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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Hepatitis / July 2005pegetron withdrawal?
Hi there folks, Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages throughout my treatment. 47 years old, Genotype 3 I was diagnosed Aug 2004 when I was also diagnosed with kidney cancer. Kidney removed Sept. 04. All clear so far. So onto treatment which I started Feb 1 2005. 24 weeks pegylated interferon and ribavarin. Felt the usual symptoms,lost 50lbs, but managed to continue work, move house, change life, which took my mind off it ! Treatment is now complete, and although my doctor does not give me the amount of info that some people get he did tell me 2 weeks before treatment ended that everything looked good, but ALT's still a little high. I had a final viral load check, waiting for those results. My question is for people who have finished treatment, how did you feel the first few days after last dose ? I have stomach cramps, backache and sore joints. I guess I was expecting to feel instantly great, like some magic switch turning off. Silly me ? I would be interested in people's thoughts. Thanks all for your valuable postings. Simon Hi Simon It took me a month to feel better I also thought it would be quicker but it is not. Just takes time some say 6 months some say 3 months it just all depends. Since you did the 24 weeks it shouldn't be too long till you feel better. I noticed a great improvement missing my shot the next week. Just be patient it will come. Juanita Hello Simon, thank you for your post. I am in the middle of 48 weeks treatment, started out badly fatigued and brain-fogged, but normal in the laboratory sense. What I can offer is that I had to take a 4 week break after 12 weeks of treatment because I was completely wiped out, but during that break, much drug-induced fear/dizziness/confusion lifted, my itchy bumpy skin cleared, my liver enzymes and other labs normalized, fatigue improved, eyes got brighter. What was important to me is that the bleak *sense of impending doom* lifted so that I could function better emotionally and pay attention to others. One helluva learning experience this is. Through the renewed fog, I am seeing how very important this group and its colorful cast of characters is. Thanks again for your voice. Keep care of your kidney. Sip water all day. I guess you know that. Kathy in Montana > Hi there folks, > Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Thanks all for your valuable postings. > Simon I don't think there's a withdrawl from interferon (doesn't that just happen with *good* drugs?) but it will take your body a while to recover from the past months of treatment. Hopefully it's paid off and the dragon is dead. All the best to ya, and you'll be feeling better real soon. Been there, done that, know it's true! Waterspider (geno 3, 51, completed tx in June, two years ago, SVR, yee-hah!) Hey, Simon! My hat's off to you for completing treatment, no easy feat. I got a chuckle out of you saying you expected instant relief after stopping. I started feeling significantly better a week or so after stopping, then a gradual return to normal over the course of six months or a year. I should probably qualify my statement by saying it was my third round of treatment in 4 years. You'll start feeling better soon, but be patient. Elmo http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/DocElmosHepFile http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/TheFamilyAlbum Maybe you picked up an overgrowth of some "usually annoying but not deady" intestinal bacteria or fungus that are not usually looked for in general medical screening. Especially since you have been on medicine which is known to lower your white blood cells among other things. Add headache to your symptoms and you sound like me a few years ago. I felt like sh*t for years after treatment until I changed my diet. What worked for me... You need to drink plenty of water, maybe you can have some teas or herbal drinks. Green tea is fantastic. I found total denial of any added sugar (jams, desserts, candies,) lots and lots of plain unsweetened yogurt (I used to HATE this stuff, now it is my best freind) eat plenty of yogurt all through the day. A diet low in processed foods and more salads, nuts, rice, low sugar-bran cereal (add absolutely no suger to anything), you get the idea, eat like a rabbit. Think about it. When was the last time you heard a rabbit complaining of backache, cramps,... > Hi there folks, > Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Thanks all for your valuable postings. > Simon Oh, yeah, one other miracle worker for me was vitamine B12. I found this out on my recent bout of treatment. My memory and ability to think was horrid. Jamison makes a 1200 mcg time released dosage. My memory and ability to concentrate improved drastically. > Hi there folks, > Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Thanks all for your valuable postings. > Simon >Hi there folks, >Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >Thanks all for your valuable postings. >Simon Simon, I was kind of hoping for immediate improvement when tx was over for me last December. Took a while longer. Improvement was gradual but after 6 months I'd never known I was on tx. I was a 24 weeker also, genotype 2, 47 yo. Congrats on finishing and I hope like me, you get that SVR. And most of all, good luck with never seeing that cancer again. Last August must have been rough. Don Hi Simon, As with everything surrounding this treatment I imagine it's different for everyone. I felt a lot better the day after the last shot but that was mental...just knowing I was done. Physically it took about a week after the last pill. I did start feeling better about 3 days after the last pill but it seemed like a week before I got most the junk out of my system. Like I said, a lot of it for me was just the post tx euphoria :-) Kind of like that good tired feeling after a really hard work out. AG > Hi there folks, > Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Thanks all for your valuable postings. > Simon Hello Simon, I am 6 weeks post treatment. I was one of the very lucky people in tyhat I suffered few physical side effects though did find treatment pyscologically hard going. For me the psycological side effects actually started to ease about 4 weeks before I stopped treatment and I certainly noticed a mential up turn after that last injection. Physically I was able to swim, weight train and worked throughout treatment. After 4 weeks I noticed that I was panting far less during weigh training, I also added 10K to my bench press. I guess that this is the upturn in the haemoglobin, although mine only barely dropped out of normal ranges at its lowest it was 12.6. Oh I forgot. My back became very spotty during treatment, this started to improve about 10 days after the last injection. I had already noticed that my skin seeed to respond to the interferon injection and not the ribavirin - weird but it is nice not to have a spotty back any more. Good luck Jonathan > Hi there folks, > Although new to the group I have been reading the group's messages [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > some magic switch turning off. Silly me ? I would be interested in > people's thoughts. My side effects were mostly psychological and I felt a lot better right away but now in retrospect it took me several months to feel right again. I had stomach problems for a while and those cleared up after a while with daily doses of acidophilus pills. I was also very creaky from not doing much physical exercise during treatment and when I got more physically active I did start to hurt more - especially my lower back - but that went away as my strength came back. You will feel better but it will take a few weeks at least. For me, what helped was working on a good diet (and acidophilus) to get my intestines normal and a steady regime of exercise to get my body back in shape. It will be what it will be, just be glad that you're done :) Gordo |
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