Hi Jane

Glad you found the group but of course sorry you have to be here, as
always.

You can find a lot of really helpful info here by searching past
posts, which is what it sounds like you have been doing. I started out
the same way, after being diagnosed in late 2005 and not knowing
anyone personally (that I knew of) who had been thru this. It was
really helpful in my getting out of the starting gate.

Water water water.  When you can't drink anymore water, drink more
water. Really really really important. I'm not much of a water
drinker, but did fine with Gatorade instead to keep the water going
in.

The antidepressant is good advice, and start as soon as possible since
they take a while to "kick in".

Hyrocodone? Yeah I would worry about addiction as well. I never
resorted to anything like that, tho I was on the 72 week treatment
(1a) and eventually reached the point of antianxiety meds as well, as
time wore on. I avoided tylenol, apsirin, ibuprophen, any of that
stuff as much as possible, since i was already taking so much stuff, I
hated adding anything more to the mix...I'd play that one by ear. They
also gave me something for nausea, which I never ended up using
either. You can always request whatever you need as you go along, from
your doc.

Treatment can be very variable, different for everyone, side effects
can vary from mild to fairly debilitating. You are lucky you only have
to do the 24 week tx. Stick around and feel free to ask anything you
need to ask about, everyone is happy to contribute and share. There is
no such thing as a Stupid Question, except the one you don't ask! :)

Still Virus Free and Official Dragon Slayer - ~Deb

I wouldn't even think about hydrocodone at this point.  That's some
heavy-duty stuff and hopefully you will never get to the point where you
need it. Water water water!  I drank lots of Kool-Aid too.  And this is
where a lot of people will probably disagree with me, but I took aspirin,
ibuprofin, and Tylenol--whatever it took to keep me going.  If I needed
something every 2 hours, I took it, but there were a lot of times I didn't
need anything for days. I had to keep going--no choice there. And start the
anti-d's ASAP.  They'll help

Hi :)

I ditto the "water, water, and more water" advice -- water makes a
huge difference in how you feel.
I never was in a lot of pain from the treatment, but the days I needed
something I took tylenol.   That was
the only thing my doctor would allow -- but I had an atrial
fibrillation episode right before starting tx, and
that limited them as to which pain meds they'd let me take (I also was
taking blood thinners so couldn't
take aspirin or ibuprofen)

Tylenol, even though it can harm your liver, is still the safest med
for us overall.   Just be sure to stay
within the suggested limits of a daily dose and you'll do fine.

Eat as well as you can, and be sure to eat a 'fatty' snack of some
type when you take your Riba -- that helps your body
to absorb the meds.  bread and butter or peanut butter, even a glass
of whole milk if you are in a bind.

I always took tylenol (two regular strength or one extra strength)
about an hour before doing my shot -- that seemed to help
a lot to prevent those "flu-like" symptoms you can get from the
interferon. After a few shots that reaction seems to
pretty much go away anyway though.

Good luck with your treatment!   As the others have said, feel free to
post here and ask us anything -- nothing
is too strange to ask about, and I think you'll find that someone in
this group will have experienced whatever
is bothering you and will be able to advise you as to how to make it
better :)

(get a good hydrating shampoo and conditioner, and a hydrating liquid
soap to shower with -- the meds are very
dehydrating and your hair will get brittle and break so try to start
out by giving it all the help you can!  Some good
lotion too -- keep hydrating from the inside and the outside :)

sara

Hi Jane, glad you're here, but sorry you have to be.  As for the
Hydro;  well, I strongly suggest you stay away from it if you can.  I
went thru a 48 week course and during that, my dr. gave me the hydro
for the pain.  In retrospect, I could have gotten thru without it.  At
the end of treatment, I stopped the pain meds and went thru horrible
withdrawal pains, I had to go back on the hydro and slowly taper off.
It took me over a month to do it, and then I still went thru 3 days of
horrible withdrawals.  It has been 2 weeks since, and I have a real
hard time sleeping, I have muscle spasms and tension,  mostly due to
the hdyrodcodone.  I'd also stay away from the benzodiazapams, (anti-
anxiety pills like xanax, valium, etc.) as they are as bad as the
hydro.  That being said, if you have to take hdyro, take it sparingly,
don't take it every day as you will become physically dependant on it
in as little as a week.  Stuff the doctor never told me.  And Water;
yes, drink about 4-5 20oz bottles a day and you'll feel a lot
better.   Good luck and hang on, you'll make it thru!  Joe

My treatment lasted from 09-28-07 to 02-13-09 (72 weeks). I definitely
required opiates for my treatment; at least if I wanted to be able to
be functional enough to work during treatment and not lie curled in a
fetal position 24/7.

Initially (after about 1 month of treatment) I started on 5/325
generic Vikes, moved to 7.5s and then 10/325s (IIRC). Then, as my
hepatologist was getting anxious, was referred to a pain management
specialist; we initially tried Oxycontin, which did little for me even
(less than hydro, fwiw) at 120mgs/day (and was not much fun, and cost
a buttload); I then asked to be switched to methadone which was
WONDERFUL by comparison with anything I'd tried previously for this
purpose...after some tweaking, I stabilized at 60mgs, although I was
already feeling withdrawals at that dose by the time treatment ended
and I began tapering off...

About 10 days ago I switched from methadone to Suboxone after tapering
down to 40mgs, three days ago I took my last Suboxone tab, I am now
going through withdrawal---but it's a far cry from methadone
withdrawal (Which is the stuff of true horror stories. Trust me on
this;)

Anyway, re: YOU. First, you may or may not need the things I needed
(oodles of opiates, a benzo, EPO, Neupogen) to get through treatment.
But if you do require opiates and opt for hydro, 1) 10/325 hydrocodone
tabs are your best bet. Even if you take 6 of them per day, you are
still well within the "safe" dose---for healthy people, of course--
how's your liver? 2) Oodles of other options exist; while I believe
methadone probably would be a great choice for many people, it does
have major drawbacks---it is very easy to fatally overdose on, either
accidentally OR intentionally (and remember, treatment can make you
very, very very depressed) and, of course, it is notoriously difficult
to get off of, even for those of us (ahem) well versed in such
things...other opiod options exist which lack acetaminophen, from
codeine and tramadol to Oxycontin and Fentanyl (Oh, and please do not
cut open Fentanyl patches and use a spoon to scoop out the goo and
allow it to be absorbed under your tongue---that would be bad. Very
bad. Incredibly fun. But very, very bad.)...

I would think take what's necessary only when it becomes necessary. Let's
face it we're already flooding our bodies with a lot of unnatural/synthetic
crap. You really don't want to become addicted to opiates at this point if
you don't have to. For whatever reason, my treatment nurse told me, the very
first day, no alcohol and no NSAIDs like ibuprofen or aspirin. The no
alcohol is a no brainer but I'm not too sure about why no NSAIDs. He
muttered something about blood thinners reducing the efficacy of the
treatment. I do, however continue to take a low-dose aspirin as part of my
post MCI treatment. You are allowed to take Tylenol and apparently it's not
too hard on the liver unless you use it to kill a hangover. I believe the
body produces an enzyme when you drink that reacts with the Tylenol and can
become toxic to the liver even in people with no liver disease or damage.
People have encountered complete hepatic failure from this combination. If
you get discomfort that you believe requires assistance by prescription
preparations, discuss dosage and frequency of treatment at length with your
doctor before you begin. I think we have enough problems without adding
addiction to the list. Lots of us have already been down that road and it's
a long way back.