SOC side effect poll

[Bali05]

Many people on this forum have a lot of personal experience as well as being observing others over the years.
SOC is a very personal decision and there is nothing better than hearing from people actually going thru it.
I asked my trial recruiter about side effects and the deeper I go the more silence I encounter.

Would like to know from all of you out there what you think

according to your knowledge and experience out of 100 people that tx how many will have:

1) no side effects
2) little side effects
3) severe side effects
4) irreversable permant damage

I understand the "everyone reacts differently " part but by now thousands of people have done or are
currently taking interferon/ribavirin so there must be data

What do you think ?

[Bill1028]

You got a pen?

[FlGuy]

I have a retractable ball-point pen with Pegasys and Copegus lettering.  It even has an image of the flying horse.  That's my souvenir.

[Trish77]

"we all seem to come out of it with some kind of "souvenir". "

On second read...that is inaccurate.  I would not say we ALL end up with a souvenir.  Sheesh...even that is hard to quantify.

[Trish77]

What do statistics matter if you end up in the 10 - 20% who have difficult side effects?  My docs asked me if I was ready for a year of hell.  It wasn't hell, it was simply difficult.   For others it was hell-ish.  That too is subjective because what each person can handle is relative.  I would rather have the approach my docs took than the ones I see on here who are blindsided when they get side effects that a number of us expected because they were ill prepared.  I was so ready to do treatment that my response to my docs to their question was something akin to "Bring it on".

Those that are left with permanent *debilitating* side effects seem to be in the extreme minority - for the rest of us we all seem to come out of it with some kind of "souvenir".

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.  And good luck to you Bali, in sorting this out.

Trish

[FlGuy]

Or, you could be scientific about it. Go to Pegasys.com.  Look for the "Pegasys Full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide". See page 21.

[Trinity4]

That's how I looked at too terca.  I wanted to see my grandchildren grow up. I knew what could be ahead for me but unsure of how MY body would react.  

I recall a member some time ago when I first started treatment who asked a million questions before starting treatment.  They stocked up on every possible aid that would help them through treatment from the advice of forum members. This person assured all they could handle anything that came their way because they were strong and had faced much adversity during their life.
Well, treatment kicked their butt and yes, they handled flat on their back in the bed for the better part of treatment.  You never know, there are generalizations but no amount of advice can take you through treatment step by step.  It is and always will be an individual experiece and once you make up your mind you are going to do it, just roll with it.

Good Luck
Trinity