Hepatitis C Support Group
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide.
on my second go around with peg. inter. and riba. my eyes started to water. and for the next 12 years, to the present, i have had hyper active tear ducts(lacrimal glands). people frequently ask me if I am crying. I awake with salt deposits under my eyes that have formed during sleep. has anyone else out there experienced this side effect?
I do have a "hole" on the side of my mouth towards the bottom where my saliva got so acidic on the old tx (peg,inf,riba) that it ate right through the inside of my mouth. It healed some, but it left this impression there. That was so painful. My saliva was like acid - and loaded with a salty taste.
I also had white bumps on the outside of my mouth/lips and my eyes when they would tear would be as you describe (but that lasted only during treatment.
I still use "Systane eye gel drops" and now they have these wipes for your eyes that will help that problem plus take off make up if you wear any (not sure of anyone's sex here). I just ordered some on Amazon
I will let you know how they work....
The old treatments really did a number of our bodies - I also had my thyroid destroyed, but I did sign off on a paper knowing that could be a possibility and it did happen to me!!
Hope someone else can help you here. We do have ones that did the old treaments hanging around.
to answer notyellow:
i do have this.also---not related to tx as i have been going thru it a few years, but not since tx began--i am on my last month of tx w sovaldi and riba, btw.
i am sorry you have this problem but finally, i get to know someone else with those salt deposits as you call it. Me, TOO !
for me i thought it may be my RA; and my ra doc said it might be yhe dry eye syndrome, but he did not offer any more info. it is worse at night and sometimes wakes me up ...with what i describe as tears 'flooding' my eyes.
it will be literally like a waterfall.
when i have attempted to explain all this to doctors and people, i am constantly being misunderstood. Some think i am 'depressed' and i tell them , no it is not that kind of crying. it's just the tears, not the emotion.
they don't get it. when it wakes me at night, it is usually one eye and my nose on that side gets completely congested. it's crazy. in hindsight now i think it may be the Hep C, i just don't know.
so i wonder if the riba is our common trigger for this. because yesterday or the day b4, i thought i am acidic so i quit brushing teeth with toothpaste and began using baking soda instead, and now my tongue/throat feel much better......thank goodness as it was making me nuts.
I started to develop Sjogren's Syndrome from the Hep C and my mouth is the worst. The sides of my tongue also will get so sore.
The Hep doc saw the sores in my mouth before I started treatment and he verified it was Sjogren's Syndrome.
It is worse with stress (any kind). Yes, Riba did take me over the top with stress and anxiety - for sure.
It is something that gets better and then flares up, but I can deal with it. It is much better than it used to be, for sure.
I just keep trying to inform people that are hesitant to try treatment that slowly the Hep C invades every single tissue of your body and you don't even know it. I have RA also. (BTW - that is SOOO much better,pain wise)
I remember going to the ER as I was going out of my mind in pain before I knew it was RA - didn't know what to do for the pain.
This brings back so many awful memories that I do need the reminders of how far I have come. It's been a long way, baby!!
One month to go - I am so very happy for you. Remember it takes time to feel better, and we all have different time lines.
I bounce back and forth sometimes from being " wonder woman" to "oh gee I just need to sit down and rest for a day". I want to be 100% normal again, but I have damage that I pray will all be healed one day. I am very grateful for the "wonder woman" days!!
Good luck, you are almost to the finish line - yay!!
On the old tx which I tried 2x over the years I was very sick ..like I had the flu and .. it is actually the same as chemo ( which i did 21/2 years ago) just as bad ...just as ill ..neither TX worked
I am on week 9 of 24 weeks of sov /riba and feel like a different person I am energised and wake up feeling well ..I actually had not realised how terrible I have felt over the last 10 yrs >>>lol I will always have cirhosis and all the other problems that the hep c has caused and I am "over 60" lol so some are just parts of aging
If nothing else, they sell it on Amazon. I used that every single day and the relief is amazing!! They sell all different versions but I got the Severe eye gel when my eyes were extremely dry and then I got the
gel drops for other times.
Huge relief as I know it can be painful and bothersome.
Try it. I have gotten it at Walgreens, Target too.
we dont have Target or Walgreens in Canada but I will look in our bigger drugstores for that brand ..
if not Ill try online thanks