Which treatment are you on?
I'm so sorry you lost your husband to ling cancer.
It sounds like you are focused on making positive changes, good food, regular exercise. We all have phases of higher and lower activity.
You seem to be doing all you can for the pain issues.
Thank you so much for the update.

Oh DAH me, states in the headline Solv/Riba, so sorry. I'm still brain fried.

Thank you Trissa ... and for the hug in my hug-book. I'm just so fatigued and brain foggy for too many days in a row this time. I'm usually very productive, or at least as much as I can be, considering ... I'm just feeling beat down by the system, and other junk as stated above. Too many forms, doctors, explanations ... I get so tired. And in the midst of it all, my Mom is losing her memory to the natural progression of old age at 85 & was put in a home since a bad fall she had that made her brain bleed inside. So, she isn't the same & I feel like I've lost a part of me ... not that we were really even close - but it's still my mom, ya know?

Hey zennah, If it is anything like the old triple it can take you to some dark places. Very sorry for your losses. It is impossible to replace Mom for sure.
As for killing the virus Do what you got to do! Keep fighting and beat it!
When I treated I would jump on here when I got lonely and almost always found someone on here. It also helps to talk with folks going through the same stuff.

Hang in, it will get better.
Bill

Thanks Bill. I'm putting up a new question or 3 in a few minutes about getting off Soma (been on 10 years 2-3/day 350mg) & was put on 5mg Valium in April after a 2 month trial of 10mg Valium on an as needed basis, which didn't work out well (prob. cuz of anxiety over Mom's care and my impending treatment w/Sovaldi/Riba that began 5/17.

I wonder if the Riba is now (at week 5 (plus 4 days) causing me this severe fatigue, so will be seeing 2 doctors to discuss switching over to Tizanadine at bedtime only with no Soma titration, or just Soma titration over 5 weeks or so, till end of HepC Tx. I also take Trazodone for sleep since starting treatment, but wondering if Doxepin or Amiltryptaline would be a better choice. *sigh*

i thought I'd look at some not as recent posts to explore ...your last comment/question about Doxepin.....I can't say what to do and don't know if you switched yet. I can say I am on Doxepin and have been, for years.
Most docs want nothing to do with it , for one thing it is not a new AD.
for another, when mixed with other meds , can cause a particular heart thing called Long QT syndrome, I think...you would need Ekgs, to monitor possibly.
I have actually workd for long time at getting off the doxepin which I got on in the first place more for pain and insomnia than depression.
Let me say this: It , alone among all the crap I am on, causes the WORST dry mouth in the world....! worse than this Ribavirin even.
I usually end up in tears at dentist appts.not from pain, but that moisture sucking thing they put in when dentist is in your mouth working........b/c I have no moisture to suck and it is like don't you dare take my last drop of almost moisture ! oh, that and I'm losing all my teeth.
I take Lexapro which is for me better than trazadone or all the others they tried me on.............and, my original prescribing doc helped me chose it (over Celexa) b/c it is easier on the liver than the others. (note that other docs give me a fight about that..........what is it with doctors that they want to switch what works ?) Had to share ! Peace

Thanks for your input, ThisToo. I had been on Doxepin only a short time, as I just have an aversion to all things Anti-Depressant-wise... I only began the Trazadone shortly b4 starting HepC Tx on 5/17. So, now, I'm 1/2 way thru week 9, and was already undetected at the 4th week RNA tests.

When I see the new Pain Mgmt Doc, I doubt I'll even mention Elavil, which was what I had taken at age 36, and then recalled it caused breast lumps in me, and very light-headedness. I forget why I ceased the Doxepin, but I think if anything, I will use Trazodone until all the side effects are over. I recall years ago that after I abruptly stopped taking the anti-d&a cocktail they had me on btwn Nov '96 til July 3rd or so in '98, (Paxil, Wellbutrin, Adderall, and Xanax if needed)... well, I had quite a bad reaction & it took my body 18 full months to get the shoulder-freeze that happened to stop, 10 full days to stop the Vertigo that set in right away, and I had 2 pressure-g-force-type seizures that scared me near to death! That's why when they tried to put me on Lexapro, I said no, but they insisted (2 years after my husband passed), so I titrated per the pkg instructions over 4 days upwards each day, or something, and by the 5th day on that Lexapro, I tried to commit suicide. So, no thank you to antidepressants after all!

Oh wow Zennah You cant ever stop taking anti-depressants abruptly. You have to be weaned off of them. I noticed that the docs don't tell you that. I read about it that's how I knew. The withdrawal from even weaning off isn't that great but tolerable. You can die from that and being you had seizures that's really bad !! I have been weaned off so many it isn't funny. But I have taken Doxepin and Trazadone and neither worked for me at all. I guess everyone is different. Do you still have the severe fatique? Has it subsided any? Have you had it since you started tx ? Sorry for all the questions but I am going to start mine soon. I just worry about being alone and taking it but I see there are a few here alone and doing it ok so maybe it will work out. Congrats on your 6 weeks. Hope it gets easier for you !! Take care and keep us posted !!

Trixie, That abrupt cessation was way back in 1998, and the details are too intense to go into why I made that decision - too long ago to recall if doc warned me not to stop abruptly. And the Lexapro was given to me in a "sample pack" and was only on it 5 days - I've read a lot of reports that says Lexapro can cause a suicidal and/or homicidal reaction in some folks... so, the only antidepressant I take now is the Trazodone 75mg at bedtime only. And only using it during treatment. This one doesn't seem to be problematic for me to take as needed for short spurts of 2weeks up to 4 months & cease, cuz I'm on a fairly low dose.

My personal opinion is gonna sound like I'm a conspiracy theorist, and truly I am furthest thing from that! BUT, I noticed an upswing in Psych docs giving meds to women in their 30s&40s the new SSRIs once Prozac hit the market when I was about 36 (1990-91). I'm allergic to it (severe urine retention). So they tried Elavil on me, too light-headed & gave me breast lumps, so back then, I decided to just get a cat, enroll in college & get on with the business of living.

The ordeal btwn Nov 1996 & July 1998 was mainly due to being married to what turned out to be the first relationship I'd ever had with an abusive man. My PTSD was what was sent into high gear, I became agoraphobic, and on & on. Once he was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, I was actually relieved - he needed to pass, he was miserable in his life. (I know that sounds cold, but he passed almost 14 years ago, and we were only together 7 1/2 years).

So, back to my aversion - I saw the uptick in women being diagnosed with all kinds of things (they even dx'd me with ADD & put me on Adderall for a short time, and I am far from being ADD - I cheated on their stupid test)... The docs push the drugs that the Government has approved trying to control the masses. And men cannot deal well with our emotional swings, so drug us away. Not me, they won't - not anymore - once treatment is done on 8/8, I will titrate back off all medications and be on supplements & hormone replacement (for nothing seems to help night sweats when you have it in your gene pool to be a sweater! My mom's head still sweats at in her sleep & she's 85)...

Now, about fatigue - it comes, it goes. Depends on your other health issues. I do not have Cirrhosis. I was very healthy other than many spinal herniations, radiating nerve pain, major back pain (esp. when I sit & type too long like today), very problematic feet (8 surgeries btwn the 2 of them), but my major organ health is not compromised other than having HCV - I had a biopsy in 2006 & in 2008 went to a Hepatologist in the San Diego area, and was told I could wait until these new drugs came out, cuz I faint at the sight of blood & there's just no way I could shoot myself with a needle in my tummy (& they couldn't get my Insurance to approve their office to do my weekly Interferon Injections back in 2007).

So, fatigue is worse when I don't do the following:
Drink enough water *
Eat healthy meals at proper intervals - (I shop mostly for Veggies & Fruits, Salmon, Chicken breasts. Also, no more than once per week do I eat either a pork or lamb chop, and a lean filet or ribeye steak now & then.) When I start to feel fatigued, I grab water first, then eat something, especially protein, and it usually snaps me back into shape.
Avoid high sugar content foods - when I eat sweets containing an overload of sugar or foods containing an overload of unnatural ingredients (processed foods) or high fat content, I always feel lousy afterward, wreaks havoc on my gastric & bowel system, and I can taste the chemicals after so many years without that junk in my system, so I don't even think about what to avoid now, as I have had a very healthy eating pattern for over 25 years now.
Exercise, mainly walking (which has halted the past week to 10 days, cuz I got a stress fracture in my big toe joint that I'd had surgically repaired in 2010).
Meditate and listen to nature sounds at least 1/2 an hour per day - When I go without this last form of self-care, I get anxiety, my PTSD reactions flair back up, etc.

I have had to limit contact with stressful friends who are full of drama. And that's made this a rather lonely time, cuz I am all alone, and I chose that.

*the water drinking is so important - I got low on intake 2 days ago, and man did I have the headache from H E double toothpicks from 7pm to bedtime - and in my entire life, I have had probably 25 headaches IF that.

Wow you have been through a lot! I could relate to the "drama" people. I had to get rid of them cause of depression and anxiety. My daughter is one of those drama queens. I sometimes whine that she doesn't come around to much anymore even though she only lives 30 minutes away. But I will say it is a lot calmer here now. She has a lot of problems of her own doing and I cant deal with them. My oldest grandson (19) moved out and moved to NY where my sister is cause he couldn't get on with his goals and dreams cause there was always something going on. So he moved from Florida to NY. far away from me and I miss him so much (he was my pal and helper) but I know he is in a way better environment up there. He finally got his lincense ,got a job, and bought a car in a matter of 4 months. Opps sorry about babbling but it was the drama thing that got me going...lol Keep up the good work with your diet and all the other good things you do to take care of yourself. Keep us posted on your progression with treatment!!

life is so unfair,i felt so alone takeing treatment,also felt like crap,your gona make it hang tough

Thanks Russell - I only have 2 more weeks to go (actually after today, it'll be 12 more days) - last date of meds is August 8th.

Now I'm dealing with my left foot - old surgeries in 2009 & 2010-11 to replace a worn-away arch tendon & fix the main joint in big toe seem to be going bad already. Haven't been able to get out on a walk since July 9th.

But hey, now I've got all my doctors in line (ahhahhaha) and appointments are forthcoming, and they got me the needed medications to take care of these unforseen pain problems, so I'm a happy camper!