Princess

March 1, 2003

Princess,

I'm sorry to hear you are so down. I know what you mean about the

hearing and eye problems. I've noticed that I have to turn up the TV

alot louder than I used to and I've had to change my glasses

prescription 3 times since 1998. Due for another new one too. My hair

did come back and finally get back to normal though!

Have you told your dr about these down feelings and this short fuse

you have? You might want to discuss with him putting you back on a

very low dose of the Paxil for awhile.

Please remember that even if the virus IS back in your labs, that

doesn't mean it's attacking your liver. And know that while you did

that 23 months, it was helping your liver and keeping you from

progressing further towards cirrhosis.

I have a friend who is a 3a as well but she is only in Stage 2 so

hasn't done any peg treatments yet. She was responding to Infergen

but the sides were too much for her so she quit. She is very

symptomatic too. She keeps herself busy though!!

Are you getting plenty of exercise? I know that this is one thing

most dr's stress whether we are on treatment or not. I hate

exercising myself but am forcing myself to do some everyday. It does

seem to help with the aching back and joint muscles.

You gotta have a positive attitude about all this my dear! We could

get hit by a bus tomorrow ya know. Make the most of whatever time you

have left...which could and probably WILL be a long time to come.

Enjoy the free things in life - a beautiful sunrise or sunset, little

kid's laughter, the ocean, a river...just sitting outside enjoying

the sunshine. (winter surely will be over soon!) Is there a support

group in your area? Maybe you could get involved with it. That always

makes a person feel better. While it's very hard to put HepC out of

our minds completely, try putting it up on the back shelf. Just tell

yourself it is NOT going to take over your life. If need be, spend a

few minutes each morning thinking about it, then put it away for the

rest of the day. Just decide NOT to think about it more than once a

day! Start a journal and write down all those negative feelings and

thoughts each day. Then close the book and go about having the best

day you can have.

I hope this helps ya Princess.

LeighAnn

March 1, 2003

LeighAnn,

[ I'm sorry to hear you are so down. I know what you mean about the

hearing and eye problems. I've noticed that I have to turn up the TV

alot louder than I used to and I've had to change my glasses

prescription 3 times since 1998. Due for another new one too. My hair

did come back and finally get back to normal though! ]

Sometimes, the changes since being on treatment make me feel so damned old, and

at 48 years old, that sucks.

[ Have you told your dr about these down feelings and this short fuse

you have? You might want to discuss with him putting you back on a

very low dose of the Paxil for awhile. ]

Hmm no, not yet. I'm next going to the doctor on March 18, which is when I'll

be getting my next labs done. I'll mention it, but I really don't want to take

any drugs that I don't have to, *or want to* ... I still believe that natural

meds, such as cannabis, might be better. That's a hard call though since I've

not really seen any studies that say one way or the other.

[ Please remember that even if the virus IS back in your labs, that

doesn't mean it's attacking your liver. And know that while you did

that 23 months, it was helping your liver and keeping you from

progressing further towards cirrhosis. ]

Oops! Did I say months in my previous note??!!?? It was weeks, oh dear...

[ Are you getting plenty of exercise? I know that this is one thing

most dr's stress whether we are on treatment or not. I hate

exercising myself but am forcing myself to do some everyday. It does

seem to help with the aching back and joint muscles. ]

Nope, no, and then no again... I have a treadmill and this abdoer chair, which I

should be using, but I'm not consistent with them which is not good. Okay, I'll

try again in that area and hope for some improvement. Yesterday, I did walk a

half mile on the treadmill at 2 miles per hour, and I felt numb afterwards, so

yes, I'm out of shape.

[ You gotta have a positive attitude about all this my dear! We could

get hit by a bus tomorrow ya know. Make the most of whatever time you

have left...which could and probably WILL be a long time to come.

Enjoy the free things in life - a beautiful sunrise or sunset, little

kid's laughter, the ocean, a river...just sitting outside enjoying

the sunshine. (winter surely will be over soon!) ]

I love the snow, it does give me trenendous peaceful feelings...

[ Is there a support group in your area? Maybe you could get involved with it.

That always

makes a person feel better. ]

I have my online support group, but nothing in the flesh. I haven't really

wanted to since my energy level is so low and I no longer drive.

[start a journal and write down all those negative feelings and

thoughts each day. Then close the book and go about having the best

day you can have. ]

Lots of good advice you have there, girl... thank-you!

Princess

March 1, 2003

Jeanie,

[ She said she was on anti-depressants, which probably helped her get through

it. She told me she was suicidal and that she was diagnosed with bi-polar

disorder. She's not on anti-depressants and I think she's handling it pretty

good. ]

Without the Paxil (10mg), I'd of had a much more difficult time, I think. Even

as a child, I had a topsy turvy emotional state, and I'm not bi-polar...

I started the Paxil a few months before beginning the Peg-Intron because the

doctor had said it takes about 6 weeks or so for the drug to really work at full

potential. Okay, fine. At some point early on in treatment, the doctor added a

second drug because even though the Paxil was handling my mood swings fairly

well, it wasn't dealing with anxiety, thus I ended up taking a mild anxiety med

too, Buspirone (15mg), and that was a great drug. It really did help with

anxiety. I had sleep issues too whilst on treatment, in other words, I couldn't

sleep and if I remember correctly at one point, I'd gone several days without

any sleep at all, and the doctor then put me on Trazodone (50mg) tablets, which

did work. I still have some left, as I don't like taking drugs daily if I don't

have to. Sleeping medications especially make me so groggy the next day, I don't

like that too much... For the nausea, I took Trimethobenzamide (250mg), and

that worked really well too.

[ The only thing that concerns me is that she's taking that colloidal-silver,

which I wouldn't trust. I can't tell her what to do, so I hope it's not harming

her liver. ]

I don't really know much about colloidal-silver, I hope it's not hurting her as

well.

[ One more thing of interest is recently within a 3 mo time she's gained 40 lbs

and I'm guessing this would be the thyroid. ]

I gained 40 pounds too in a 3-month timeframe, but the doctor had said that was

a result of quitting 3 packs a day smoking and having my gallbladder out all at

the same time.

[ I guess what I really mean to say is that since I haven't started tx, I

appreciate anyone telling of their own experience with tx. ]

You are more than welcome to come to the group that I moderate and read the

posts from the past year... we are a small group, only 28 members, but there is

alot of information there in the logs. The URL is

http://groups//com/group/hcsai ... LeighAnn's group here is quite good, but

it doesn't hurt to have various support options in time of need, that one I

found out for myself...

[ I have 2 geno types 2a/2c I wonder if this is uncommon and if having 2 types

is a good responder, but I guess I'll find out. ]

Oh my, I've never heard of that... always something new poppin up. What does

your doctor say about that, Jeanie?

[ I just hope someday I can look back on my doing tx and think I made the right

choice. ]

In the end of things, we all have to do what we feel is best for us

individually. It's not always an easy decision either. Sometimes, we have alot

more faith in others than we do ourselves, I think that might be a big downfall

for each of us maybe.

[ I think I feel more positive about your out come than you do. It seems so far

you've cleared this virus and hopefully you'll stay undetected... ]

Go girl!!! My kinda girl!!! *grins*

[ Take care and I hope things improve rapidly for you...Thanks for telling your

story... ]

You too, Jeanie...

Hugs, Princess

April 23, 2003

Princess,

My son has had digestive problems since he was a little boy, and he's 32 now.

He was on Nexium but was still having problems. After his last endoscopy showed

he was still having bleeds, the doctor added Prilosec to the Nexium. It really

helped him and stopped the bleeds. Since then, they have found out that he (and

my daughter) both have systemic candida. I always thought candida was a woman's

problem, but I learned this isn't the case, it can invade the whole body. They

are both on Nystatin to combat it, and have gotten much better since they

started taking it. Candida yeast is fed by sugar, not just obvious sugars, but

those contained in things like corn as well. Not a whole lot of doctors are

familiar with it. Just thought I would mention this to you.

Marilyn

Re: Re: Payton/Hiatal Hernia

Hysterics/Digestion

Pam,

[ Hi I have major problems with my digestive system. I can only eat a very

small amount of food or I get pain under my right rib and I bloat. If I

take Neurontin with my meal instead of in-between meals, I can eat food

without much discomfort. My question is ......Is this common with having Hep

C? Does anyone else have this problem?.......Pam ]

I was diagnosed about a year ago, a bit longer maybe, of having stomach

erosions that bleed... I saw the pictures from the endoscopy procedure.

The doctor said that Nexium would heal them, and prevent excess stomach acid

from being made, but lately they've gotten even worse. Just like you, the

pain is under the right rib, alot of discomfort, and it doesn't seem to

matter if I eat or am hungry, I swell up just the same. I'm going back in

and have it checked next Wednesday, so we'll see what happens. Have you

found anything out as well?

Princess

April 24, 2003

Marilyn,

Thank-you for your information... I'm going to mention this to my doctor on

Wednesday. I'm also going to do a bit of research on this before I go in to see

him. Are you saying that the Candida is responsible for the digestive problems?

Do your son or daughter have Hepatitis C, as well?

Princess

[ My son has had digestive problems since he was a little boy, and he's 32 now.