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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Hepatitis / April 2005Treatment!
Hi everyone! I was diagnosed 10 years ago but have recently got bad enough to start treatment. It should begin on May 6th. I am very nervous about starting treatment. The Dr. said I need 48 weeks of treatment.I am so glad that I found people to talk to. Any advice on night of 1st shot? Thanks for being here for me! Yes, with all due respect. Take some pain killer, a couple of sweat absorbing towels to bed with you and have some kiss your a.s good bye for about 16 hours. Then again u may fair better than that! Good luck. What's your PCR count, why did u wait so damn long to start treatment! What stage and grade is biopsy? Buster > Hi everyone! > I was diagnosed 10 years ago but have recently got bad enough to start > treatment. It should begin on May 6th. I am very nervous about starting > treatment. The Dr. said I need 48 weeks of treatment.I am so glad that > I found people to talk to. Any advice on night of 1st shot? > Thanks for being here for me! I don't know all the hep-c "lingo" which is one reason I wanted to get on a group. I do know that something is at 1,000,000 and the biopsy showed inflamation is at 2 and scaring is at 1. Does that answer your question? Also when I had a biopsy 8 years ago the Dr. said levels were not high enough to do anything. >I don't know all the hep-c "lingo" which is one reason I wanted to get >on a group. I do know that something is at 1,000,000 and the biopsy >showed inflamation is at 2 and scaring is at 1. Does that answer your >question? Also when I had a biopsy 8 years ago the Dr. said levels >were not high enough to do anything. - the 1 million is probably your "viral load" - the number of virus particles in a milliliter of blood. 1 million doesn't quite reach the "high viral load" threshold but it's getting there. - biopsy inflammation of 2 likely refers to the A0 to A5 inflammation "activity" level. You're on the low side of middle. - biopsy scarring of 1 likely means "F1" on the F0 to F4 liver "fibrosis" scale. F0 = no damage, F1-F2 are degrees of non-bridging portal fibrosis, F3 is bridging portal fibrosis, F4 is cirrhosis. You're low at F1 which is very good - you caught it early. I'm F2 progressing to F3, fwiw, after 35 years HCV+. - at F1 you may still be low enough to wait - your labs are not so clear cut as others (eg: me). If you're not suffering significant effects from the HCV infection (and believe me you'd be surprised just how broadly HCV can wreak its havoc on various/multiple systems) delaying therapy is an option you can discuss with your doctors. Bottom line: get educated *now*. If you haven't seen this yet, give it a good reading... http://www.californiahcvtaskforce.org/pdf/HCV%20Clinical%20Pathway%20S.F.Version4.PDF Cheers, and best of luck. /greyhackles Yes, 1 mil is the viral count. 8 years ago it was standard practice in early stages to do nothing. That was the way it was but that way of thinking is slowing turning around. They find better SVR rates for people who have mild cases in lieu of the more serious cases. In other words the sooner the better. Ask your doctor if I'm telling you a story? (He will tell you don't talk to us on the internet) No, I wasn't kidding about the pain, body ache, and head! Bad flu type symptoms with fever and breaking fevers which make you sweat allot. This is usually for only the first few shots and it gets much better (but no cake walk). You will learn the lingo in no time, SVR is the PCR count down to "0" and you hold it there without medicines for 6 months. You will want to see a count of 0 in about 12 weeks after start of treatment. Keep it a 0 for the length of treatment and like I said, sustain it for 6 months after treatment. lol, that's all there is to it. Good luck Bud, your on the way. >I don't know all the hep-c "lingo" which is one reason I wanted to get > on a group. I do know that something is at 1,000,000 and the biopsy > showed inflamation is at 2 and scaring is at 1. Does that answer your > question? Also when I had a biopsy 8 years ago the Dr. said levels > were not high enough to do anything. My initial shots, up to about number eight went pretty good compared to the wilder sides some have like allergies and pre-exisiting immunilogical issues (you may have), but not even suspect right off. My first three or four experiences after shot day (2 or 3 days following my tuesday night shot) were pretty normal, just aches and pains mostly. And dehydration and urination. But around week eight, the sides changed to bringing the riba combination up to full synergy with the background of the Interferon running interception. That's when I started to notice I was getting really moody, and now after week 30, the sides of the shots come on almost right away. I usually now spend tuesday, all of wednesday and most of thursday under the covers listening to political radio. So not everyone has similar waves of side effects, but ususally we all go through some of the same as listed in the PegIntron or Pegasys literature. The buisness about planning for appetite stims, anti depressants and sleep aids is good. If you smoke pot, plan on trying to use that (don't tell your doc unless you know them really well) Tomorrow is my regular dope run day to sunnier places and I spend about $200 US (oz and a half of primo) per month on that. I have a good source. hope this helps cactus jammies ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > Yes, with all due respect. Take some pain killer, a couple of sweat > absorbing towels to bed with you and have some kiss your a.s good bye for [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >> I found people to talk to. Any advice on night of 1st shot? >> Thanks for being here for me! [...] > If you smoke pot, > plan on trying to use that (don't tell your doc unless you know them really > well) I second this strongly. I baked it into brownies and it's the only thing that worked on the Riba side effects of misery and rage. It actually made me able to giggle some. On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:40:38 GMT, "Cactus Jammies" <not@joshuatree.nemor>, in message ID <GDdce.11083$tg1.9265@edtnps84>, in the newsgroup alt.support.hepatitis-c wrote: > If you smoke pot, >plan on trying to use that (don't tell your doc unless you know them really >well) Tomorrow is my regular dope run day to sunnier places and I spend >about $200 US (oz and a half of primo) per month on that. I have a good >source. I see a fair bit about this on here. I used to smoke a lot over about 13 years until 1986. Although I had some fun times with it, it often made me anxious and paranoid too. Personally, I don't think that dope and tx would have mixed very well for me as the dope seemed to exaggerate whatever I was feeling at the time. Clearly it's not just about the dope but also about the psyché of the person smoking it. I'm sure it works well for some people on tx. I believe that it would have increased *my* anxiety levels though.  SignaturePaul Use the reply by email facility in your newsreader to send email > Yes, with all due respect. Take some pain killer, a couple of sweat > absorbing towels to bed with you and have some kiss your a.s good bye for > about 16 hours. Then again u may fair better than that! Good luck. I didn't have much at all in the way of side effects from the interferon, and never really any fever. For the first couple of months I'd get this weird speedy rushy feeling a couple of hours after the shot which, when toned down with the proper meds, wasn't unpleasant. Everyone is different. You just have to wait and see. > Hi everyone! > I was diagnosed 10 years ago but have recently got bad enough to start > treatment. It should begin on May 6th. I am very nervous about starting > treatment. The Dr. said I need 48 weeks of treatment.I am so glad that > I found people to talk to. Any advice on night of 1st shot? > Thanks for being here for me! If you work Monday - Friday, pick Friday night so you will have time to recover if needed. Don't plan on doing anything except resting for the weekend and let the dragon know you're out to destroy him. Good Luck Dwight I was dx. about 10 years ago too with a viral load of about 27,000 I think. They didn't think it was a problem at that low of a level. Finally went thru treatment last year, just passed 6 month viral load test with SVR (sustained viral response). Anti-depressants may be helpful. You might want something on hand in case you have any nausea to begin with. Have a thermometer on hand. I bought two bags of ice every week and drank lots of water. Drinking lots of water seems to help. I still had problems with dehydration. So, plan on drinking lots of water. Even with all the water, I had a really dry scalp. Lost lots of hair, but it is coming back in now. I had so much hair that no one really noticed except me. What I lost is now about 2 or 3 inches long. So don't panic if you start to notice hair loss. The worst shot for me was the first one. High fever. Didn't have a fever after that. After that they weren't as bad, but my symptoms each week were a bit more rough I think. I hope it goes easy for you. Sorry you have to be here, but I'm glad you found us. Susie > Hi everyone! > I was diagnosed 10 years ago but have recently got bad enough to start > treatment. It should begin on May 6th. I am very nervous about starting > treatment. The Dr. said I need 48 weeks of treatment.I am so glad that > I found people to talk to. Any advice on night of 1st shot? > Thanks for being here for me! Put your space helmet on and make sure the chin strap is pulled snug. Welcome to the group!!! Elmo http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/DocElmosHepFile http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/TheFamilyAlbum Hey Heydude, I expected the worse when I took my first shot, never got sick or fever from it, however there are alot of things that can go wrong during the next 48 weeks beside the side effects. So make sure that you get regular blood tests by your doc. And as Susie Q. said drink plenty of water, this stuff drys you up and it also help with sides. Also, eat right and regularly if possible. Go back and read some old posts on this site if you haven't already. Ask this NG anything you want, remember that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask, or something like that! Get on Google and double check everything that your doctor does and says. They are only human and can screw up too. Welcome on board the C train. Sue |
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