My husband went through the 3-drug treatment for 6 months and was clear of the hep virus. The doctor said they don't consider it a success until you are still virus free after one year so in March he will have another blood test & hopefully he will be cured.
This treatment is very difficult but you can do it. My husband continued to work but did have FMLA and did use this on days when he just couldn't do it. After work he would be totally exhausted and would go straight to bed. I always felt bad when I would have to wake him up at 9pm to eat 20 grams of fat and take his pills.
As far as nausea have your doc prescribe phenergen (sp). Hubby was having a hard time taking more pills so we found out that the anti-nausea med came in a liquid form so we had the doc change the script
to the liquid which made taking it much easier. For body aches & fever, which he had both, I found liquid tylenol at a grocery store. This is not easy to find but keep looking. Also, on Amazon they sell suckers or hard candies called Queasy pops or Preggie drops. These did help some between the Phenegran doses. Ginger Ale also gave some relief.
For the 20 grams of fat I used real butter on toast or bagels, cream cheese is another option. Guacamole comes in individual servings packets. Nuts are another option. White & butterscotch chips are higher in fat than chocolate chips. I'd make
cookies with real butter and add macadamia nuts & white chips. There are about
3 cereals that are higher in fat. I can only remember Reeses Puffs right now. A double serving with 1 cup milk worked for breakfast. Try to stay away from bacon or animal fats. Tends to make the nausea worse. At night an ice cream treat such as a drum stick was usually 20 grams. Read the labels on food boxes and you will be able to find alot of options.
The nausea did get better after the Incivek. I'm not gonna lie and tell you it's not too bad because I saw my husband at his worse. At the end of 6 months his hair was thinning, he lost 20 lbs and had very dark circles under his eyes. Of course everyone is different. Just remembered, he would get really cold sometimes. You can make a rice bag by folding a dish towel in half, sewing the sides, filling with rice then sewing the rest closed. This bag you can heat in the microwave for moist heat. I'd bundle him up with this warm bag to comfort him.
For the burning butt they speak of. I had my husband us moist butt wipes you can purchase in the toilet paper aisle. He cleaned thoroughly after every bowel movement & never developed a problem with it. Maybe this will help others!
After he completed the treatment he told me that there were several times when he just wanted to quit but he didn't and hopefully is cured. You can do this!!!
I will drop in every now & then if you have anymore questions. Good Luck!!!
Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 12/1/2012 10:04:40 PM (GMT-7)