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.
I'm on week 11 of the interferon and ribavirin treatment. I noticed the rages starting after the second week of treatment. No side effects til then. What I did notice with the interferon shot was how my senses were really enhanced. Try watching a 3D movie. Wow! When I mentioned it to the doctor, he just smiled and said "And how was that for you?" I'd been to many 3D movies before but after the first few I saw at the start of my treatment, I've been hesitant to go back. I was the only one in the theatre bobbing and weaving and trying to dodge everything like a wild woman. My husband and son had a good laugh. I notice flying bugs and their noises, birds trilling away, noises that my family can't hear. My sense of smell is very high and I can tell you what's been cooking hours ago and who ate it. I'm hell to drive with cause any sudden starts or stops freak me right out. I've become the perfectionist from hell and make sure you do it right the first time. I can't stand stupidity especially on tv. I actually stopped watching some shows because there story line went too far. I began to watch a lot of forensic shows, "Criminal Minds, CSI's" -shows that were intriguing. I, also watched a lot of animal prey shows on geo channels. Why all the gore, I don't know. I had lost my sense of humour. If I started to laugh it turned to crying so I just stopped watching the funny shows. It's coming back little by little.
I didn't notice these things with the riba cause they're taken daily but the focusing and detail sure heightened within 3 days of the interferon shots. I've had it out with every member of my family. I'd kept my mouth shut for years so as not to cause any arguments but since the rages, I'm pretty blunt. I figured I'd tell it how I saw it. It took awhile for my family to realize it was the treatment. My firm belief is that it's the interferon that causes the rages. There are a lot of things that I've been more noticeable of, since the interferon, and will probably weed out the crap from my life when the treatment's over. I've lived too long in the past.
I didn't notice these things with the riba cause they're taken daily but the focusing and detail sure heightened within 3 days of the interferon shots. I've had it out with every member of my family. I'd kept my mouth shut for years so as not to cause any arguments but since the rages, I'm pretty blunt. I figured I'd tell it how I saw it. It took awhile for my family to realize it was the treatment. My firm belief is that it's the interferon that causes the rages. There are a lot of things that I've been more noticeable of, since the interferon, and will probably weed out the crap from my life when the treatment's over. I've lived too long in the past.
My 24 weeks were filled with hysterical laughter that made my stomach sore to out of the blue boohooing over something stupid like a shoe on the side of the road. (I thought the shoe was a cat, and when it wasn't, it was to late as the floodgates had opened, and then driving became a chore dodging butterfly's, squirrels, birds etc.)
These meds are so powerful physically, mentally and emotionally. This is why we should always be supportive to those on tx.
Well there's another side effect... I quit drinking coffee cause it tasted like shit. I could drink tea but coffee was like stirring a spoonful of shit in hot water. A real turn off.
Lately with tummy bugs in a full house, I'm finding the the smells intolerable. I feel sometimes like my mind is over alert and really speedy, which has been a nice change from the Hep brain fog, but now it feels like a a dream that I really want to wake up from but can't! I feel tired of being dettached. My partner says its like living with someone thats out-of-it with all the extremes. Thanks for posting this, interesting, my nurse said its the interferon that causes the psycological stuff :-)
Week 12 of 48
2x tx