Re: to Fred regarding treatment

[Guest guest]

The length of treatment depends on what stage you are in. I am on a 6

months plan and with the new Pegasus the side effects are far less. The

first week was the worst, with flu like symptoms the first 2 days. I have

taken my 10 shot and feel great except for being tired. Able to keep my

full time job and also do odd jobs on the side. As long as I take a nap

after work I am fine. Mind you some things around the house aren't getting

done, but the important ones are.

to Fred regarding treatment

You said in your post that you went on a 48 week combo treatment.

How sick did this type of treatment make you? If you did get sick

was it the whole 48 weeks?

[Guest guest]

Lynne, The duration of treatment is based on the genotype. Type

1's are prescribed a 48 week treatment plan. Genotye 2's and 3's

usually do a 24 week treatment. Some Drs. will put a type 2 or 3 on

48 weeks but those a rare. Glenn

> The length of treatment depends on what stage you are in. I am on

a 6

> months plan and with the new Pegasus the side effects are far

less. The

> first week was the worst, with flu like symptoms the first 2

days. I have

> taken my 10 shot and feel great except for being tired. Able to

keep my

> full time job and also do odd jobs on the side. As long as I take

a nap

> after work I am fine. Mind you some things around the house

aren't getting

> done, but the important ones are.

>

>

>

>

> to Fred regarding treatment

>

>

> You said in your post that you went on a 48 week combo treatment.

> How sick did this type of treatment make you? If you did get sick

> was it the whole 48 weeks?

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I know I am a geno 3 caught it very early. One of the lucky ones.

to Fred regarding treatment

>

>

> You said in your post that you went on a 48 week combo treatment.

> How sick did this type of treatment make you? If you did get sick

> was it the whole 48 weeks?

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The first shot was the worst as far as flu-like symptoms. After

that the shots didn't really bother me in that way too much. I did

become fairly anemic as the 48 weeks elapsed, but I didn't need any

special medicine to deal with it. I got more and more cranky and

irritable as time went on. I felt extremely thin-skinned. I knew

this was a side-effect but I couldn't control it. Minor annoyances

of life made me very angry, but I somehow kept it under control. I

was keenly aware of the known side-effects of suicide and homicide,

and that was a little scary. During the year of treatment, I also

endured a colonoscopy, the tragic automobile death of one of my

closest friends, and putting a 17 year old pet to sleep. Not to

mention 9/11/2001, which strangely didn't bother me to a great

extent. Testing negative at 24 weeks helped me get through the full

48 weeks. My hemoglobin (measure of anemia) returned to normal in

about two weeks after treatment stopped. My doctor called me after

post-treatment testing to say I was negative, then the next day,

called again and said the lab had given him someone else's results,

and I was positive. We did a re-test to be sure, and yes, I was

still positive. I didn't have to miss any work that year, other

than every 4th Friday, when I would take the day off to drive 50

miles for my latest blood test and to pick up another 4 weeks of

medication. My supervisors bent over backwards to accommodate my

treatment. My wife was very supportive during the whole time, and

still is. Life goes on.

This is really the first time I wrote a summary of that year, and

it feels kind of good to do it. Thanks for asking.

> You said in your post that you went on a 48 week combo treatment.

> How sick did this type of treatment make you? If you did get sick

> was it the whole 48 weeks?