do you get really sick

[tinamarie802]

hi i am starting treatment on may 16th not looking forward to it i heard you get really sick i already have sore muscles and fatigue i wake up with the sweets is this normal i have no idea and is it normal to be on the treatment for a year please help thanks tina

[James10500]

+1 FlGuy
Tina why are you starting tx now ?  This is the old way, new meds released a week later will double your chance of success.  Unless he is going to put you on Boceprevir after your fourth week it makes no sense.

Please ask him.

[FlGuy]

It's hard for me to figure why any knowledgeable doc would start a patient
on peg/riba treatment at this time (except maybe geno 3).  From the hints she gives, Tinamarie seems to be Geno 1.  I don't get what the doc's rationale might be.

[researchmonkey326]

I am probably considered a newbie since I am in my seventh week of tx and the worse may be yet to come.  My shot symptoms vary from week to week but only the first made me miserable.  Since then, I seem to be suffering from minimal side effects, more mental such as agitation and irritability rather than physical.  Also, my nasal passages are dry and itchy and it drives me crazy. I allow myself time to rest when I need to but can still walk several miles a day and do my own yard work as well as work full time.  Maybe I will be lucky and stay this way.  The point being, if you read what everyone has written, you see that everyone is different and react differently to the meds.  I was really afraid too because I am single and rely on only myself to pay mortgage, etc. so I must work but I am making it.  I do find this board to be helpful in many ways so I encourage you to stick around.

[fretboard]

Some ppl get really sick and others don't feel too much difference at all.  I came across one person at a HepC support group and according to him he never ever got sick.  That said, he only had to tx for 6 months but still that's way better than a kick in the pants.  Give it a try, you have nothing to lose but positive LFT's.  good luck!!

[willbb]

You mentioned having to treat for a year.... if the doctor told you that it would seem you were geno type 1 and  cbw 36 brings up a good question ..why would you start treatment now and not wait for the new drugs....or are you starting in a trial?

[nygirl7]

What genotype are you?

[cbw36]

Why not wait for new drugs next month?

[nygirl7]

Exactly what James said. I never had any flu like symptoms after my shots or any of that. I did experience side effects from the meds but it wasn't like I had pictured....I pictured people in the movies on chemo but it's nothing like that at all.

I treated for 72 weeks and only missed 3 days of work, it wasn't easy but as James said way better than end stage liver disease or cancer. WAY.

[James10500]

It varies,  "really sick" not for me I just felt like total crap.  But others seem to do pretty well, while others have to stop treatment.  Some how millions of people have gotten through it world wide and it beats the heck out of end stage liver disease or cancer.

Try not to stress, easy to say right.

Good luck