Treatment

[Linkjcfreak]

I will be starting treatment for hep c geno type 1b.. How sick will I get? I care for a household and four children.

[TeeTom]

Hi there, all I can tell you is that I just started week 4 of my treatment and so far my side effects have been minimum. I have had a couple real slow days but not bad enough to lay out of work. One night last week I had about 2 hours sleep but got up the next day and felt fine. So far I have not missed any work. My wife and I went to lunch today at a local deli and I noticed I started feeling tired after about 2 hours out. I do get the head fuzzies or brain fog as it is called but not real bad.

he medication reacts differently by the individual. I have a friend that is on treatment and he is really having issues.

Welcome to the forum there is a lot of searchable information and people who have much much more experience than I. Don't be afraid to ask anyone anything about treatment. There are several Sweet caring Ladies in the forum that you can ask more personal questions of gender. You can send them a personal message from your profile page.

Hang in there and keep on reading.

Teetom

[Diamond_Lil]

As Bill1954 said, your side effects from treatment may not be too bad at all.  Everyone reacts differently and you may find the first few months to be a little more difficult because your body is trying to adjust to the medication.  Fatigue is a given on treatment and if hgb levels drop significantly it can make daily tasks more challenging. Discuss availability of helper drugs with your doctor such as Procrit for hemolytic anemia and Neupogen for low white counts.
Most experience a drop in hgb, white blood cells and platelets during treatment and the hgb drops seem to cause more fatigue than the other two.  
Drink lots of fluids, rest when you can and if possible try to get the children on a daily schedule so you can carve some time out for yourself.  During treatment it's very helpful to do the things the same way day in and day out because the medications can cause what we call brain fog.  We don't mean too, but we tend to forget things more, lose focus and structure can be very helpful.
Your life will change for sure and there will be some bad days but most of us get through it ok.
Good Luck with your treatment.  One day at time and before you know it, it'll be over.

Diamond_Lil

[Bill1954]

Hi there,

You might not get sick at all; I never really did, although I got tired a lot towards the end. Most of us manage one way or another; about 70% will continue to get up and go off to work, although at a reduced/altered schedule sometimes. Most likely you’ll have grumpy days :o). How old are the kids? Do you have a partner to help out now and then, maybe?

Welcome to the discussion group—

Bill