you are experiencing a very common problem with being tired all the time. i did most of my TX in bed. even though i did not eat much i put on weight as i was nothing more than a slug.

i did not know about this forum when i did tx. i notice a lot of people here talk about smoothies as being very good for you. i also drank insure.

i know that there are certain foods that are not good for the liver as they make the liver work harder. i am sure others will reply to your post with what those foods are.

#1 thing is do make it through tx one way or another.

good luck to you.
take care,
joe

Elle: I'm also a 1B and I'll be doing my 7th shot tomorrow night.

My appetite is all over the place. Last week I couldn't stomach the thought of putting food in mouth from Saturday until Wednesday and then that lifted and I have been eating very well since then.
I do not want to lose a pound because I'm already finding it hard to find a fatty spot to do my injections so I have the opposite problem that you do. I am being very mindful of everything I eat, even on my nauseated days, so that I try to get as many nutritional calories as I can to keep my weight up. So, basically, I have the same problem as you only from the other side. Speaking of cravings, when my appetite suddenly reappeared last week, the first thing I thought of that I just had to have was TACOS! Go figure???

Isn't it interesting how this TX treats us all differently yet makes us all work so hard in one way or another.

The fatigue and tiredness that you describe sounds very typical. I am working full time and by the time I get home at night it's pretty much up to my hubby to take care of things at home.

I am a bit overweight too and thought loosing a few pounds would not be a bad side effect of the meds. 90% of people do loose weight on this tx. I have stayed the same weight for the past 6 months since starting tx. I was worried at first that I was going to gain a ton of weight because I still had a good appatite but was so exhausted I could hardly climb the flight of stairs to my bed. I worried quite a bit but then thought this is not the time to be stressing about my weight. Let's just deal with one thing at a time here. If you gain 10 or 20 pounds instead of loosing it over the period you are on treatment will it make that big of a difference in your life? When we are off treatment and finished with this aweful process of ridding our bodies of hep C then we can focus on getting our weight down to where it should be...agree?

Hi Ellee.... I too am a 1b, and have been on tx now 6 long months, so I am half way done PTL. I have always had weight issues my whole life, so like you, I thought well at least the weight loss side effect would be bennificial for me and I actually was looking forward to it. But so far I have been disappointed, as I have only lost 8 lbs, but you could not tell it as my stomach looks pregnant. The tx is making me so very bloated and I am having real bad issues with indigestion lately. I am not eating that much, or that often, but my metabolism has slowed to a crawl because I too, like someone else said, have become a real sloth, so very tired on these meds. So why I was hoping that a rolly polly caterpillar would turn into a sleek butterfly while on tx, I am resigned to the fact that this is not going to be the case for me. I too have had some weird food cravings and food aversions while on tx. Right now I am on a tomato soup kick. I think the most important thing is to just make it through the tx itself, try to eat healthy if you can, but don't beat yourself up on those days when you don't. Get as much rest as you can and get a little exercise daily if possible. I know the exercise part is hard, as some days just making the bed and going to the grocery store, make me feel like I participated in a triathalon lol.

Good luck with your treatment, I know many days it's not easy. But we've all got each other on DS to lean on. Isn't this a great site? I have met the most wonderful people here that I will treasure forever. Nice to know ya. Jeannie

As far as the indigestion, ribavirin can cause that. My doc gave me samples of Prilosec OTC to use if I needed it. So far, I have not had a problem with indigestion so I haven't taken them. You do not need a prescription, they are over the counter meds.

I know I have been craving lots of cheese and some sugars like alot of candy lately.I am getting where I am not eating as much just lately after my 7th shot.

im on 24 weeks of tx and experiencing all of that i dont excersise at all now, im just too tired.

Thank you all for the helpful comments. In this short time that I have been a part of the group, I feel that you care!!!! Jeannie made a comment about feeling bloated. I feel that too. I find this interesting since the meds are supposed to be big time diuretics. That is why we are to drink so much water.

It is great getting to know all of you!!!
ElleeB

All I wanted to eat was swiss cheese and vanilla yogurt. I was hoping that the one side effect I'd like to have would be to loose weight and at first I gained and then at 7 months I go phenmonia and from that point until the end on tx I lost 40lbs. Yeah, me! So I'm not sure if this is normal or not but that's what happened to me. It's also seems the second part of tx was far worse than the first part, but that is when I lost the weight.