Allen's Sovaldi + Ribavirin Treatment Log

Hello. Brand new member here. I'm entering week 6 tomorrow of Ribavirin Sovaldi regiment. Went online in search of symptoms that match mine. Thank you very much for this thread. Great read. I'll share my biggest side affect: Dizziness. Not just light headed; I'm spinning-room, staggering dizzy. Great fun. Onward we go. Good luck on your final results! --Bill

I forgot to mention, I accidentally counted my pills wrong last week and tomorrow(April 30th - 20014) is actually my last day of treatment. Emotionally I am feeling great, I'm glad this is all over and I hope to be able to move on but won't ever forget my experience.

I hope going forward I can help others when I hear they have problems, perhaps I can offer advice or just someone to talk to for support, I know without all of you this would have been a lot harder and my wife is thankful I had someone beside's her to speak with and "air my gripes" so to say, this journey was not without side effects but in the end it was ALL worth it.

Thursday morning I will go get my blood taken as well as having my viral load tested however the results may not come for a week, I'll report back as soon as I know them. I may not be around the next couple days just because I'm so happy, I'm emotional and I get that *feeling* every time I think of what just happened and how I narrowly missed a bullet and have a much greater respect for my liver.

Thanks everybody!

The last of my Sovaldi & Ribavirin!

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Allen, Mike is 4 weeks behind you and started his 3rd bottle of the pills Monday.

Woo Hoo...the dragon slayers are winning the battle.

Hugs, ML

Thank you everyone, 90 minutes away from my last dose of meds...so happy and relieved!

Super results, Allen 😊 looking forward to the next, too!! What an accomplishment. So happy for you !!!!! music👱

wonderful news Steve!!

Good luck, Allen!
I am on day 30, so 54 more to go.
Keep us posted.

Hey Allen, Just wanted to say thanks for posting your log. I have epilepsy too and started treatment yesterday the 3rd. Your journal here helped ease me into what to expect as i'm the first patient of my doctor to receive this medication.

So far it's not too bad. Muscles a little sore and certainly fatigued more than usual. It hasn't interfered with my seizure disorder at all.

So thanks and best of luck to ya. \o

My turn.

The 21st will be 3 months complete with 3 more to go. I must say Allen, I get the exact same thing as you. Nausea outta nowhere. I don't care where I'm at, I have to lay down. The store, a parking lot, the front yard. . . doesn't matter. And the exhaustion hits quick as well. Both of these side effects started about a month in.

Strange now. . . I think I may have had a relapse. I won't know until my blood owrk which is on the 21 of each month. Before I started treatment, I had night sweats for about 3 years. I mean BAD sweats like I just got out of the shower. Completely soaked every time I'd wake up (3-4 times a night). These sweats are a symptom of Hep-C, don't let anyone tell you different. Well, about a wekk ago they returned. My mind also. For about the last year I was losing my memory at an alarming rate, and acting completely DUMB because of it. After I started treatment my mind started to become clear again until about a month ago. The fog and memory problems are back. Not as bad, but back nonetheless. The real terrible part about this Hep C is the upper right quadrant pain (liver). It's been going on for about 8 years. about 3-4 days after I started Sovaldi/Ribaspher it left me completely. I felt like a new man. So happy it made me cry like a baby. The relief was pure JOY. Now however, it's back, and with a vengeance. As I said, i think I relapsed.

about the liver pain I mentioned. I'm tired beyond adjectives of these doctors trying to tell me that my liver doesn't hurt. They're full of chit. It HURTS!!! The liver doesn't have any pain receptors my freaking ass. Something is making it hurt, and it's not my head. Try turning my torso to the right (especially when driving) and it actually takes my breath because of the deep ache.

about doctors. I don't trust em one bit. After searching for 8 years I finally got one who took pity on me. Yes, 8 years. Ya know, I seen a Hepatologist this last October, and he was another one who said. . . "You're fine. You have about an 85% chance of never developing serious liver disease". ****!!! I mean, who was this idiot trying to kid? I already have a SERIOUS liver disease. When this lame SOB told me that I let him have it with both barrels. I rattled off the top of my head about 20 facts concerning this disease, the main one being that that since 1997 Hep-C kills more people than AIDS. I disrespected that POS every way I could, (he wasn't the first). This was a guy who was a professor of medicine, and he was lying to me. He actually made his grand statement without seeing my biopsy of July last year. I found that part out about a week later. Pissed me off even more. I would've probably beat the hell outta him on the spot had I known that when I seen him. Lying Prick.

I'll continue later. I'm once again suddenly tired. You understand, Allan. You understand.

I relate to you all. Much LOVE & RESPECT.

Hello hep-c victim and very nice to meet you, also thanks for taking the time to read my thread of my journey through treatment and I'm glad you found it and can relate and unfortunately the side effects are not as pleasant for everyone.

For me the treatment at times seemed confusing because while I was getting sick others seemed to be fine and really the ONLY difference I could think of is I take medication called Depekane for Epilepsy and also take Supeudol(Oxycodone) for serious injury that happened in 2000 but I felt like I was one of the ones who had more side effects than others but I should mention my wife always tells me I am sensitive to pain, probably due to the pain killers I had to take for years from a couple of botched hip surgeries.

The exhaustion was bad at times for me and luckily I was able to go nap when I wanted because I'm self employed and work from home doing computer related work, if I would have had a job doing hard labour outside of the home I would have to admit it would have been very hard and no doubt I would have sick days.

I had serious night sweats and while I did read they were being caused by Hep C I also noticed something else, when I slept in the spare room I didn't seem to sweat as much or not at all so I thought perhaps the room is cooler or something so as a test we took the blanket from the spare room and used it in the master bedroom and after one week I realized something....I wasn't sweating anymore!

I have no idea how I missed this and I mean this has been going on for YEARS where I sweat excessively at night, having to wear T-shirts and then change them a few times in the night and my doctors and everybody were mystified and it seemed even when I travelled it would happen but sometimes it didn't!

The solution, the wife went and bought a new blanket to try a couple of months ago(middle of treatment) and suddenly my life changed, no more night sweats! The fricken blanket I had been using the last few years may have been the most comfortable blanket ever and cost way too much BUT it was causing the night sweats and probably trapping in too much body heat, I am not sure what it was filled with but possibly goose down,thick and fluffy with feathers and cost about $300-400. It was very comfortable especially in winters and warm BUT it was too warm and causing me the night sweats so maybe try a different blanket and see if that somehow helps you, might not help at all but you never know so try a different one for a few nights.

I never really experienced too much liver pain, I recall last October 2013 when I was diagnosed the doctor pushed under my rib and it felt somewhat sensitive, it wasn't something that made me scream when he pushed it but it hurt and after he checked it and I went home I found I was checking every so often by pushing and found the pain for me wasn't too bad, perhaps my liver was not as swollen.

As for doctors I'm thankful I have the family doctor I do for pain management and he has helped me alot over the years, with the hepatitis C it was very bad luck that my liver was NOT TESTED yearly though they did test two years prior and nothing showed up, however during the 8 years before that I recall on at least two visits to my previous doctor that he mentioned a "fatty liver" and he asked me if I drank alot and I told him sometimes on weekends I might drink heavily for 3-4 hours and consume 6-8 cocktails and then go to bed and the one test I recall I drank on a Friday night and gave blood on a Saturday, then the other time I had given blood on Monday but I drank on Saturday and *somehow* that affected my blood tests but I also think this may have been a pre-cursor warning to liver problems or hepatitis C. I still have no idea how I contracted Hepatitis C, I have some ideas but no confirmation.

The hepatitis doctor I initially met I do not like at all, I was told I would be treated with Peg-Interferon and Ribavirin and it would have began May 2014, when I mentioned Sovaldi she told me it would not be available for possibly 3-4 years and the peg+ribavirin cocktail would be my only choice..I was very sad but when I looked at my wife she looked very worried, she had read about the side effects of those drugs and was very worried for me. When we got home my wife began the search for the magical DIN# the doctor claimed did not exist...but it did and my wife found within a couple of hours.

After this we ended up negotiating with the insurance and eventually got Sovaldi and started February 6th 2014, months before the doctor had planned to start me on Peg+Ribavirin...she really helped with NOTHING and the wife and I did everything to ensure I got the drugs and about all she did was write the prescription once she realized I had done everything else!

I was also told by the Hep C doctor not to worry, I was fine however when my ALT was over 600 if I was fine and their was NOTHING to worry about as she claimed then WHY did she tell me not to fly for a vacation with the wife to Las Vegas even though I planned not to drink? I wasn't as worried as her but she actually told me not to fly out of country while my family doctor said it would be fine and probably actually help me mentally and maybe relieve some stress! Since then I have a total disrespect for that doctor and we felt she simply looked at me for 15 minutes on two occasions and made rush judgements and then after that trying to reach her by phone was impossible, he secretary was not a dedicated secretary and worked for multiple doctors and NEVER answered he darn phone, I had to leave messages and wait one or two days for replies and that really drove me crazy!

As much as I hate the doctor and how laid back she was about all this HOPEFULLY she learned something from all this, its pretty funny a patient is able to seek out and find the DIN# she says doesn't exist, is able to contact the drug manufacture(Gilead Momentum Program) directly which she said I couldn't do that she knew of and furthermore I was able to talk to my insurance and have them cover me 100% as long as I paid $3000 which I did...she also claimed I would not be able to get insurance to cover things for 3-4 years "because thats how it always works with drugs in Canada" she claimed.

In the end she caused me more stress and feeling like I was doomed to taking Peg-Interferon and Ribavirin and then reason we were so freaked out, we were told the Epilepsy medication I took could possibly have a bad side effect with the Peg-Interferon resulting in death, my Epilepsy doctor was also asked about this and he knew very little about these drugs but said "Its possible you could die, while I don't think you will because your medication dose for epilepsy is small its still possible...is this the only drug?"

I told him about Sovaldi which he also had no idea about but he said form reading it didn't mention that DEATH side effect or heart attacks but warned me none the less if I could get the Sovaldi to do so and not chance it unless the hepatitis C was about to kill me and I had no choice.

I was scared ****less to say the least! I worried about death, I started planning things and flew too Ontario to move my sick father closer to my home where my sister could watch him and began *thinking* of all the things I needed to do before I die...the thing is I wasn't dying! The doctor I felt really gave me no hope of using Sovaldi and made it sound like Peg-Interferon was my ONLY choice which it wasn't , she was just too darn lazy to bother to do her homework!

I really hope everything works out for your hep-c victim and I hope you eventually are cured, it was scary for me but now that more is known about Sovaldi and its getting easier to get providing a persons insurance covers it I imagine less people will have to experience the incompetence of certain doctors that I had to experience.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sovaldi is a miracle drug and I am so thankful it exists for all of us and I am thankful for all others infected with hepatitis C many years before me that endured very harsh treatments to make Sovaldi possible and for it to finally be offered as an alternative treatment with less side effects, things are not perfect with Sovaldi but its better than what we had a couple of years ago with higher rates of cure.

Good luck!

Good morning, Allen. Once again I have to thank you for you sharing with everything and painting a picture in our minds of your treatment journey-offering encouragement and hope. Your sharing about the Dr situation helps me especially since I keep feeling guilty everytime my spec makes me feel I walk in eggshells with constant threats to stop my treatment. One of those "darned if you do, and darned if you don't." Thankfully, my trust is not in my dr but my Lord...so regardless, the Dr and I may treat him as he is in control...out of fear of his anger, I have faith the Lord is my great physician. I do need reminding that drs are not perfect...and ease my anxiety that it is only me. Thank you, Allen. You have and will continue to make a difference to all blessed enough to find this support group! music. 👱

3A. Started 1/27. 1200 Rib w/Sol. Four months in. Two weeks ago cut Rib to 600mg because of sides. Tried to make it thru interferon/rib twice. Couldn't go full 12 months. Two more months on this. It's no cake walk, at least for me, as I think the rib (from two prior trips down this lane) is nasty stuff, no matter how great the Sol. is. Anyway, i was undetectable at 30 days and ALT and AST were 12 and 16. Fatigue and some hair loss biggest problems. Slight rash on legs. NOTHING like what happened with the interferon. I think for last month I will bump up again to 1200 on rib to the finish line. I've also experienced light headedness when standing quickly and out of breath when climbing stairs. Again, with the old regimen, I could hardly make it up the stairs without stopping to rest. Will be great when they have a treatment w/out the rib which I've read is on the way. I pay 20 dollars a month co-pay.