Interferon

Hello everyone, I hope all are staying positive!

I was just wondering how everyone on interferon is feeling during the treatment, and thought starting a thread for experiences and solutions would be beneficial.

I'm in my ninth week of the interferon/ribavirin therapy. The first two weeks I was slightly sick, but not as sick as I was when I did it in 2004. The third and fourth weeks, I was really sick, though still not as bad as 2004. Food had no taste and I had what felt like indigestion. I lost about 7-8 pounds in those two weeks. Since then, I've had almost no major problems, other than not sleeping through the night. I've regained most of the weight lost and have been working full time. I assume that every week I may feel different from the shots. I believe the ribavirin causes more problems than the interferon, as in 2004, my hepatologist explained various complaints of mine were due (specifically) to the pills and not the shots. The first time I did this, my interferon shots were 135 mcg. per week and my ribavirin was 600 mg. twice a day. This go round, it's 90 mcg. interferon a week and 400 mg. twice a day. In other words, this is a third less of a dose than the first time. In 2004, the virus was undetectable after three months and continued to be so until three months after the 48 weeks of therapy. Then, I had a cerebral hemorrhage and my liver failed.
I return to Boston to visit the transplant docs next week and will find out how things are going. I haven't pressed them as to how long this is going to go on, because I trust them implicitly and they have been totally up front with me in the 6 years I've been seeing them. I'm happy to answer any questions. As far as a thread, I think you've started one.

Next week, when I go up to MGH, the transplant team will go over all of my numbers. I've gotten to the point where following the ups and downs means little to me. I prefer to let my docs tell me how things are going. I go in for (extensive) blood work every 2-3 weeks, with a visit to Boston every 2-3 months. If the docs see a problem, then I get a phone call. The only calls have been related to glucose levels and that's due to 2 of the meds I take.

Ok, so it sounds like your handling the treatment well. As for me, the fluish symptoms decreased after 2 or 3 months. I think the most common physical side effects that people are reporting come in the forms of indigestion and insomnia. Are you feeling ok as far as your mental health is concerned? The ribarviran also seemed to give me more trouble than the Interferon did, and I always ate a meal along with the dose to prevent nausia. Glad to hear that the numbers from your blood indicate healthy enzyme levels. They also did the standard 12 week viral load check with me, and I have a six month post treatment check in about 2 months. If you don't mind me asking, why do the meds lead to elevated glucose levels?

It's great that you are not having mental health complications on treatment. For me, the biggest issues were in that area. I don't know how your PCP can handle the glucose levels, but i'm sure there are reasonable solutions if the levels were to spike. When the medication got me extremely wound up at night, my doctor prescribed Seroquel.