Liver Pain and Fatigue

[Guest guest]

Liver pain and fatigue are very common symptoms of HCV infection whether you are

on treatment or not. I had upper right side pain for about a year before being

diagnosed, but I never went to a doctor about it, thinking it was indigestion,

muscle sprain, etc. Now we think I've actually been infected with HCV for over

20 years, so the liver pain symptom didn't show up for a long time. With me, it

did stop when I first began treatment, but quickly returned. I'm now in my

seventh month of Combo and am responding (undetectable). The pain is not

constant and I've tried to correlate it with something else -- diet, activities,

other medicines. So far my best guess is that it's connected (in me) with the

degree of stress or physical activity I undertake. After an extra long work day,

or after helping a friend move furniture, the liver pain is more severe. On

quiet days, after 9 hours of sleep -- I'm fine.

And what to do about fatigue? I agree with the advice to sleep a lot and drink

water; eat well. I also recommend trying various combinations of over the

counter vitamins and herb supplements, Some of that stuff does work for me. In

addition to milk thistle, I also take Vitamin B complex, with B12, CoQ10, and

Alpha Lipoic Acid. Maybe it's a waste of money, but it seems to me to help. I

especially notice the difference at work. On days I forget to take the

supplements I am exhausted by noon. With them, I can keep up the pace all day

(and then collapse when I get home).