Hep C Discussion Forum

hi alex... im 47 and on pegasus and ribaviran... its the tiredness that gets to me most. im on week 13 now, and sleep a lot, and take naps also... ive learnt not to try and fight it. we need to sleep, so i go with it these days..

i still go to work everyday, (gettin up is a mission) but once im up and about i seem ok.. come home and take a nap. never slept so much in my life...

its ok tho, im handling it so far. my friends notice my up and down days, but thats ok. theyre on my side.

good luck mate

Gidday Alex,

Welcome to the Forum from me as well mate, and an even bigger welcome and congratulations to treatment (tx) and to having the courage as well as wisdom to do it.  Side effects (sx) are a much spoken about factor and it is difficult to exactly determine how you'll go so far as what degree they'll be a part of your overall tx.

As Randy suggests, being only 30 years of age is a good age to be doing tx at.  Your overall immune system and other internal systems all function much better than most of us closer to twice your age, and that factor alone as well as being otherwise healthy and fit are three big factors that generally suggest that you'll do well at tx and statistically suffer less from sx.

Having said that, you also should take on board the fact that "we are all the same, but different"  There is no definitive way of determining exactly how well you'll go, I guess none of us want to mislead you and guide you down the wrong path, but I think if you maintain a positive attitude, eat as well and as healthily as you can, keep up your fluids and get plenty of rest, you should be able to deal with hopefully the milder case of sx you may encounter.

I get the impression that you are into exercising and perhaps working out.  If so, you are going to have to limit the amount of heavy exercise you do while on tx, regardless of how fit you are and were able to cope before starting tx.  The fact that you are fit etc; as I indicated puts you in a better position than those who aren't, but you have to now concentrate on putting all your energy and effort in completing the tx you have started.  Sadly doing weights and energy sapping routines will work against what you are trying to do with the tx drugs, and a bit like being dehydrated on a hot day, overworking while on tx will have done a lot of damage to your chances of succeeding at tx, by the time you first start to feel it.

Resting and getting heaps of sleep are grossly important to not only helping you ensure that you succeed at beating the virus, and overdoing it in the gym or at work do exactly the opposite.  Probably more importantly, if there is anything that's more important than you succeeding at tx at the moment, resting and getting lots of quality sleep along with maintaining a good and healthy diet are all excellent ways of minimising the very sx that we all try to avoid.

The drugs that we take during tx have to get at the virus which hides in key spots inside us like our livers and anywhere blood transports nutrients and oxygen throughout our body.  The drugs are effective at killing the virus, but in doing so, where the battle takes place may also get damaged and while the damaged areas recover generally during and after tx, we need to save up every ounce of energy and our body's ability to fight and rebuild, if we are to be successful.

Many people that have done tx have had to come to realise this apart from yourself.  Generally working out is great, but not while we are doing tx and the sooner we get that, the sooner we get full benefit from tx.  I can tell you this because I was someone that had to learn the hard way.  Tx is bad enough without us deliberately hindering it and essentially increasing sx and turning ourselves into physical wrecks.

There are ways of limiting sx also.  Loss of appetite is common and often eating more smaller meals during the day will help overcome not being able to eat much.  Being unable to sleep is another common sx and as I pointed out sleep is hugely important during tx, and sleeping tablets from your doctor wil help with that.  Depression is a sx that affects many people while on tx, and this needs to be addressed asap, once again by medication from the doctor.

You will still be able to do light exercise while on tx Alex, I guess I didn't mention that, and that exercise is important.  I guess I'm an advocate for people on tx getting heaps of rest and sleep and avoiding strenuous work, because as I said, I was and am someone who always works hard but before I understood what it was doing to me while on tx, it nearly wrecked my tx program.  Stopping work and getting sleeping tablets saved my tx, and seeing that you've just started tx, what you experience in the first week is no indicator of what's to come.  Randy like many people on tx had sx that came and went for no reason, and as he says he as well as myself and everyone else on this forum hope you are one of the lucky one's that have little or no sx.  But don't keep pushing it until you can't do it any more, or coming back from that is very, very hard.

Sorry to be the messenger of what you'll not want to hear, but gym work is something that can wait, and all we want to do is make sure you've got the very best chance of getting rid of HepC as soon as you can, with the minimum sx.  All the best mate.

Cheers,

Brendan.

Welcome Alex. I can only speak for the two drug combo which I did for 26 wks. I know what you're asking but can't really give you a good answer. The fatigue part of the sx just kind of wears on you throughout tx. I think it kind of depends how long you're on tx and a bunch of different things. I also think you have you're age going for you and that's good. Some of the sx, for me anyway, just kind of came and went for no rhyme or reason . Shot day and the day after were usually the worst of the week. I know stress sure played a role in how I felt. Crap would go down at work some days and it would do a number on me. I used meditation to try to keep that to a minimum - I believe it helped a lot. I'm hoping you are one of the lucky ones that will have minimal sx.

Take it easy and drink tons of water.
Randy