybe it's not working in my case like in yours. Good for you though.

[Rockerforlife]

i eat organic whey to keep on the muscle....i know its working because in my last tx,i didnt use the whey and this time im not losing the muscle.

[IMstacie]

Well, i do have a lot of company in the muscle or should I say "lack of" muscle department. My legs actually burn when I walk, slowlyyyyyyyy up the stairs.

My brother cleared, 6 mos, G3, I know he was fatigue but I don't remember him ever mentioning the muscle problem.  He continued to lift weights, regularly.  He didn't have any sx except for the fatigue and a little emotional.  He was definitely one of the lucky ones.  It's been a few years for him.

[epiphiny]

Unveiled or unplugged it's all good, the human is revealed.  I admire your spirit and fortitude.

Epi x

[granitekonig]

God damn I kinda wish we all lived somewhere we could meet at a country club for heppers or something.

[granitekonig]

"But all in all, I WILL not give in, I took the meds, I fought the battles, I halted its progression and I will be *amed if it will rob me of my life, my light and my liberity!"

HELL YEAH! I love seeing the fighting spirit. Goodonya, mate. =)

[granitekonig]

I hear ya...but I'm UND at 4 weeks so the drugs must be legit. I am being affected by them, as my post above explains, but it seems I'm being spared a lot of the suffering most of you are going through. I've had one REALLY bad day so far and I just took my 10th shot.

Believe me, I hang around here enough to know how appreciative I am for the light sx.

[BklynBoy81]

So far in week 4 of Tx my arms feel weak as hell.. My legs and arms feel like spaghetti and i get this weird pain in them.. I finally tried to workout today and i couldn't do it... I craped out like 5 mins into the workout.. *****.. I would start walking but it is to cold over here.. i do get minor sx... mainly fatigue..i feel tired all the time because lack of sleep..  since the telaprevir needs to be takin every 8 hours i dont get much sleep... bad thing is im gaining weight because of the fatty foods i gotta eat before the Telaprevir..

I gotta give it to you guys who work all the time... I usually do construction and im unemployed at the moment.. if i still had the construction job i tell you i most likely couldn't do it.. the interferon makes my back pain feel 10x worse....

[charm27]

I finished tx 2 months go. I did 52 weeks of tx. My muscles are NOT there anymore. they turned to mush. My fingernails also turned to mush??
The muscles are truly a memory! Im just hoping that I regain some back .
We try harder..Interferon does take your  mscle tone away as the hepatologist explained to me.

It does alot of things to the body that are not appealing.
I hope after tx you will get it all back.

I hope I get some back as well.
Best of luck
Charm

[geterdone]

But all in all, I WILL not give in, I took the meds, I fought the battles, I halted its progression and I will be *amed if it will rob me of my life, my light and my liberity!

jasper

[geterdone]

If there is one complaint I had (not mentioned) during treatment was the fact my muscle tone had diminished and was very noticeable to me and now a year off of the treatment drugs it is still a problem except they are breaking It use to be sore during treatment aches, pains and overall muscles soreness at the end of the day or days but somewhere between post and now it has become apparent something is a miss in the muscular skeletal department. It started in the left foot and thought the work boots were the problem but not the case. I had pulled the lungus muscle or ripped it away in some fashion and went to the doctor for that and other muscular problems in the right shoulder and had x rays and an mri only to find out that I indeed tore the rotary cuff muscle in it along with fluid build up so it is off to see yet another surgeon to see what needs to be done, and that too is a no brainer. I will go nuts not doing anything for what ever time it takes to heal. It will be even worst than treatment a least then I felt screwed up but back to the foot, it will just have to wait at leas for not, yet, I did manage to get some relief with a can of spaghetti O’s and frozen orange juice and let the good times roll. This is form a guy that only took Advil for minor pain before treatment.

Sad but true for those who have followed me through treatment and up to now, the mask unveiled. I hurt damit and I will not take anymore, I am getting really *issed off and this **** has got to STOP! Oops sorry!

geterdone

[Tippyclubb]

I am baffled also because I am another one with light sx.   l know I'm getting the real drugs all 3 of them.  Its a no placebo trial, and doing the standard dosage of Peg and Riba, plus Teleprevir.  I swear if it weren't for being a no placebo trial I would be convinced wasn't getting the real meds according to how I feel.  Will be going into my fifth week and so far all is good.  I don't understand it at all, but will enjoy it while it last.  Who knows all hell could break loose next shot.  Even the trial nurse is surprised and told me very few people handle it this well.  

After reading thousands of post before starting tx , and during tx , I really do wonder why some people are not affected right from the beginning, while others are.  Its a puzzle isn't it?  But then again its not over yet.

[GoofyDad]

Fishdoc was unaffected by ribaviran, and was conicidently a slow viral responder. She went to some super-duper  specialist doc; he boosted her Riba way up and she went on to SVR. He called her a high ribaviran metabolizer.... she was clearing it out almost as fast as it went in. He fixed that and she got the old ton of bricks whammo that the rest of know and love.  

[geterdone]

Because you are the first Superman. I don't understand it myself grant I am just baffled beyond comprehension, not trying to start an argument but it is either your getting bogus drugs or for some reason they do not effect you. I mean, you may be lucky in the fact that you have been spared or just a freak of nature. I would really consult the doc to see if in fact you are on the right stuff. I’m here to tell ya, I am a very positive person or at least I think so but treatment did kick my *** from beginning to end and to some degree one year post. If you’re in a trial I would try to find out why the sx do not affect you so much. Hey if it works for you keep it rolling.

jasper

[granitekonig]

I work 40 hours, have a hyper 8 year old, and am getting my house ready to sell....but I used to train in cagefighting right up until I found out I had Hep C....now I feel like I'm breathing heavy if I walk fast and talk at the same time. Muscles feel less full and I look skinnier in the shoulders, arms and legs, but weigh pretty much the same. I haven't exercised at all since starting because i'm just not mentally into it. I feel like I have less power, definitely. I think the testosterone definitely takes a hit along with red and white blood cells while putting this life-saving poison in our bodies.

When this is over I'm going to the gym all the damn time...

[Rockerforlife]

Why am i able to work 50 hours a week and im on triple therapy and this is my secound round of tx?...not trying to be crass ...but why am i ok...i dont get this...

[Kathy73]

I get up and start the coffee, I lay down, take a shower and put on lotion, lay down, get dressed, lay down. Go to work, wish I was home, go home, lay down. Take off my clothes, lay down, dress in comfortable clothes, lay down. I'm sure you get the progression of my days now.

[Gert2]

I have the same thing going on since the 1st week, I'm now in week 9, it is very hard doing the steps, which I seem to do at least 8 times a day  uuuggghhh,  long walks are also a prob right now.   waiting for my blood test results today to see if it has dropped or gone up 2 wks ago it went up to 9.5 - lost 12 lbs so far.  it can only get better
my best to you

[meakea]

Yup...you sound just like me.  I'm in week 22 and I have no where near the strength I used to.  I first realized it when I went to pick up our 20 pound dog.  I lifted him and it felt like he weighed 50 pounds.  I asked my hubby if the dog is getting fat and he said no, he's the same as he's always been.  I walk 2 flights of stairs to work each morning and it busts my butt...  This is totally contrary to my pre-tx condition,.

[all_is_well]

This is the challenge I am going through too. You are not alone. I guess in my case is definitely the low hemoglobin. I try to do yoga and light bodyweight exercise, but it's not always a piece of cake like it was before tx (in my 10th week now). Sometimes I don't do them at all - no energy whatsoever. My muscles feel like non-existent. And like epiphiny mentioned I've lost weight too (from 110 to 102), but my clothes still fit :(
Hang in there - there is light in the tunnel. We'll be trough it soon.
A.

[FlGuy]

Eat spinach.

- Popeye

[pilgrim1951]

Muscles?  What are muscles?  As a man who has always been fit and toned (blessed with good genes, lots of excercise through work and my love of hiking)...never what you would call a pumped-up gym rat, I am embarassed by my loss of muscle mass.  I must look like a 10 year old.  I started doing some lifts and curls the other day and after 20-30 reps I thought I'd pass out.  THAT was great for the ego!  It seems this is a fairly comman result of tx and I hope to start being able to put some of it back now that the worst of my sx's are under control.  

Pilgrim

[R Glass]

I went through the same thing. It is a common side effect. It made me feel like I was 15 years older than I am. I also continued work (barely) and know what you are going through. I look back and wonder if I didn't force myself to go to work, if the sx may have been worse. There were several mornings I just wanted to lay in the bed and cry like a child having to go to school.