question regarding 3 drug side effects

bsjaguar

      From my experience back in 2001, I took the interferon or peginterferon which was 2 or 3 shots a week and the Ribavarin pills every day. Today it is different because of the 3rd drug and there are not as many shots of peginterferon per week. My doctor said that the combination of the drugs would cause symptoms of Hep C. The days and nights of just the Ribavarin pills was not bad, but when I took the shot of peginterferon the side effects were rough. I would wake up sweating or sometimes freezing during the night, fatigued and my muscles and bones ached. Everything I tried to do was in slow motion. I quit it after 10 weeks and wish I stuck with it. Today I have decompensated End Stage liver Disease and cannot take the combo according to my hepatologist. I would tell your husband to stick it out unless the docs say to quit. He could be one of the lucky ones where the combo works and the Hep C virus is wiped out. I hope that for everyone that is taking the combo these days because living with ESLD is no picnic.

This is Jags husband. Finally feeling good enough to sit down and thank you all for your support.

This is day 15, I actually woke up feeling better today than I have in the last 10 days. It only lasted until 2:00pm, but what a relief.

I have lived with HepC in my body for 30 years, luckily for me we co-existed happily all that time. For the last 10 years I have been under the care of a great Dr. He has monitored my" Livers" state of health and told me to hold off on treatment until there was a better chance of beating it than the 29% in the past. I am 52 now and my body is starting to show signs of not fighting the virus as well as it used to. So, I now find myself in the (Pegasys,Incivek,Ribavirin) treatment. I'm glad my Dr. guided me to wait for better odds. I have not heard of very many success stories from the Interferon-Ribavirin combo. I hope this works, it's no picnic. It's not quite as bad as when I contracted hepc (I had to literally crawl to the bathroom for 5 days, I was too weak to walk), but I'm definitely not running on all cylinders.

Thanks again for your support, time for a nap.

I hope it works for all of us

hey jag,   i am going on week 12 of 3 drug tx with incivek. first of all i wanted to let you know about your stool color. my poop was baby poop green and occassionally yellow and burned like hellllllll. at week 3 my vl became und. and my poop is now normal color, and allmy gastrointestinal problems have lessened to mild sx. my only severe side is anemia. i dropped to 10.9 hgb at week 11. if my cbc drops again on monday coming, my dr will start reds. my vl is still und at week 8 and i will be und next week again at 12 weeks. hang in there and i pray you are und at 4 weeks.      barry