Three years post treatment and just starting to feel like myself again.
Of course I was a non responder so attributed the way I felt to the disease but as I seem to be feeling better now than yesterday (in the long term) I'm becoming more convinced that it takes years to recover from the treatments. These are issues the docs. can't know since it's all news to them. These treatments are so new, many still in the trial stage, so how could they possibly know the long term effects. We are the ones that need to tell them as they usually don't ask once the treatment stage is over.

I only did 11 weeks on TX and then pulled off as a non-responder. It has taken me 2 months to start to feel sides easing up.
Yes lots of muscle an joint pain, fatigue and vertigo that comes and goes.
We all have a different experience with these drugs.
I hope you have some recovery soon!

hi,

me too. i've been off treatment for a little over a year and i still have joint pain. it's not so bad that i need pain meds but is just there enough to be annoying. and my energy is still low. in a few weeks i'm having a test to see if i'm svr?

oh yeah and I still get a drug "cook" on daily along with that hot Riba/Peg breath, but very much reduced.
It's nasty stuff eh?
Happy that it worked for you though! :)

Hey mc good to see ya post buddy. Glad to hear your svr status. That is great! I always loved the "flu-like symptoms" quote from the doc. I don't know what flu they are talking about..maybe something the military is working on but its like none I ever experienced. I was told from the Roche rep and my doc early on takes 6 months to a year to clear sides. I don't believe any of them anymore only people on this site because we have walked the road. Hope it clears for you soon and you get to feeling better!

I am about a month post TX. I am also SVR (for now). I feel the same physically as you, but you are way farther post Treatment.

I also have a thyroid condition. Many symptoms of an irregular thyroid are the same as HCV treatment. Tired, no energy, abnormal eating patterns, brain fog, bla, bla, blaaaaa.

So I thought you may want to have your thyroid checked if you haven't already done so. Just a thought. I hope it gets better for you, I am right behind you.

Agree w/ Dave about "flu-like symptoms"......... FLU FROM HELL!!!! No DR should be allowed to treat us unless they did treatment themselves... should be mandatory in med school.... ~~ I'm 53 and never had a flu like this before.. One knows how irritating it becomes to a non hepper having a 2-3 day flu.......... ONLY we heppers know what it's like to have a 2-3 YEAR FLU! Where's the emergency broadcast system when u need it?

I trust the folks here more than I trust my doc/nurse, in fact i posted the stupid comment she made to me yesterday in a thread about her telling me about a study showing if ur anemic early on in tx, its a sign of success??????? WTF??

Nurse from Pegasys told me when I first started tx that ONE, yes ONE riba lasts 70 days in your body. Now multiply that by 6 daily and multiply that by 336 days... I think sides may linger quite awhile!

HOT TOPIC, which is worse, the tx and after effects or the disease?

Since a "possible" side effect is homicide... If.. I ..hmm.. lets just say ... umm pretend..errr,.. ... that I needed some friends to help me dig a deep hole in the ground.....would u all help??? just wondering who my real friends are?? ~!!

I wonder about that too carolann, but it's all we have "at the moment"
It reminds me of all the AIDS sufferers in the late 80's that they overdosed on AZT and who died just before they released all the protease inhibitors in 1993 and allows people to live for many years with AIDS.
I imagine 5 years from now they will look back at us and say "They did what to you?? Pegawho? Wow! Poor bastards!" :)

Right MO? Guinea Pigs... all of us.. GD guinea pigs.....

Like Chris Rock said, There's no money in the cure...only the tx. He also brought up an interesting fact about the last thing that we had a "CURE" for was POLIO!!!!!!!!!! C'mon.......... if we can shoot a man into space, launch skud missles from afar to hit right on target, we should at least be able to cure SOMETHING.. c'mon.. herpes.. athletes foot.... the common cold... something!!!

I remember the horrific AZT after effects... I can still picture some folks in my mind..... Horribly skinny just fading away...... w/NO hope.....

Pega ram aram alama ding dong~~

(it's like knowingly ingesting rat poisoning, or purposely running into something sharp......and knowing the after affects could cause long term harm......... for some reason it just doesn't make sense... but what other choices are there?) Just can't quite wrap my mind around this tx...... body says "no", mind says I want to live... It's an inner conflict that's for sure.. then we wait.. and wait.. then wait 6 more months.. now wait 5 yrs... in the meantime, no wine, only water, rabbit food and grains...... lose/lose situation IMO

PS. Congrats to the SVR'S!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a year post TX and I can say that I feel pretty darn good. Yes, I have some lingering issues but I can overlook them and I'm back to living a very active life. For the record, but not out of complaint, I have joint aches, left over thyroid issue which is easily remedied by one pill a day and loss of bone density which, again, is being remedied by an osteoporosis medication and additional calcium supplements.

Mo...I can't wait for the day that Hep C patients can take something similar to 6 jelly beans a day for a week and have a complete cure for their Hep C. It's too late for those of us that already did TX, but I'll be ecstatic to be able to witness TX drugs of that type being available! My dad (who died 20 years ago), got polio in 1953 and lost the use of his legs to that disease. The polio vaccination was made available in 1955 -- too late for him but just in time for me. I think of my Hep C to be like his polio -- and I hope to see a much superior TX in my lifetime to save those behind me in a much kinder fashion.

P.S. Remember that we really shouldn't complain too much about the current SOC TX because there were many before us who took the daily injections before the weekly stuff came out and those before that that had no TX available at all. As crude as the current SOC seems, it's the best we got and I am still thankful that it exists. :)

No matter what, people trying to make the decision to do tx or wait should be given all the information. Everyone should know that it could cause lasting effects. Some people don't have to do it now but do it because they are advised to by their DR.
I know I have had it for over 20 years, I'll bet 20 years from now there will be something WAY better. Another 20 years isn't an option for me but I'll bet it is for many

Mcslo, you are soooo right that everyone should know of the potential for long-lasting effects from the current SOC treatment for Hep C. With the new tx meds just around the corner, I would think that most people would put off tx until those new meds come out -- unless their health situation won't allow them to wait.

I hope you feel better soon!!