I felt nauseous most of the time on combo. I did throw up a few times and when at home kept a plastic trash can nearby. And the diarrhea. That was a problem. I planned my life so that I was never far from a bathroom. Even my trips to the doctor were planned around bathroom stops.

I found that avoiding raw vegetables - lettuce, carrots, etc., - helped with this problem. Cooked vegetables and fruits did not seem to aggravate this problem. Eventually I did have to give up corn, but that was no big deal. The big deal to me was giving up lettuce and tomatoes on hamburgers.

Dyes in food became a problem for me. The treatment causes extreme thirst and as a change fom water, one day I prepared a powdered drink mix. When I drank it, it came right back up. A few days later, I had the same experience with another food with a lot of dye. So until the end of treatment, I avoided "colored" foods.

I had never particularly liked gingerale, but found it helpful while I was on combo.

Towards the end of my treatment, it seemed like my gall bladder was bothering me more than usual when I consumed milk products. My taste for sweets was great at the beginning of combo and gradually waned so that I could not eat sweets that I normally can.

Cravings were a problem and I ate odd food combinations. A friend, also on treatment, confided one day that she had been eating sweet potatoes with grapefruit juice. I had, too. Advice: Keep one of every kind of food in your pantry for cravings and money and gas available for store "runs" for things of which you had not thought.

Question: (11/19/01)
While taking PEG-Intron & Rebetol therapy for hep C, is it advisable to take any vitamins to help with fatigue? Also, would potassium help with the severe leg cramps? Thank you very much for your help.

Answer by Brian Boyle, MD
Dr. Boyle is an attending physician at the New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Yes, making sure that you are maintaining good nutrition and a balanced diet, including adequate vitamins, will certainly help to ward off fatigue. Taking a multi-vitamin can help, but large amounts of vitamins are unlikely to help and may even hurt. As far as your potassium question, I would not use potassium supplementation unless your doctor approves it after checking your laboratories. Both low and high potassium levels can affect muscle function and you would not know which you have without checking. Also, there are a number of other effective treatments for cramps (including something as simple as doing regular stretching exercises) and you should discuss these with your doctor if this is a persistent problem for you.

IMPORTANCE OF WATER

It is extremely important to drink all of the water that you can stand (and then drink some more) when you are taking interferon. It not only dramatically decreases the severity of side-effects, but there is also a danger of serious kidney infections if you do not drink enough.
Milk/soda/coffee/tea don’t count. You need genuine water.