# Interferon- a personal journey...



## Mouse (Jul 21, 2009)

So, as some of you may or may not know I have Hep C. Some lovely days of being a fuck up have left me with some battle wounds. We all know how these things go.

anyway.. I just started Interferon treatment yesterday. 

In order to keep track of how things go, how I feel, and new things I learn I've decided to start a livejournal to update daily with everything concerning my treatment.

I wanted to share this stuff here because this type of disease is an sometimes unknown and unseen problem that millions of people face, especially those of us who have led less than savory lives. It's an epidemic and the only way to help fix that is education. 

Interferon is what you have to do to clear the virus. it's a long, sick, painfull treatment.. or so I've been told. Not sure how things will go hey, hence the journal. 

but if you want to look go here Just how the story goes...


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## hassysmacker (Jul 21, 2009)

hey i dont know how things will be for you, but here's some good news!

There are occasional exvceptions to the horror of interferon side-effects, having to do with genome type and body type, and I was one of those!

Just finished my 6 months of treatment and never got sick once!


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## Mouse (Jul 22, 2009)

so far I feel completely fine. The shot made me feel alil woozy but I took it right before bed and slept through it. Kinda like having light spins after a slow night of drinking and smoking up. lol. free high? I dunno. I try to look at these things in the most posi light. 

I think because I'm young (same as in your case) that most of the rules concerning the side effects dno't really apply. most people in treatment are like 40+ and have had HCV for like 10-20 years. I've had it for 2 and I'm 23 so maybe, maybe, I'll be ok with all this.

how has the first 6 months gone so far as your viral load and such? hopefully it works for you! I really hope all this worry and effort wont be in vain. HEP POWER! hahahah


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## hassysmacker (Jul 23, 2009)

yeah i think a lot of it may have to do with the fact that im 22 and only got hcv in a period of time i've narrowed down to early 08.

that being said my doctor never gave me my numbers on my viral load, but i assume it must be going well because 2 weeks ago he took me off my medication as expected (6mos in), and told me i was to come in 2 more times, 3 mos and 6mos from now for bloodwork, and if my viral load keeps going down and gets down to the undetectable point everything will have gone correctly!

im sure it will go well with your age and contraction date. keep in mind, hcv is a disease that typically does its damage in terms of decades. just brave through it regardless how bad it gets, your liver is a worthy cause!


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## Shoestring (Jul 24, 2009)

*Thanks! I'll sure follow your posts on how you're doing with treatment, as I'll be starting Interferon around the first of September. (I, of course, have to complete a full one year of it though)! I've read and heard horror stories as well about it, but will hope we are both like those few that make it through without too many sickly issues! Hang in there, you never know where or how far this might go! (This is a good place to post an issue like this, being most of us here live a high-risk lifestyle)!*
*Thanks and happy trails/rails and beautiful sea shells!!!!*


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## Mouse (Jul 24, 2009)

hassysmacker said:


> yeah i think a lot of it may have to do with the fact that im 22 and only got hcv in a period of time i've narrowed down to early 08.
> 
> that being said my doctor never gave me my numbers on my viral load, but i assume it must be going well because 2 weeks ago he took me off my medication as expected (6mos in), and told me i was to come in 2 more times, 3 mos and 6mos from now for bloodwork, and if my viral load keeps going down and gets down to the undetectable point everything will have gone correctly!
> 
> im sure it will go well with your age and contraction date. keep in mind, hcv is a disease that typically does its damage in terms of decades. just brave through it regardless how bad it gets, your liver is a worthy cause!



only 6 months?/ that sounds good. i think that must mean you have a different geno-type than me. I have 1a so I have to do an entire year of treatments. 

I think 2 and 3 need 6 months if I remember correctly. 

1a is the most common and hardest to treat. you get treated for 12 weeks, and if it doesn't work you stop treatment. if it is working, you continue for an entire year and hope your viral load stays undetectable and keeps that way for years to come. a lot of people go right back to square one 6 months after treatment. some stay cleared for the rest of their lives


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## Mouse (Jul 24, 2009)

Shoestring said:


> *Thanks! I'll sure follow your posts on how you're doing with treatment, as I'll be starting Interferon around the first of September. (I, of course, have to complete a full one year of it though)! I've read and heard horror stories as well about it, but will hope we are both like those few that make it through without too many sickly issues! Hang in there, you never know where or how far this might go! (This is a good place to post an issue like this, being most of us here live a high-risk lifestyle)!*
> *Thanks and happy trails/rails and beautiful sea shells!!!!*



I hope you're treatment goes well. it's not a fun thing to think about and most of the shitty part was worrying about it. i was so freaked out and scared before hand because I jsut have NO CLUE what was going to happen. That's probably the worst part so far.


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## dirtyfacedan (Jul 26, 2009)

A good friend just finished his treatments, and he is looking much better. He is over 40, and got sick a few times. He had his hep for at least 20 years, and got it in jail. We had a drink to celebrate a couple weeks ago. I'm sure his lifespan has gone up by several years!


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## bote (Jul 26, 2009)

thats some pretty heavy stuff, I can only wish all of you the very best. Dunno if I`ll remmebr to check your journal mouse, you should update here every once in a while if you feel like it of course


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## Shoestring (Jul 26, 2009)

*Are the injectioons as bad as you thought they were going to be??? (That's my most, main fear, I guess)! That's having to give these injections to myself!!! Can you still go off and have fun, ever??? Or will I be confined to the space of my new home???*
*Thanks a lot, I really will keep up with how you're doing, too.*
*~Shoestring~~~~*


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## Mouse (Jul 27, 2009)

like everyone kept telling me, it's not something you can really predict because each person is different.. I took the injection directly before bed and took some tylenol PM and passed out. I felt a lil woozy and like I had the spins but, since I'm a drunk, it kinda helped me sleep lol. I woke up the next day feeling completely fine. 

the stupid red blotch on my tummy hasn't gone away though. but it doesn't hurt at the injection site. the needles are majorly tiny and short. no big deal. 

I take my second shot tonight so I'll let you know how I feel this time around.


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## dirty_rotten_squatter (Jul 27, 2009)

Man, I'm scared to go get checked to see if I havce it. I have alot of the symptoms, yellow skin nausea muscle aches etc..but I dont think I would want to find out if I did.


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## flashinglights (Jul 27, 2009)

Not to be a jerk about it, but... If you have that many symptoms you should already "know"... that shit's not normal. Might be best to start dealing with it in whatever way is appropriate, for your own sake.


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## Mouse (Jul 28, 2009)

yeeeaaaahh... my best friend got like that.. turns out he has very late stage hep c and his liver is almost dead.

I don't mean to scare you, I dunno how old you are or what your habits are, but you can get help and your liver CAN heal. my friend was ahardcore drunk and drug user, still is despite it all to some extent. he's 32 and totally fucked. you can live with hep c all your life if you take care of yourself properly so it's not like it's the end of the world, but you may have to let some things go. I still drink sometimes but NOWHERE near like I used to. taking the right supplements can even help a lot more than not even trying. they keep coming up with better and more effective drugs so you could possibly be cured one of these days. 

my doc kinda made me feel better at one point because I was thinking "40-60% chance seems really shitty" and he told me it's not a big deal if it doesn't work the first time because you can do it again 5, 10, 15 years later when there are better drugs and beat it.


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## dirty_rotten_squatter (Jul 28, 2009)

I guess you guys are right. its just going to really suck, Ive had chemo already and that was no fun at all. after about 6 months of chemo come to find I was misdiagnosed and the tumors that i had were not cancer. then this but gotta do what you gotta do i suppose


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## spoorprint (Jul 29, 2009)

Mouse said:


> like everyone kept telling me, it's not something you can really predict because each person is different.. I took the injection directly before bed and took some tylenol PM and passed out. I felt a lil woozy and like I had the spins but, since I'm a drunk, it kinda helped me sleep lol. I woke up the next day feeling completely fine.
> 
> the stupid red blotch on my tummy hasn't gone away though. but it doesn't hurt at the injection site. the needles are majorly tiny and short. no big deal.
> 
> I take my second shot tonight so I'll let you know how I feel this time around.



Did you mention the Tylenol Pm to your doctor? You know Tylenol products can be hard on your liver too, esp if your still drinking.


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## Mouse (Jul 31, 2009)

my docs told me to take it. if you take it properly it's not harmful. 

they even gave me tylex right after I had my liver byopsy, which surprised me.

this disease is such a long-term, slowly damaging thing that stupid shit like tylenol doesn't really matter. Drinking, drugs, and treating your body liek crap in general matter a good bit more. gotta drop any excess weight, drink lots of water, try to eat healthy, and stay away from things far worse than NSAIDs


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## Mouse (Aug 7, 2009)

k.. I'm starting to notice the lack of appitiet and when I do manage to eat a big meal I feel sick after for about an hour. 

had all types of good homemade food in front of me tonight and only managed to eat an ear of corn and a tiny salad before I couldn't take it anymore. 

This is odd for me because, by nature, I'm a total fat kid. I would eat non-stop if I could get away with it. 

lost 10 pounds this month without a single shred of effort. :/


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## drunken marauder (Aug 9, 2009)

Gosh this shit just scares me... For some reason I could never be scared of massive amounts of drugs, living on the street what ever may come up.... Try to talk me into walking into a hospital I'll tell you just how crazy you are....


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## DFA (Aug 10, 2009)

There is natural interferon you can take, it works just the same, and it is much better for you.
I kicked the hep C completely out of my body by taking that, along with some full body detoxing every 3 months for a few years, and a diet change, and I kicked that shit to the curb.
http://www.shaklee.com

That brand makes it, and all there products are natural.
You could probably find something similar at a health food store too.
Good luck, that shit sucks man.


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## Mouse (Aug 10, 2009)

when I was searching around online I came across a few sites talking about natural care for hep c. could you give more details about what you did?

if this stuff doesn't work I think I'd be willing to give something like that a go. 



DFA said:


> There is natural interferon you can take, it works just the same, and it is much better for you.
> I kicked the hep C completely out of my body by taking that, along with some full body detoxing every 3 months for a few years, and a diet change, and I kicked that shit to the curb.
> http://www.shaklee.com
> 
> ...


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## Mouse (Aug 10, 2009)

oh.. and my hair is starting to fall out a bit  YAY.

eh, I've got a mop of thick hair so I guess it's wont faze me too much but I find it disturbing and annoying.


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## DFA (Aug 10, 2009)

Well, since your taking injections right now I wouldn't recommend doing any kind of detoxing or alternate therapy while your on chemo since your body is already weak, and putting it in overdrive like that would probably seriously fuck you up.
But basically combining the nutriferon with the detoxing is what I did and it's the best deal you can do.

What you could also do is get some milk thistle (REALLY good for your liver) extract or capsules from a health food store and take that until your ready to try another method. I think that would be safe enough to take with your chemo, but you should talk to your doctor about it just in case, and I know that sounds like horse shit but natural and synthetic chemicals sometimes counterbalance each other and you should have someone who knows what they are talking about telling you whether your going to make yourself sicker or not.


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## Mouse (Aug 11, 2009)

yeah I don't plan on doing anything other than what I'm currently on until it's done. I used to take milk thistle all the tiem, which is why (despite my HEAVY drinking in the past) my liver has hardly any damage, or so I like to think. 

I've heard that in some other countries they do pure milk thistle treatments w/ detox and ti works wonders. but that's just what I hear. my aunt jokingly said she'd pay for me to fly to europe to get better care if interferon didn't work... maybe it won't be a joke in the end lol. 

thanks for the advice. if, in the coming months, I find out this shit don't work, I'll probably be pm'ing you for advice and resources


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## Mouse (Oct 5, 2009)

lil update:

I feel like pure shit lately.

today is the first time in 2 weeks I haven't had a headache. all day long headaches. it gets unbearable at times, and it gets better, but it never stops. even today I still have one but it's the least painful it's been in days so I'm counting that as a blessing.

hair's falling out more and more. fun shit.

my joints are starting to get extra creeky. I'm getting some Celabrex to help deal w/ the hip and knee pain. 

I'm hoping that w/ the combo of celebrex, trazadone, and welbutrin I'll start feeling better simply because I'll be getting better sleep and will be in a lil less pain. 

oddly enough, my skin and hair looks nicer than it has in ages. this tends to lead to some annoyance though... people don't seem to realize I'm sick simply because i don't look sick. gets to be a bit annoying to explain what's going on and why i can't do this or that because ppl are clueless.


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## Mouse (Oct 26, 2009)

FYI - this stuff sucks!


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## bote (Oct 26, 2009)

hang in there


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## sprout (Oct 27, 2009)

Oh Mouse, I hope the treatment is going alright for you. My dad had Hep C due to medical malpractice when he was drafted in the army. He didn't know about it until a couple years ago when they told him he was going to die. He ended up being on interferon for over a year and beat the Hep C! However, that year was a very difficult period of time for him.
I just want to say that I understand (to an extent) what you are going through and how devastating the treatment can be. Stay positive, I wish you the best.


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## Mouse (Oct 27, 2009)

thanks both of you.

these meds are pretty much life ruining when you're on them. even on good days you're not up to par. I never really feel better but learn new ways to cope w/ the side effects. some days are pure shit.


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## XAlbertaWarriorWomenX (Dec 4, 2014)

hassysmacker said:


> hey i dont know how things will be for you, but here's some good news!
> 
> There are occasional exvceptions to the horror of interferon side-effects, having to do with genome type and body type, and I was one of those!
> 
> Just finished my 6 months of treatment and never got sick once!




Good for you!


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