Hi Lloyd!
I fell for the Dr's bait and started the hell that was Interferon
treatment. I was diagnosed in 1997. I believe I got it while in
Basic Training at Ft Dix in 1978 when they used air guns to mass
inoculate us, the nozzles were covered in blood and they didn't
bother to clean them off.
My first biopsy in 1997 showed Stage 1, by 2003 it had just barely
progressed to Stage 2, my Dr said the biopsy could be exactly the
same as the 1997 one because of the lack of change, just a different
reader, never the less he advised I start Interferon & Ribavarin.
I took my first injection May 28, 2004 and stayed up all night waiting
for the "flu-like symptoms I had been told to expect. I had even
arranged 1 month leave of abscence from my job.
Nothing happened.....then.
3 Days later I was so exhausted I could barely drag myself to the
mailbox. I would sleep from 6 PM to 10 AM ( I usually wake up at
5:30 AM without an alarm) and then nap, and then go back to bed.
By week 3 my red blood cell count had dropped so low it was like
I was living at 17,000 feet, I coughed all the time because of the
pulmonary strain, my Dr assured me this was to be expected and offered
no comfort let alone treatment. I ran a fever between 100-103 almost
constantly. Then came the "itchies", I was insane with itching,
my lower were bleeding from the constant scratching, then it started
to spread to my trun and upper arms, it was unbearable.
Again, no good advice from my Dr other than to "moisturize" and
try spreading Vagisil on it.
By Week 5 I was able to work 4 hours a day, but I became a real
asshole to my wife, I had no patience and was extremely irritable.
I would snap at her and yell for no reason. Thank God she was understanding
and stood by me.
By Week 6 I was working full time but it was hell on earth, I would
inject Friday morning, by Friday afternoon I had a high fever, then
I would sleep all weekend. The itching continued.
The came Week 12 labs. I just missed the 2 log drop ( 1.3 Mill
to 13,000).
My Dr announced I now qualified for a switch study from Peg-Intron
to Pegasys.
I agreed and we continued. The fatigue was a little better at first
but the insane itching continued as did the rampant mood swings
and slight fevers.
Sometime between Week 20 & Week 26 I became "undetectable".
But then the crushing fatigue returned and by Christmas I was in
hell once again. Just after Christmas I started waking up in the
middle of the night with a "sandy" feeling in my eyes, then the
"sandy" feeling was 24/7, then my vision started to rapidly deterioate.
On Friday January 14th( Week 35) I was sitting there with
the loaded syringe, ready to go, thinking about my failing vision
and the chance that even if I completed the 48 weeks ( April 29th
was the focus of my life by that point) there
was greater than a 60% chance I would relapse. I am genotype
1a.
I squirted the
Interferon down the sink,
stopped the Ribavarin and called my Dr
to tell him he could keep his poison. |
3 weeks later they did a viral load..........you guessed it, in
mjust 3 weeks the virus came roaring back, 1.5 million!! In 3 weeks!
I am 1/4th of the way through your book and plan to use your program
to the best of my financial ability.
My advice to people who haven't started the Interferon
treatment: DON'T!!!!!
If you have started, please give serious consideration to what
you are doing. It is March 3rd as I write this, I still itch, my
legs are covered with scar tissue and bleed all the time, not to
mention the excema.The pain/feeling of motion under my lower right
ribs is back. My vision still hasn't recovered completely and my
Dr says he doesn't know if it will. I went from undetectable right
back to where I was in 3 weeks. My only comfort for all that hell
is my ALT & AST are normal. But for how long?
Lloyd you may post this if you think it will help folks.
Brian
|
