My first two shots were the same way esp the first one I couldn't sleep at all and I went from really hot to cold like I had the flu. Its gotten better I'm on my 14 or 15th shot now and if you take ibreprohen before you get the shot or an hr after before going to bed that helps the aches of the next day. Good luck!

get some prilosec,over the counter, one a day, works great,barb

Rob,
keep a list of your problems for your doc. they can give you stuff for you tummy and lack of sleep. that's what they are there for. no need to suffer any more than you have to

Rob, I started noticing joint pains at the end of my first shot, and right after I took my 2nd shot( The pains very well could have been from the riba kicking in too.) For me they lasted about a week until I did that 3rd shot. They were bad for a few days and then they were gone. This last week I almost felt like I wasn't even on tx at all. I had virtually zero side effects from that 3rd shot.

My point being, a lot of folks have told me side effects tend to ease off about the 4th week, and that is what seems to be true for me. If it wasn't for the fact that I know I took my shot last week, I would swear I hadn't took one at all. I can't say if things will work out like that for you, but let's pray they do. I might give it another week to see if they let up. If they don't, like Jwalsh said you can always call the Doc.
Good luck and God Bless!

Glad to hear things aren't too bad. Daughter is doing well w/ her 1st shot down. Hope things continue to go well for both of you! Keeping you in my thoughts!

glad to hear your doing ok , keeping busy always helped me and still does while doing tx , nausea is something im dealing with !! hope your sides get better !((angie))

im not taking the treatment right now, tried before and got down to 86 pounds,and with other complications so i had to discontinue. BUT... the docs want me to try again...that was 12 years ago. You are at the best support group in the world here and everyone here will have ways to help you, even if its just encouraging words. I do remember one very important thing about the treatment and that is to drink TONS of water...like your body weight in ounces if im not mistaken. You just keep going and i will be praying for you...we are all pulling for you and want the very best for you. Us 'dragon slayers' must stick together.

I'm not sure if it is an ounce for every pound of body weight during tx or not, but most experts recommend a normal person drink half their body weight in ounces of water. To drink my body weight in ounces I would have to drink like 25 cups of water a day. That just seems like an awful lot of water to me lol. But some folks could very well be needing to drink their body weight in ounces. I believe it says in the disc that comes with your medicine ( if you got one)exactly what you should be drinking. Either way, your point of drinking water tbpaj is a good one, and with that disc they usually give you a water bottle to help remind you to drink water. As a rule, we should all be drinking at least 8-10 ounces of water per hour.

But one thing we need to remember when drinking a lot of water is to make sure we drink plenty of drinks with electrolytes
( i.e gator-ade, oranjuice, power-ade, etc.) Drinking lots of water can flush out electrolytes and they must be replaced. Digestive enzymes can also be flushed out when drinking large amounts of water, so it is best not to wait to "chug" water/clear liquids when eating. We should try to to drink the bulk of our water/clear liquids 30 min before and after meals.

I really contribute my low side effects to eating healthy and drinking plenty or water. I've been eating better since I started tx, than I have in my whole life. I plan to keep up this new lifestyle after treatment, so I've got at least positive out of my tx so far. If you are experiencing sides from tx, I would try to "clean up" your diet/drink more water and see if that helps. But always make sure you are letting your doctor know about those sides you're experiencing, and especially if they worsen or you are having sides that aren't "typical of tx.

I pray that all of us on tx have the less side effects as possible. I know they can be tough, but so far for me they have been really manageable.

It is amazing..I remember my second shot...My heart rate shot up, felt like I couldn't breathe, AND had the worst insomnia, even being narcoleptic (which isn't good..)

But, with 23 down, and one to go, I can tell you, that it lessens with time, and the symptoms calm down after your body adjusts to the riba/interferon..

I wish you luck and happiness with treatment of battling the dragon..