How to: get beyond post interferon syndrome

[lookbehindyou]

hello,

since 2 years i struggled to get beyond the debilitating symptoms of my IFN treatment (which was successfull), though i  now seem to have a clue of how turn this all around...

... some days ago i was at my doctors office and asked the nurse for a script of Prednisolone (cortisone) and she printed it. My physician signed it and i got a little box of prednisolone from the pharmacy for $8.
in the first 2 days i started with a quite high dose of 15-20mg and subsequently reduced it to now 5-10mg/day.
Nearly all symptoms are gone! I can't still believe it, i have more power than even before my HCV infection!
It's amazing how such a little pill can neutralize so debilitating symptoms which really broke me down on my knees the last 2 years. My skin is like before my infection! All the words are back! I can eat bread again! I can play guitar again! I'm a little depressive from the Prednisolone but this temporarly i guess and improves with reducing dose. Most important is, to stay on as less Prednisolone as possible. The adrenal glands produce about 25mg cortisol per day which equals 5mg Pred. < 5mg / day Pred. is a safe and effective immunosuppressant and i will stay on it as long as i have to!

all the best to anyone out here.

[lookbehindyou]

Ok, what has to get added is Minocyclin, an antibiotic. i think it works pretty good... at least it's different from the other chaotic state! i mean, you know what i mean....

[Jotatime]

Thank You

[lookbehindyou]

i think so, yes. it's not good for the organs!

[lookbehindyou]

and what i wanted to say. It is a safe drug, if you stay below a certain dose. there are people that use the drug for years for RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and there were trials that looked into the side effects of long term administration of low dose corticoid treatment namely Prednisone and Prednisolone, the side effects were minimal. On long term administration it's just important to take Vit D3 400-800 IE /day and Calcium

[lookbehindyou]

what i forgot to say: in the beginning i felt like lowering the dose as much as possible is a good idea and i stopped at 4mg per day, but now it seems that i need 10mg (+5mg sometimes) to get rid of most of the symptoms.
So, everyone's different :)
good luck to everyone!

[hepcandme]

So, do you think this is effective for peripheral neuropathy? My docs say that PN is not treatable or curable so I have just been living with the pain for the last few years. I am cirrhotic so I never take any drugs if I can avoid them - just Spironolactone and Vit B12 and D. It would be a welcome change to not have to live with pain but can it adversely effect the liver?

[lookbehindyou]

and no, i quit LDN a some months ago

[lookbehindyou]

[[email protected]] without lines

[lookbehindyou]

OF COURSE YOU ARE WORRIED! The Stigma that Corticosteroids have is similar to that of Ritalin or Adderall, but on an other segment.
Yes, Corticoids do penetrate the BBB, partially.  It can cause depression so it's important to find a low dose. When i stayed under 15mg it didn't affect me psychologically, so don't be anxious. If you want your old life back, try out 5mg in 5x1mg doses. If you want to support me my paypal is ***@****

[lookbehindyou]

when something REALLY helps, it's this stuff.

[Frank J. Perrotta]

Yes, thanks for sharing.

After you posted I did look into Prednisolone so now was interested in reading your dose (down to 5mg per day, correct?) and how long have you been on Prednisolone?

That 20 - 15 mg was just a few days and then the 5 mg is current... so how long have you been on this in total?

It does seem that Prednisolone does cross the brain-barrier but can you verify this?

Yes, it does seem safe at that low dose but I am worried every time I see any cortico(steroids)!

Are you still on LDN? If so, what dose?

[otterwatcher]

How interesting. Thanks for sharing.