48 hours have now passed. Yesterday afternoon I experienced terrible headaches and nausea on and off. Again took tylenol around the clock. I slept more than the night before, and woke up feeling better. Still this morning I took another 650 mg of tylenol, and decided after my breakfast and pills I would go and get a manicure/pedicure, also did a little shopping. Before the manicure I stopped at my favorite coffee place. Maybe thats what my body was craving, enjoyed that coffee so much. Waiting to see how I will do when I return to work. I am drinking more fluids than ever and making sure I eat healthy. :D

Hi Nona50...I am glad to hear you are feeling better. My biggest fear is not being well enough to work. You are helping me tremendously. What genotype are you? Did you have any liver damage? I have early stage fibrosis and a genotype 1. Thank you for the info. God bless.

Geno 1
Result of Biopsy
chronic Hep C mild activity grade 2 of 4
stage 0 fibrosis

48 hours have now passed. Yesterday afternoon I experienced terrible headaches and nausea on and off. Again took tylenol around the clock. I slept more than the night before, and woke up feeling better. Still this morning I took another 650 mg of tylenol, and decided after my breakfast and pills I would go and get a manicure/pedicure, also did a little shopping. Before the manicure I stopped at my favorite coffee place. Maybe thats what my body was craving, enjoyed that coffee so much. Waiting to see how I will do when I return to work. I am drinking more fluids than ever and making sure I eat healthy. :D

might you try something rather than tylenol?? Proven to be bad for liver.

might you try something rather than tylenol?? Proven to be bad for liver.


With my doctors instructions I am able to take tylenol. At this time, I am fortunate to have liver function within normal limits. I understand I must protect my liver which is why I am getting treatment. To better tolerate the side effects I needed to take something (of course under my docs approval). She says I may use either tylenol or motrin. Motrin upsets my stomach, and my stomach has been queasy. Tylenol taken as directed should not be a problem for me. I do not drink alcohol which is a real no no with tylenol.

Any suggestions for headache and body ache would be appreciated.

BTW I had a pretty good day today. A little tired but overall OK.

Good Morning..Had the same restless night as after my first injection, and now the same achy feeling. I recall it passing after a few hours so that is my hope for now. Drinking loads of fluids. I don't know anyone personally who went through this, my life and time restrictions would not allow me to participate in support groups, and reading posts on this site is just so helpful. What a wonderful thing the internet is. Glo I am also waiting to read that you are about to start treatment, I wish you the best during and after treatment.

Hi Nona, my dr appt is July 23. I don't really know much now except that my viral load is 740,000. My biopsy showed stage 2/3. I have early stage fibrosis. I am assuming he will start me on treatment because of the fibrosis. I do have another issue which may concern him. I had cervical cancer in the year 2000. A couple weeks ago, my pap came back abnormal. My oncologist said it is nothing to worry about because my hpv test came back negative. Did you have to go to an opthamologist before starting treatment? My dr said I had to, and I also have early stage glaucoma. What a year this has been! (and I can't even have a drink to relax!) Thanks so much for your update. I check each day to see how you are doing. I keep you in my daily prayers. Take care Nona and thank you so much for your friendship.

I had to have an opthalmology exam before treatment started, also a Physical exam, EKG and a statement of medical clearance to start. That was the easy part. To get authorization for treatment the insurance company wanted copies of my all my blood tests, scans, biopsy etc. All of this took many months, and everything I had to do involved insurance company pre auth. But thankfully I have medical insurance.

Today starts week three of treatment. Went to the lab today for a CBC. I am feeling OK, able to go to work, I sure do rest alot. I cut down on many activities to be able to get maximal rest. I continue to have a good appetite, I drink alot of water, juice, and my once daily coffee (love it iced in this heat). I don't think about my illness much, but I often hope the treatments are working. Nona

Hi Nona,

It really is kind of scary at first but it sounds like you are handling it fine. I too wondered if the treatments were working. I found out at week four of my treatments that I was undetectable. I hope that it goes the same for you. One thing I might mention though I am sure you probably already know.

During my treatments, I was drinking well over half my body weight in fluids. The only mistake that I made with that was not replacing the electrolytes that were being flushed out of my system by all of the water. At that point I added a bottle of gatorade to my liquid regimin. This seemed to ease the sides even more for me.

Good luck as you continue onward with your journey!!

Chuck

Today was injection # 4. At the moment I feel fatiqued but ok. The NYC hot weather is really hard to tolerate. Sometimes I feel fatiqued during my work, but still OK, I pace myself trying not to overdo to prevent exhaustion.
My blood count showed a decline. Doc will monitor and treat if necessary. Next trip to the lab will include CBC, LFT's and viral load.
Glo how are you ? Tomorrow is your appt. Keep me/us posted.

Nona

I'm doing okay, anxiously awaiting my appt tomorrow. I check this board daily because I am so interested in how you are doing. I pray that I do as well as you. For some reason, the past couple days my joints have been really sore. Before I thought this was due to lifting at my job, but now I am wondering if it is the hep c. Thanks so much for your updates Nona. I really appreciate it. I'll update you on my condition after my appt tomorrow. Take care.

I just got home from the liver doctor. He said my liver is damaged very little. The 2/3 fibrosis is out of 6.
Also, I don't have much of the hep c in my blood and he feels I would have great success if I do treatment. He wants to see me again in 3 months and do more bloodwork and see if the numbers went up at all. As of now....he didn't see a need for treatment until I see him again...and then we will decide when to start. My next appointment is October 15.
He really would like to see my pap test normal before I start treatment. Also, he wants me to get the glaucoma under control. Other than that.....all the tests he ran are normal except for the hep c and liver enzymes.
I have been praying so hard. Not only for me, but everyone on this board. This disease is so wicked, I am wondering why I haven't heard much about it before I got it. I am actually excited to start treatment and beat this dragon. (well, as soon as I straighten out my other health problems)
Nona...I am praying for you. I will be so happy when you have cleared this!
Take care....gloria

Glo thanks for the update. It also took a number of months before I started my treatment, the doc said it would be ok. Your medical scenerio sounds positive.
I'll keep posting, and keep looking for your posts. Take care now.

Nona

Its good to hear you waited a few months. It made me nervous when the doc said to wait, but then he assured there is no harm in waiting. I check this board daily, and appreciate your updates. Next stop....oncologist and opthamologist! I just keep dodging the bullet!

Injection # 7 was yesterday. Labs done on July 30th at the completion of week 4 showed I am responding to the meds with what the doc called a rapid viral responce.
My LFT's are normal, I have not lost any weight, and I can enjoy a good meal. Worse part is the anemia which gets me down. I miss being more energetic. I continue to work, I pace myself, slowed down alot.

Nona

Nona, that is such good news! I have been checking the boards daily to see how you are doing. I have been praying so hard for you. I have some good news, after going through a complete 3 hour glaucoma test, the specialist said I don't have glaucoma. He could understand why the opthamologist thought it was glaucoma because I have a tilted disc in my eye which resembles it. I was so happy to hear that. I had such bad back pain that I went to my oncologist, and now I am awaiting the results of a ct scan and a second pap. If all these come back normal, I am going to ask to be treated soon for the hep c. My muscles and joints are very achy, not sure if it is from the hep c or from lifting at work. Also, were your LFT's very high? Mine were ALT:78, AST:57.
Thanks for the update you are my inspiration!
gloria

Hi Glo..I hope you are feeling well, also glad to hear about your normal glaucoma eye exam. Back in Feb my LFT's were elevated at AST 58 range (1-45) and ALT 46
range (1-36). Last test of July 30 shows AST 20 and ALT 12. I went for a routine physical exam in Feb and had no clue that I may have had an infection. In hindsight my symptoms may have been easy fatique, insomnia and nightsweats which I attributed to change of life. I have risk factors as a nurse, and as a recipient of blood transfusion in the 1960's, but really never feeling "sick". I understand that body and joint aches are also included in the possible symptoms of this virus. But who knows ? Some of the sides effects of treatment are body and joint aches, as well as headaches which I have been experiencing but able to tolerate and manage. You are also in my prayers Glo and I really appreciate your responses to my posts. I will keep posting and looking for your posts. I've always been a feisty personality, I'm a team player, and WE MUST WIN.

Hi Nona, glad to hear you are tolerating the treatment. After reading your posts, I am anxious to get started. Right now I am waiting results of pap & ct scan to come back. If they are normal I will have the green light to start. I am wondering though, do you or anyone else know....when we quit treatment, will our body aches and hep c symptoms disappear? I have the aches and fatigue...but I have always blamed it on my postal job. Do you think we could actually get back to normal and not have aches and fatigue? I would love to feel like my old self.
As always Nona, I am keeping you in my prayers and also everyone else on this board who struggles with this disease.
Thanks for remembering me, I really appreciate it.
gloria

Hope everyone is doing well. Injection # 9 today. Feel about the same. I continue to work. I eat well, however, I feel quite fatiqued most the time and it does get me feeling down. I'll get to the lab this week for a CBC and see how my anemia is.