HCV Fibromyalgia

[gibsongal]

i have had doctors tell me they do not know what is causing my pain. one arrogant gastro was supposed to be all up on HCV said flat out that the hcv was not causing the pain..

this is almost exactly me!

Results: The authors found the following factors to  be risk factors for FBS among
the patients with chronic Hepatitis C patients:  age 45 years or more, female sex,
living alone, history of depression,  acquisition of HCV through blood transfusion,
and presence of HCV genotype  1.

- See more at: http://hepatitiscnewdrugresearch.com/prevalence-of-fibromyalgia-among-patients-with-chronic-hepatitis-c.html#sthash.XpkIrt8L.dpuf


the liver filters toxins and if i got the info right, something called Kupffer cells in turn release IL1 IL2 somehow in turn the spinal cord and brain get over excited and we perceive pain.

here are some links if anyone suffers from pain..

i also read that a diet free or dairy  and gluten , no processed foods, MSG etc is supposed to help calm down the pain receptors..

http://hepatitiscnewdrugresearch.com/prevalence-of-fibromyalgia-among-patients-with-chronic-hepatitis-c.html

scroll halfway down http://www.myalgia.com/Bennett%20Mayo%20article.pdf

so the above article was in 1999…
how is it that not a single doctor in 3.5 years since this pain thing started,  i went to about 8, never said this could be  why i have severe wide spread pain..

now that i am cured…is it possible that my pain will go away?

[gibsongal]

yeah i don't live alone either..
but i am thin, female over 45 and WAS geno type 1..

depression and stress seems to make things worse for me..

i have been resting a lot this winter and i seem to have less paint he past few weeks. my stress has gone down as well on the home front.

going through menopause also so who knows! hormones?

trying to think healing thoughts and not worry and be in the now.
i had a lot of aggravation and stress from my HIV docs ..

i have a new doc and things are good..labs excellent..

and then the HCV treatment went  really well so perhaps i am on the way to getting some of my life back .


i got fresh air today and i felt pretty good going to the grocery store,

[susan400]

People with Hep C are very susceptible to Fibromyalgia, irregardless of how they got Hep C.  I've had Fibro symptoms and high levels of inflammation markers for many years and I got HEP C from injection drug use (only used for a short period of time sporatically-never an addiction type of IV drug use because I was playing around with IV powder cocaine-never did IV of any crack, or, crank or Heroin)... any way, it only takes use IV street drugs one time to get infected that way. My point is, I also had a bunch of surgery from my late 20's to age 40 and between the two, I ended up with this chronic widespread body pain thing.  I am not sure that being age 45 and living alone and having depression should have any bearing on that though. I've known several happily married women who even hadhave kids that have fibro.  I know of several who are way past menopause who have fibro (so not sure it's a hormonal thing either).  I think that it has alot more to do with inflammation than anything else.  That's my non-medical opinion.  Susan400

[hepcandme]

I am so sorry for your suffering and hope that you are able to conquer your fibro as you did with Hep C

How to get the science community to focus on it?

[gibsongal]

we can only hope that the pain will get better after clearing ..

i am going to print some of the studies  i found and give them to the docs..

the specialists will not prescribe pain meds as they want you to go to your primary..

when i didn't have a primary and was on a waiting list.. i suffered so much.. they make you try the cymbalta lyrica gabapentin.antidepressants.first and you do and hope they work

then after a year of that crap you have to beg for pain meds..

neuropathy is odd because it is the extremity..feet hands..
my feet have slight neuropathy, not bad like some folks..

my other pain FM..is full body. spine neck arms thighs..makes it hard to live..walk, eat, smile.. now with the right pain management i am not crying ALL the time, once or twice a day..

the docs try the meds that work on the brain, gabapentin, antidepressants, snri ssri they do help some but few.

nortriptaline works on the  feet pretty good, but made me really tired and crying depressed more?

i am now trying welburtin as it works on the noriprenephrin and dopamine.. both said to help pain. and energy/adhd focus..

fibro is pain everywhere..stabbing bruised hit by a bus whiplash feeing..it realy *****.. and the fatigue zaps everything out of you…
and then the depression and anger sets in after searching to get better and one does not and we feel hopeless. cheated ..even though we look healthy .

the liver  ID docs said to not give up hope.. that i had hcv a long time and it may get better..i cleared Aug on sov/oly.. slight fibrosis..

[hepcandme]

I have also been told many times that Hep C does not cause pain but I have peripheral neuropathy that is quite painful and has progressed to the point that I really cannot feel my feet at all - they are just numb all the time - how to explain numbness and pain together? Haven't figured that out yet

I don't know why liver docs don't make this connection. It may be that they don't know how to treat neuropathy. I went through a plethora of attempts - acupuncture, tens machine unit, hypnotherapy, water massage. You name it but nothing really works

Liver docs are reluctant (as well they should be) about giving pain meds to patients with liver disease as most are quite harmful to the liver. My doc prescribed a series of not really painkillers - Gabapentin, Traxadone that are really psych meds and did nothing to relieve pain for me

I use a combination of relaxation techniques and imaging to forget about the pain so that I can sleep and sometimes take Acetaminophen but no more than 1000 mgs per day

I have often wondered about the question you posed - if one's Hep C is cured, will the pain subside or the neuropathy get better?

Good question. Thanks for posting

[gibsongal]

Many individuals with other liver diseases do not suffer the pain seen in hepatitis C. And there is a high prevalence of fibromyalgia in hepatitis C patients; this is important for clinicians to appreciate, as the recognition of fibromyalgia in patient with hepatitis C will prevent assumptions of pain being due to liver disease—and perhaps allow for a more focused and correct treatment approach.