Hep C Discussion Forum

Hi Jackie,

HOORAY!!!! You've dealt that nasty x*s Dragon it's death blow! Congratulations is the word of the day

Stay hydrated and keep doing what yer' doing - It's working!!

Hey BeHappy,

Sure glad to hear from ya, and how you're doing!

Very well we see!

I am so glad this epclusa treatment is going fairly smoothly for you (relatively speaking), I know ... it is still a hard thing to deal with (all and all), but so happy to hear you have kept up with the water! That has probably helped you more than you will ever realize - I know that is how it was with me anyway. I too felt some things and not so good on treatment (but I felt like this prior to treatment too, and additionally, I was on vox), and, it was a hard learning curve for me to connect how poorly I might have been feeling to when my water intake was not up - the flushing/excretion of the metabolized drugs from your body is important, and only helps to keep every cell and system in your bod operating at tip-top full speed.

Glad the fog was not too pronounced or at least not too long lasting - interferes with stuff, doesn't it, sorting pics can come to a standstill! - tell the kids it was NOT "funny"!

Wonderful you are actually feeling some improvements, being able to keep your eyelids open past 8PM is a biggy! Having some more energy to be able to keep busy is great!

Happy 4 week blood draw on Aug 2, I think you are feeling a bit more confident about this whole "treatment" thing, and, I think you are going to be well rewarded with what your 4 week labs show, for all your hard work in getting through this.  I think you are feeling that IS working!! You are going to be an X-GT3a-er in no time at all! Lucky, lucky, lucky you were to get epclusa girl. You ARE going to be a brand new person, an HCV cured person! - but one step at a time, don't be making too many demands of yourself just yet. Just keep doing what you are doing, concentrate on taking care of you. Good idea (anytime) to make sure we get enough fresh fruit and veggies. I am so pleased to hear how well you are doing/coping.  C.

Did you ever find out what you "elasto U/S" or your "fibroscan" Fscore was? Just curious, it was likely low, as you described.

Quick update since I haven't been on in a while. All is going well!!!! Only some mild brain fog one afternoon when I had not had much water. My kids thought it was pretty funny! 

Going for my 4 weeks labs on August 2. I am sure everything will be perfect because I am feeling so great. I have so much more energy and can actually stay awake past 8:30 p.m.! My sweet tooth has reared it's ugly head once again and the scale keeps reminding me. Time to go to the farmers market for some fresh fruit and veggies.

I have been keeping busy with my photo organization projects and watching my husband do some home improvements - the honey-do list keeps growing :}

Hope all is well with everyone else!

Jackie

Be Happy,

(jeesh, my home town lost our internet all day and all night! Hate that! But, we're back in action this morning).

The elasto-U/S you had and the fibroscan are very likely exactly the same thing - great news that it and or your doc says it shows no cirrhosis and minimal scarring! Look for a scale on your results depicting your "Fscore", will say F0 up to F4, and/or a number indicating your kilopascal measurement (kPa) - same thing, they convert kPa's to Fscore. If that is not depicted on your fibroscan result then you can always ask next time you are at the docs offcie for them to interpret the result into Fscore/kPa's for you. If he told you no cirrhosis then that is GREAT, and you should be very pleased with that. It's just handy to know what your prior Fscores are so you can compare to later improvements in Fscores going forward after you are cured. If you use the search function button above you can search up info all about fibroscans and results.

What took my mind off treatment?? Ha! NOTHING! I gave in to it wholeheartedly, I was ALL IN! I was so danged grateful, relieved and exhusted when I got to treatment, i really had no time to be newly feeling out of control - I had already been LONG feeling out of control with HCV being in the drivers seat, when i finally secured a seat in my trial, just knowing the drugs were coming, was SUCH a relief, and more relief came with every pill I took. Not to say I did not enter into states of feeling nervous, excited, scared (fear of the unknowns), inner fights with doubt, everyone does i think to some degree. But for me, I had, for the 6 months prior to treatment thrown myself into learning everything i could about HCV and how i could get the best treatment, and all throughout treatment I did the same - I researched and learned stuff, and I am still doing it! (That's just me, I like reading about medical stuff). That took up lots of my time while on treatment - especially given that with the profound fatigue and fog i had prior to treatment (that did not dissipate while on treatment) my thinking was as slow and hard as trying to swim through a sludge puddle of mental fudge. That (trying to think/read/comprehend), and with all my Olympian naps and sleeping, my days were very full! I dove in, rather than avoid thinking about my HCV or my treatment, I found my HCV was not about to let me ignore it, but i DID fill my days doing everything that was good for me while i was on treatment, no matter what that was. 

Everything you are doing - 9 AM, water, laying down, meditating, photos, recipes, projects - IT'S ALL GOOD - go with the flow - you are going to be OK. You will see. The times will seem long AND short! 

Food/cooking/feasting/good nutrician is a very delicous distraction - but take what Observer said with a grain of salt - contrary to popular belief and folkelore, and what some die-hard Canadians will say about mmmm-maple syrup, I stop short of using maple syrup on my raspberries! hee hee  C.

Take it one day at a time - one gallon at a time, and before you know it you will 'Be REALLY Happy'.

Welcome Jackie,

very happy to hear of your decision to get rid of the HCV beast. You will feel like a new person.

Quitting sugar and processed foods will also make a huge difference to how you feel.  It's a good time to do it with all the lovely fruits in season. 

Maple syrup (the real stuff) is a great and healthy substitute for sugar in many sauces and salad dressings.

A

Hi Jackie,

Welcome to the forum! You have found a good place with lots of caring people. I'm glad you introduced yourself and are prepared to start treatment. You were diagnosed about the same time I was. I tried two courses of the old Interferon treatments and was lucky to have beaten the virus. I would've loved the opportunity to try Epclusa, but my liver wasn't in good shape and had to try and put a stop to the rapid progression. You're very fortunate to get the good stuff! It should be an easy ride and I know it will be effective.

I'm including a couple of links for your reading pleasure. Lots of technical info, but some is helpful and may answer a few questions now and along the way. If you have any questions, please ask. Check out the search function, too. Use a keyword or two and you'll find discussions here on the forum. 

You already saw the importance of eating right and hydrating properly. Make sure you get your rest, too. These are powerful drugs, even if they don't feel like it. We have people mention they thought their drugs were placebos, because they felt nothing. There's a battle going on that demands you do all you can to help the process along. 12 weeks of giving your body the TLC it needs will pay off big at the end! 

One gallon of water per day, starting tomorrow! Good luck!

Gilead Epclusa PDF

Epclusa Fact Sheet