How long this irritation & annoyance go after tx

[scruples]

Hi. I was dx in 2002 and started tx in June -08 which was completed in March 06, 09. Since the end of 2007 (when i was not on any type of tx) i was feeling irritation, annoyance and anguish on regular basis. i became very short tempered and used to blast on very immaterial or unnoticeable things. I became very passimist despite the fact my academic achivements and jobs are good . This situation continue during tx as well. I have heared that it may be symptoms/due to HCV or some ppl say this is caused by tx but in my case certainly these were before tx.

I really hate this and want to get rid of this and want to live a normal life as i used to live before 2007.I tried hard but most of the time i am not able to control this. I used to be a enthusiastic, witty and optimist and want that things back. Now even after two weeks of completeion of tx, i dont feel any change in this.

Can anyone tell, whether this irritation and anguish will levae me and how much time normally it takes after tx or i have to live with it.

[scruples]

Thanks for the advice. i have contacted my doctor and according to him if i can manage this without ADs then it would be a lot batter, he said if i am having this problem most of the day then definitely he'll go for ADs but as feel this wave of anger/angusih once in day or two then i should wait and try to cut it down without Ads coz Ads do have negative effects upto some extent and after tx my body resistance is week.  

[bandman54]

I felt like complete **** for 3 months after tx ceasation, and had a big reddish blotch on my forhead.

The celexa has really helped me, along with SAMe.  Always check with your doc , of course.

I am in a good mood most of the time.


bandman

[CoWriter]

Perhaps you should stay out of the Riba rage threads.  I don't want them giving you any ideas...LOL

Co

[scruples]

Thanks ..... I think i should wait upto 4-6 months and then see whats happening. I think i became so eager to get back to normal life soon after the completeion of tx.

I beleive the good time is not far away from me.  

[CockSparrow]

It took me 4-6 weeks after Tx for the bad moods to dissipate
After that i was a lot calmer than before Tx.
It may not have worked but It actually changed and for the better.
CS

[merryBe]

I feel bad myself the way I am short with my family this last year, but I know God knows and sees all this. He already knew I would have this disease, and treat for it, and struggle with all the scary feelings, and anger, and exaustion. Yet He already paid the price, a price I could never pay...for all my transgressions...and so, by His grace we now do some good, and do not always disgrace Him...by His grace we live, and love...".for in HIM we live, and love, and have our being."  Now the marvel is that we do that which is pleasing in His sight (even our repentance and awareness of our trangressing is pleasing in His sight you see)....and all by His grace we do that which is righteous, for it is the Holy One doing the work, doing the loving.  That's what Jesus meant when He said, "I only do that which the Father tells Me to do, the works you see are not My own, but of Him who sent Me".
This is what the true christianity teaches, that the works we do are not our own, not of our own righteousness or inspiration but are the soul property of the Creator. St Paul said, our works (in Him) are not our own lest any man should boast."

So just relax a while now, as the riba wears off, you will find yourself back to your old self,......one thing I am glad of, with all this mental anguish....is I never really understood before about the mentally ill. I never understood how they could behave so wildly or unreasonably, or how they could be so depressed. Now that I have suffered from this drug, I know how. Some days, it felt like someone had used a cheese grater on my brain.  But my mother was very mentally unstable and depressed, and took her own life, and she killed my grandmother as well.

On a personal note:

For the first time in my life I think I can now see clearly what kind of torment she must have been in to have done such a thing. And, beleive it or not, I am grateful for this, for it is easier to forgive that which you finally understand.

I think this is enough for now.
Hope all this has helped you somehow.

mb

[merryBe]

this and Psalm 22 are both considered prophetic text describing perfectly the life and purpose of Jesus. Taken together they describe everything he did, including the crucifixtion and the casting of lots for his garments, etc.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
       Why are you so far from saving me,
       so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
       by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
       you are the praise of Israel. [a]

4 In you our fathers put their trust;
       they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved;
       in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
       scorned by men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;
       they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8 "He trusts in the LORD;
       let the LORD rescue him.
       Let him deliver him,
       since he delights in him."

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
       you made me trust in you
       even at my mother's breast.

10 From birth I was cast upon you;
       from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
       for trouble is near
       and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
       open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water,
       and all my bones are out of joint.
       My heart has turned to wax;
       it has melted away within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
       and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
       you lay me [b] in the dust of death.

16 Dogs have surrounded me;
       a band of evil men has encircled me,
       they have pierced [c] my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones;
       people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my garments among them
       and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword,
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
       save [d] me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
       in the congregation I will praise you.

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
       All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
       Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or disdained
       the suffering of the afflicted one;
       he has not hidden his face from him
       but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
       before those who fear you [e] will I fulfill my vows.

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
       they who seek the LORD will praise him—
       may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
       will remember and turn to the LORD,
       and all the families of the nations
       will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
       and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
       all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
       those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him;
       future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness
       to a people yet unborn—
       for he has done it.


Not one of Christ's bones was broken, everything that happen at Calvary was described hundreds of years in advance!!!

The comfort comes when we accept what the Lord has done for us, He has made a provision for restoration to Himself through the shed Blood of the One He created for that purpose. The price of admission is simply to believe that Jesus did come and die for our sins, and when He had paid, God, who is the resurrection and the life, then raised Jesus from the dead.
The blessing is that those who receive the Son receive the Father as well, and when we do we are transfigured and given entrance into His Kingdom, we pass from death to life.
We are born anew, of His forgiving Spirit. "For God is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit, and in Truth".

[merryBe]

well yes, and it is God's mercy and grace that allows us to recognize that we have erred, we have sinned. That is a good kind of guilt to have, for it means your conscious has not been seared, you recognize when the fault lies within.  Yet St. Paul said all have sinnned and come short of the Glory of God, there is not one who is holy, no not one.
I usually don't give any long sermons in here, but since you are obviously appreciative of truth allow me try to help.
Yet it pleased God to send His servant, the Bible says, to bruise Him, and lay upon the only Holy child the iniquity of us all. So God's will is to forgive us, as we also do others.
Everytime we forgive, we are seeing a glimpse of the loving Creator who stepped out of Glory to become the perfect offering for the sins of all mankind. The spotless Lamb of God took our sins unto Himself, and became sin for us.

Here is the scripture that comfort me to tears every time I read it:

You will find this in Isahiah 52 and 53

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
13 See, my servant will act wisely [b] ;
       he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him [c]—
       his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
       and his form marred beyond human likeness—

15 so will he sprinkle many nations, [d]
       and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
       For what they were not told, they will see,
       and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Who has believed our report?
      And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
       2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
      And as a root out of dry ground.
      He has no form or comeliness;
      And when we see Him,
      There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
       3 He is despised and rejected by men,
      A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
      And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
      He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
       4 Surely He has borne our griefs
      And carried our sorrows;
      Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
      Smitten by God, and afflicted.
       5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
      He was bruised for our iniquities;
      The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
      And by His stripes we are healed.
       6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
      We have turned, every one, to his own way;
      And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
       7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
      Yet He opened not His mouth;
      He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
      And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
      So He opened not His mouth.
       8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
      And who will declare His generation?
      For He was cut off from the land of the living;
      For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
       9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked—
      But with the rich at His death,
      Because He had done no violence,
      Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
       10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
      He has put Him to grief.
      When You make His soul an offering for sin,
      He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
      And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
       11 He shall see the labor of His soul,[b]and be satisfied.
      By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
      For He shall bear their iniquities.
       12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
      And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
      Because He poured out His soul unto death,
      And He was numbered with the transgressors,
      And He bore the sin of many,
      And made intercession for the transgressors.

[scruples]

Many Thanks for your advice. The Quran also mention that if we forgive others, Allah will forgive us and it also describe the instant forgiveness.

definitely the spiritual element is there and i do belive that without God's help and spiritual strength , nothing is possible. May Allah Almighty bles all of us with compelet health , Amin.

Actually the thing hurting me a lot is that after the anguish or anger, i do feel that i have done wrong and there was no reason for that behaviour. This means that at that very moment of anger i loose control over me and after that i also recognise that tehre was no justification for that.  

[scruples]

Thanks for your advice. definitely the spiritual

[scruples]

Thanks for your reply and wish. I have never been on any ADs , neither my doc suggested any.

One thing i want to clear is that i started tx in June 2008. Before that i never taken any kind of medicine not any homeopathy, herbal or supplement etc regarding this HCv . But this anguish, frustration , pessimistic approach and short temperedness was prevalent through 2007 (without any social, financial , or any other reason). according to my doc and some HCV informative website this may be due to HCV demage.

So i am very very much sure that this anguish, irritation etc is not due to tx rather it may be due to HCV demage. Now my ALT is near 30, my CBC coming back to normal limits , i have no burden on me of any kind but still this anguish , passimistic approach, and frustration is hurting me.

[merryBe]

you are describing a condition common to all who treat. In spiritual terms we might call this impatience, but it medical terms we label it based on what is happening to the flesh that causes the spirit to have the weakness.

In this case, the treatment drugs strip the brain of it's normal level of several chemicals, notably the serotonin that tends to keep us calm, and let's us cope without becoming overly stressed becomes very short in supply. This allows other brain chemicals to have too much influence, notably one that causes agitation has a freer reign.

In studies done on monkeys some drugs cause extreme amounts of norepinephrine and this leads to agitated and angry behavior and outburst. At the same time the liver, which has been sick, may not have been producing enough cholesterol, which also lowers the serotonin levels. The cholesterol acts as a protectant in the brain of serotonin.

Hence you see why doctors prescribe antidepressants for people on tx. The drug in the SSRI class are known as serotonin uptake inhibitors. That means they stop the serotonin from becoming bound (taken up) and allow it to stay free and reuasable in the brain longer.

The ribavirin acts like a stimulant or speed to the body. It cause more norepinephrine to be made and stay in play. This chemical is a cousin to adrenaline, (the fight or flight response hormone). Any increase in this can cause anienty and evtn mania, hence the inability to cope, and tendency to lash out without control.

the riba will not entirely leave your system for 6 months, but you should see some improvement each month. I would tell you to just be patient, but of course I just explained why this is not a reflection on patience, on self control or the lack thereof.

All that said I would encourage you to try to keep your stresses to a minimum by avoiding people and places that add to them until you are fully recovered.

From the spiritual perspective: What cannot be avoided I leave in the Lord's hands. I tell myself, that this person giving me grief is also someone whom the Lord Jesus came to earth for, to suffer for, to die for, and to pay for their sins for. If God loved them enough to die for them, then I too should try to love and forgive them....not just when it is easy, but even more so when it is not. Therefore I take to heart when He said "if you do not forgive others from your hearts their sins then neither will My Father in heaven forgive you your sins." I'm not sure if the Koran teaches instant forgiveness, but I can tell you it makes a great difference if we can see each and every person as one whom God loves immensely
and whom He Himself went to great trouble for, coming here to obtain their redemption.
I find this chasetisement in Christ's address continually useful as I too have difficulty in bearing with people at times.

Getting back to the physical side, I Also I think a mild antidepressant is a good choice for every patient. Some times as patients we need a pill to help us with our patience, giggle, and this is definitely one of those times! Now that we understand the science behind what is happening to us, it should become easier to accept the help of a medication and not think of it as a "sign of mental weakness" or lack of spirituality to need such a thing. Now we can just admit our brain has suffered an injury from chemicals as real as any broken bone. No one hesitates to set a broken arm or put a cast on it, nor should we not avail ourselves in such difficulty of what can help us regain the balance God intended us to have. Amen?

mb

mb

[CMcH]

I am so sorry to hear about your on going anguish. I empathize with your feeling of angst and short temper. I too feel my personality has changed for the worse and I am in a constant state of irritation. Are you on AD's? I am on 43/38 and have read that the fist month off of TX can be worse than the TX. It has been almost a year of poisoning your body and rumor has it that it takes at least 6 months to detox.
I always read with great interest post TX sides because that scares the **** out of me.
I hope you feel better soon, try to keep moving and start to exercise or walk if you can. Think about a retreat or vacation if at all possible. Some kind of distraction might help. I don't know? Keep us all updated on your progress and if anything works.
We will keep or fingers crossed and or hearts with you on this very unfortunate journey.
Connie

[jdwithhcv]

Congratulations on finishing your tx.  I'm not sure about anybody else but for me it took about 6 weeks after ending tx before I began to feel like my old self.  The irritation and anxiety are completely gone now and I feel hopeful even though these are such uncertain times.  I hope you will also regain your equillibrium soon.

I can hardly wait to see you post that you are SVR.  Feel better soon.
jd