Symptoms Part 3: Treatment Bites, Depression Sets In
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What with life events the way they are for me at the moment, and also considering the time of year - still wet and miserable and desperately hoping for some real spring - I suppose it is no wonder that I am depressed.
However I do feel that the treatment is begining to bite in and the never ending bewildering array of side effects never seem to let up.
Tuesday night is shot night for me but there is no real pattern to predict how Wednesday will actually be. Last Wednesday was a stormer. I`d had a good morning and was just putting out the washing (yes, I am one of those new men you used to read about but never actually seemed to come across). I began to feel queasy and faint and as this is nothing unusual I went to sit down.
After awhile my heart rate was up to 88, my head was pounding and my breathing laboured.
My blood pressure was up 15 points the week previous and I had been getting minor nose bleeds as a result. So, add all this to that and I was concerned to say the least.
After lying down for an hour I managed to get my pulse down to 76 and was feeling a bit more comfortable.
When I sought advice from the doctor he said it was probably a "spike" in the release of inteferon which set off the adrenal glands. Seems logical to me. It`s the unpredictability that concerns me. A fellow hepper, Jonathan is out looking at the pyramids in Cairo this week. Such a venture would be utterly unthinkable for me.
You really have to work out your own tx for yourself, grabbing whatever help and insights you can get along the way.
I have cipramil, an SSRI anti depressant, already prescribed but don`t want to use it unless it`s vital. Interestingly, I was looking at a report from a recent NHS conference on Hepc and it is now virtually standard practice to prescribe an anti depressant to those on tx. There is a good reason for this as tx lowers the level of seretonin in the brain and so logically it is in order to give a serotonin booster to counteract this.
But, it means more side effects and SSRI`s can cause agitation something which I want to avoid.
I tried to get my ribavirin dose reduced. Because it is weight based and I am 13 st 6 I am on 1200mgs. I was fed up of the riba-hum, a sort of background throbbing like a ships engine which always seemed switched on. However, my nurse says she wants the maximum amount of chance for me to clear the virus and has told me to bite the bullet on that one.
Yes, Ma`am, I surely will. She was very good to me and put up with my growly and probably offensive mood. She will likely read this so I want to say, "Thanks. When this is over we`ll go out for a date."
I do recommend chamomile tea and valerian as herbal narcotics. Since I have been using them background riba-hum has reduced greatly.
What with life events the way they are for me at the moment, and also considering the time of year - still wet and miserable and desperately hoping for some real spring - I suppose it is no wonder that I am depressed.
However I do feel that the treatment is begining to bite in and the never ending bewildering array of side effects never seem to let up.
Tuesday night is shot night for me but there is no real pattern to predict how Wednesday will actually be. Last Wednesday was a stormer. I`d had a good morning and was just putting out the washing (yes, I am one of those new men you used to read about but never actually seemed to come across). I began to feel queasy and faint and as this is nothing unusual I went to sit down.
After awhile my heart rate was up to 88, my head was pounding and my breathing laboured.
My blood pressure was up 15 points the week previous and I had been getting minor nose bleeds as a result. So, add all this to that and I was concerned to say the least.
After lying down for an hour I managed to get my pulse down to 76 and was feeling a bit more comfortable.
When I sought advice from the doctor he said it was probably a "spike" in the release of inteferon which set off the adrenal glands. Seems logical to me. It`s the unpredictability that concerns me. A fellow hepper, Jonathan is out looking at the pyramids in Cairo this week. Such a venture would be utterly unthinkable for me.
You really have to work out your own tx for yourself, grabbing whatever help and insights you can get along the way.
I have cipramil, an SSRI anti depressant, already prescribed but don`t want to use it unless it`s vital. Interestingly, I was looking at a report from a recent NHS conference on Hepc and it is now virtually standard practice to prescribe an anti depressant to those on tx. There is a good reason for this as tx lowers the level of seretonin in the brain and so logically it is in order to give a serotonin booster to counteract this.
But, it means more side effects and SSRI`s can cause agitation something which I want to avoid.
I tried to get my ribavirin dose reduced. Because it is weight based and I am 13 st 6 I am on 1200mgs. I was fed up of the riba-hum, a sort of background throbbing like a ships engine which always seemed switched on. However, my nurse says she wants the maximum amount of chance for me to clear the virus and has told me to bite the bullet on that one.
Yes, Ma`am, I surely will. She was very good to me and put up with my growly and probably offensive mood. She will likely read this so I want to say, "Thanks. When this is over we`ll go out for a date."
I do recommend chamomile tea and valerian as herbal narcotics. Since I have been using them background riba-hum has reduced greatly.
posted by Paul | 12:12 PM
2 Comments:
Side effects: fatigue, confusion, dizziness, nosebleeds, etc. Working would be beyond me right now, forget about pyramids. My wife and I have a trip planned to Ottawa next month (about a four- or five-hour drive, and my wife willing to do all the driving) and even that may be beyond me.
But on the other hand, I have a long history of clinical depression, for which I have been medicated since 1992. So far, one month into treatment, the depression has not gotten much worse (if at all). I'm on the same dosage of Lexapro, 20 mg, that I've been on since I began taking it (Lexapro is related to Cipramil, which is called Celexa in the US).
So today I am sitting in an AA meeting, next to a woman who is going through chemo, in front of another woman who is HCV+ and having a biopsy next week. The topic of the meeting is along the lines of "easy does it," which is what any number of people keep telling me. And I read your post:
You really have to work out your own tx for yourself, grabbing whatever help and insights you can get along the way.
and think, yes, that's it. But I can't help feeling like a guinea pig sometimes...
Dear Paul,
I've started a blog and have included you as a link. I hope this is alright with you, as your HCV treatment blog has, with several others you've linked, been very informative and inspirational for me. Hope that you're doing well! Sue
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