Caring for hepatitis c post interferon

[hephusband10]

My wife has just had her first shot of interferon along with ribavarin tabs. I have been reading about the side effects. What can I do to make things better for her.? Would love to hear from wives who are under treatment or husbands who are taking care of their wives.

[timothy141]

As has been stated, your wife is lucky to have you has her support, if it were not for my GF, I may not have come thus far. This forum is great, the people who are here are here because  they care are genuine., and have been very supportive of my tx.
I am in my 30th wk of tx. And have had a heck of time. But from what I hear not everybody has the same sx...thank God.
I am on one injection of interferon-alfa2a 180 mcg a week, and 400mg twice a day.  
The only two things I would suggest is maintain a strict water intake, during my times of distress, looking back at it, lol. As I began to feel worse I stopped drinking water, tea, anything. And the spiral continued downward. You will that a lot here drink water SO IMPORTANT!
Last thing for now....set limits on how much she does, for me its hard to lay around and do nothing  

[ceanothus]

Welcome to the forum! I take it this is her first time treating the virus? What genotype does she have, and is so on the 2-drug tx (treatment) or a 3-drug tx? Those answers can make a big difference. Your profile lists you as quite young, and assuming your wife is as young, her tx will most likely be much easier than that of most of us on the forum. Tx does seem to get harder with age. I treated three times over an 18-year time period, and each time was much harder than the previous. I'm so glad I finally beat the virus on my last tx!

Tylenol, acetaminophen, paracetamol - all the same thing - are the safest meds for pain and fever when you have liver disease, but you must be careful to total up the amount present in any meds you take over the day and never take more than 2000 mg in one day, counting all sources together. It's quite safe even with liver disease if limited to 2000 mg a day, but rapidly becomes more dangerous above that level. Very large amounts can cause liver failure even in healthy people, and those of us with liver disease need to be extra careful about doses. We also need to check with our doctors before adding any new meds, even the OTC kinds, and even "all natural" herbs and supplements. All natural does not mean all safe, and there are natural toxins as well as naturally beneficial herbs. 

Fatigue will probably become a real problem at some point in tx, and moodiness is pretty likely too. Loss of appetite combined with loss of energy can making eating a challenge, and cooking an even bigger one. I was most recently on triple tx with Incivek (am now  SVR, or cured). The side effects are more extreme with this combo, and I was not really safe behind the wheel, so my husband took family leave from work to drive me to doctor appointments and for lab tests, and he also took me out when shopping had to be done. He cooked most of the meals and was a wonderful caregiver. On my worst days he stayed home to watch over me (his boss allowed him to work from home a couple of days a week), and when he had to go in to the office he called during the day to check up on me. He didn't keep things as neat and clean as I like it, but one can't have everything. Perhaps the biggest thing he did for me was to easily forgive my occasional outbursts of temper or depression, and to refuse to take them personally. I will always be so grateful to him for the loving care he gave me in this time of need, and while we already had a very strong relationship, this forged many extra layers of deep bonds between us. This kind of tx can break a relationship, or it can strengthen it, and I think your efforts to be supportive will bring you more happiness down the road.

[notsoeasy]

It is very nice of you caring for your wife, which  will need *** he more she goes into the treatment.
As per the interferon, I just take two paracetamol (1 g) 2 hours bifore the shot and another two 2 hours after. I would also suggest to drink a lot of water, 2 1/2- 3 litres a day.
Best of luck to both

[hephusband10]

Thank you. Your husband is lucky as well. i just hope I can do the same for my wife.

[cheflady]

hi and welcome, what a lovely considerate man you are your wife is very lucky! i just helped hubby through the tx which is a long and bumpy road,just love her support her maybe help round house cook? best of all just be her best friend let her have a cry, rant and rave and dont take it personal. I wish you both the very best

[hephusband10]

The first day went smooth. Just mild fever. No major reactions so far. I was a little nervous after the doctor told me about all the side effects.

[hephusband10]

Thank you

[jpv1]

Lots of compassion and love of course Its the best things in the world good luck and stay active on this site Lots of help and good knowledge here

John

[Fightingforhislife]

Good for you for taking care of your wife. I have been caring for my hubby for about a month now. We keep reminding each other, this is a long road so take one day at a time. There are days he is moody, most days he is larthargic.  I keep reminding myself he is fighting for his life so I try not to take things personally. Good luck with treatment. This is a great place to find people that are in the same boat as you.

[dontworry_behappy1]

Hi Husband and welcome.  I want to commend you for taking such good care of your wife.  It's really important to have support.  

Best To You