Far out, Buster!!  If my experience influenced you enough for you to
give it a shot and it helps get you over the top,  then I think that's a
pretty cool thing.  Thanks to both of you for your kind words. I'm
pulling real hard for you guys.  Don't be afraid to take a 'healthy'
dose of riba. :-)
Elmo
////////////
I last 34 days, and the blood counts went to hell. I too followed thru
right after the 34 days of infergen with Pegasus and will be on it for a
while. What I did is similar to what Elmo did or should I say doc Elmo.
Im neg and half way thru my 72 weeks.   Way to go Bod! and Thank you
to Elmo! Dang, I miss those cows and never even got to pat one! buster
"Bob" <someone@do.net> wrote in message
news:Sdwhe.91387$h6.620@tornado.texas.rr.com...
Hey Folks,
Some of you may remember I began daily Infergen last June. At the same
time I found myself alone because my wife moved 600 miles away for a
residency program (she's a foreign medical graduate) and I had been laid
off in August 2003 and was without work.
Well, I'm still alive and finished 48 weeks of daily IFN/RBV yesterday!
God, that was tough. Despite serious doubts I started a fulltime job as
a Unix administrator on October 1. Yes, I still have that job. :) For
the last 48 weeks my life has consisted of working, sleeping and trying
to eat. I've had numerous side-effects and used the following meds to
treat them:
Nuelasta
Aranesp
Zoloft (200mg daily; still taking)
Lorazapam (insomnia)
Salagen (dry mouth)
Hydrocodone (headache)
My PCR has been undetectable (below 50 parts) since week 6. This was the
same result I had on Peg-Intron/RBV for 48 weeks, after which I
relapsed.
My advice for anyone contemplating treatment, especially IFN, go for it!
Everyone handles the sides differently. I never thought I could handle a
fulltime job on this sh.t but I surprised even myself.
Also, begin your IFN injection at a low dose for the first week. I was
so godamn sick the first week I didn't think I could keep it up. Think
of it as being 100x worse than the first PGN injection. My doc said he
should have started me on a low dose to minimize the sickness.
I want to thank everyone that helped inspire me to begin IFN and stay
with it, especially Elmo.
Bob

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/DocElmosHepFile

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/TheFamilyAlbum