Hep C Discussion Forum

Hi Amanda,

If I told you how the shots effected me you'd just be mad. It was the day after the shot or the next day, or sometimes the next...

Have you tried eating something after you take your pills or while you take them? I used to eat something fatty before and after-during taking the pills. I used to forget them, take them later, wish I could forget them... I used to take them and try to forget them. Maybe if you spaced them one and then one 30 mins of so later. You know it says every 8 hours but you have between 7 to 9 hours to take them. I never took them exactly on time. But I made it though them with UND's

Hi Amanda,

i had similar experience for first shot (administred round 13h, round 19h worst fever in my life ever), round 5th shot i got used to and moved administering it to Fri (then Sat) night round 18-20h, so i force myself to sleep rite before first sx arrive and try to have deep sleep and oversleep most of the next day.

what helped me re interferon sx:

headache - lavander oil as scent, shortterm headache relief
nausea - ginger+lemon/lime+honey homemade drink and plain or with probiotics yogurt (it felt like icecream to me)
bath - sometimes it help, sometimes it made it worse

eat well days before shot. First few shots i couldn't eat properly for 1-2 days after shot...

i am not taking any painkillers or other meds except vitamin supplements...i did inhaled vaporised cannabis few times, just to induce munchies (helps in that area) since i have lost a lot of weight.

Amanda, I was thinking about how to give you the best support I could about your sides, and then saw Lee's post. Don't know if you saw it, but here are some insights he shared which I think apply to all our experiences.

Anyways, that's enough about me. If there is anyone new reading my post and anxious about starting triple therapy, my advice is:

• try not to read too much into side effects, the more think about them,  the more they will manifest themselves;
• don't get hung up about compare yourselves to others, we are different and will experience different side effects;
• set reminders to take your pills, I am on 20 tablets a day, so I have reminders in my calendar on my iphone and download a drug reminder app with handy sound effects. I am pretty strict on adherence and would recommend sticking to a good regime with your tablets. Even with all these reminders, I  have been about 2-4 hours late with a couple of tablets so far;
• keep a log of your treatment and cross out the weeks you have gone through, highlighting weeks off the calendar, just shows visually how far you've come! I am half way through my treatment and when I first started, 48 weeks seemed like a lifetime;
• try and maintain a balanced diet and exercise if you can - I find weights in the gym and light cardio really helps mentally, yes I can't lift the weights I once did and I have lost muscle mass, but I have adapted to lighter weights and leaner muscle;
• it's okay to pig out when you feel down after interferon, if eating fatty unhealthy foods, makes you feel better, do it;
• try and live as normal a lifestyle as you did before, yes you will probably be fatigued a far bit, but try and do things that make you happy, exercise, go out for food, buy new clothes, go to the movies/, socialise with friends, read, listen to music, walk the dog or whatever you feel like doing, etc.
• its okay to feel like ****, for a long while I was angry that I felt awful and tired all the time. After a while I just went with it and I the times I feel like **** are getting less and less, I don't know if that anything to do with my subconscious or not, but things have got easier.

Hi Amanda, welcome from me too!  Well done for starting treatment, it`s never an easy decision to make but from what you wrote in another of your posts it sounds like this will be the perfect time for you to get on with it.

Yes, I had pretty similar experience with my first shot.  I was expecting to have `flu like` symptoms but not as severe as they were!  But the rest of my shots weren`t anywhere near that bad.  A lot of people find their first shot is the worse, although it`s different for everyone really and some people get away with very light side effects.

The nausea is very unpleasant but with any luck it will ease off as your body adjusts to the med a bit more.  I didn`t do the triple therapy, just peg and ribavirin, but I had quite a lot of nausea during the first few weeks.  For me sipping fizzy drinks were very helpful, especially ginger ale, and I kept a packet of plain biscuits handy to nibble on, but it`s best to eat and drink whatever you feel like as our tastes tend to change when on treatment.  Things should certainly get easier for you once you`ve finished the incivek.

`Panadol` is the same as `paracetamol` or `tylenol` by the way, and it`s widely available over the counter.

Feel free to ask any questions, someone will always be along to try and help or give you a few words of encouragement.

Best of luck!  ~ Jill

I drank ginger tea, green tea and FLAT ginger ale. Saltine crackers seemed to help also. But the general disgust of food never went away until the Invicek was complete. It really sucked to have to force feed myself every 8 hours. The 20+ grams of fat also help with nausea and other issues. If it continues, you may want to see your Dr about a Rx, the vomiting could affect the dose absorption. Good luck and keep fighting!