First Shot Experiences
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Schuder Oct 2007 Hello All, did my first shot last night, have known since sept 2003 that i had the virus,was given a blood transfusion in 1986 after giving birth to my daughter which is apparently where i got hep c. Had a physical in 2003 where liver function test kept coming back elevated. Did a biopsy showed min damage, grade 1 stage 2 or vice versa, geno 1. The fatigue is my major symptom along with joint pain, i have been so scared of doing tx, read everything about the sides and was scared i wouldn't be able to work. My first shot wasnt bad, some diarrhea, headache, nothing major, been drinking the water so maybe that helped. So glad to see that others are starting this journey with me, everyone here seems to know what to do for the sides, etc. Just think only 47 more to go!! Second Shot: I did second shot last nite, sides were shivering for several hours and headaches, for first shot which my daughter gave me, she thinks may have given .3 instead for .5 for the peg, will that make a big difference? Really wiped out today, didnt sleep well, also both times got pain in shoulder. All in all hasnt been too bad, i cracked a tooth and reading over posts see where you shouldnt go to dentist, but dont know if can hold on for 46 weeks. i have put off treatment for several years, but decided to just give it a try, my main reason for delaying treatment was scared would lose job, i missed 3 days last week, but plan to go monday, they agreed not to assign overtime, had to get doctors note for that. Were most of you able to work while on tx? Missing a few days a month would be ok, but i do need to work. So glad i found this site, lots of good info. give for blood work thur, then 2 wks later see doctor. waiting for results from bood work is so horrible, thanks to all, im sure I'll continue to visit here while on tx, the journey has just begun, only 46 to go! Continue reading about Schuder on our message boards What meds Pegasus. I put off taking my first copegasus pills till the following day. From what I have been reading the pills are more the culprit for sides and I was very nervous. I took the shot at home, self injection. The first surprising thing was that I could hardly feel the injection and didn’t even know that the needle was in all the way. Then my neurotic tendencies kicked in, and I worried that I may have inserted the needle too shallowly and conjured up many mildly catastrophic effects that inserting the needle too shallowly could cause, none of which I’m sure are even realistic. That night I prepped for the worse, extra blankets and bucket. Before turning in I watched TV felt tingly at random places, took Excedrin PM which btw has more Benedryl than the Benedryl tabs I have. Got a little cold and when I got up at night and was mildly disoriented probably from the PM meds. Was spacey and tired the next day, again this could be attributable to the PM meds though after my 2nd shot I pretty much laid around all day Sat and slightly increased my activity level Sun. Good luck everyone. Will be taking my third shot Fri
Matt Hey all, Just a note to say that the first shot is in the belly. Did it last night at 10:00 and it went off without a hitch. So far, so good. When I woke up this morning I was, heck still am a little bit achey, ok maybe more than a little bit achey, but not anything that terrible. And I am reallllly chilllly. I just went and checked the thermometer and it says that it is 76 in here and I have on 2 long sleeve shirts. These Sx verrrry manageable(?) . I thank the Big Guy Upstairs for these blessings. And I'll keep sending the good words for all of us on J&F. Later MXM
Hi!
First let me say, this is such a great site! Lots of info & support. I am a 1a, Stage 1 known 4 yrs, FINALLY got the nerve to do my 1st Pegasys inj. last nite. True the apprehension is one of the worst parts. Took the Ribasphere this a.m. w/breakfast. Took 1000mg acetaminophen & an Ambien & went to bed. Slept through till storm woke me. Felt like I had been steam rolled. Fatigue, headache, foggy headed, achey. Low grade nausea after the Riba. sipping tea (Red Zinger) & eating lite snacks helps. Just like when I was pregnant w/my kids it helped to fight off nausea with frequent lite snacks. Feel little better than this a.m. Feels kinda like feeling very tired but having too much caffiene to sleep. Kinda of what I expected. I expect sides to lessen. Keep praying they will be minimal enough not to interfere with concentration & energy to work. Good luck to everyone on their treatment. I want to kick this virus' butt!
I first want to thank everyone who has contributed to this web site. I was diagnosed with HCV type 1b back in Sept 2001. I contracted the virus thru blood transfusion back in the mid-70’s. I was lucky as not to have any of the symptoms of HCV but it was detected through my physical when I turned 40. At the time my viral load was 700K but due to insurance purposes I had to wait on my treatment. Over the past few years I have read book after book, searched the internet for treatment, success rates and possible alternatives. During my searches on the internet I came across this web site and I have to say, THANK YOU. Very few times was I able to find stories of success from treatment, until I found this web site which gave me hope and encouragement. Now that I have insurance and a company that is willing to support me through treatment I had returned to the Dr’s for a follow-up exam and my viral load was now at 1.5M, but I still didn’t have any symptoms. I have to say, with much anxiety I FINALLY started treatment (Peg-alpha interferon and 1000mg daily Ribavirin) and took my first shot last evening (Friday at 5pm) at the doctor’s office. I decided to have the shot at the office so that I wouldn’t lay in bed and wonder when the side effects were going to start and what they were going to be. I had minor chills which started about 3 hours after the shot with a headache (headache was the worse part). The chills changed to minor sweats. Taking some Tylenol PM at 3am I was able to get some sleep. Even this morning I was “waiting” for more side effects, but I have felt fine. From the advice of my Dr I took it easy today but found myself bored silly. From the information I read on this site, I increased my water intake to a gallon a day before treatment which I think helped with minimal side effects. I’ve been keeping the fluids going all day today. Even though I am new to the site, I have to thank you for the information and support I have received through this site of VERY useful web site. To do what I can do to make my treatment successful I will be seeing a Nutritionist specializes with HCV patients. I will see and anyone else that will improve my odds. I’m going to do what ever it takes to beat this monster !!! Thanks again for this web site !!! Russ
Hi its Jackie and shot number 2 last night and I was better this time than last, but I almost forgot to take the Riba....ollolo last week when I started my first shot I was not on the pills yet I started them the next day,and I was more nervous taking the pills than the shot the next day. But I go over it all and took the pills an hr later after my shot. I found it hard this week with my kids home setting a time for the pills. Once back to school I will get more on track. I try to take the pills between 9 and 10 Am and Pm. And my shot is at 9PM on friday nights. I have more bone pain than normally and the acid reflux has been a struggle, especially after I eat. Even if its bland as can be I get the hiccups and then the burning feeling in my throat. So I hope the Tums will help and I also got some Ginger last night so i will try that in hot water when it acts up again.Thanks again for the inspiration to keep going. 46 more weeks to go UGH!!! But I'll do it got to beat this Dragon that got its grip on me.....Take Care Jackie Took my 1st shot last Nov. Took me two years to decide on tx, so the first shot was a big commitment, obviously. Peg-intron redi-pen. Did it myself, at home. After I did the first shot I immediately felt great, very up, like all the fears were gone and I was actually glad to get going on tx, and really enthusiastic about it. I woke up in the middle of the night with fairly heavy chills and fevers--like the flu. Was shaking pretty good. Kept me awake for a while. In the morning, I thought, "hey, if that's all it is, no problem, I can do this!" Only once since have the 'night of the shot' side effects been that strong. I almost never wake up anymore from the shot. I usually feel the sides more the next afternoon, and the next following day is also usually a bit challenging. Then it gets better as the days go by. IMHO, the first one is the hardest, but more from the fear of the unknown than anything else, at least for me. It is just a matter of habit now, the shot itself is no biggie whatsoever. Piece of cake. My cat, for some odd reason, is crazy about the big safety caps that cover the needles on the redipen. (these are no danger to her, btw) Somehow (I swear) she knows when it is shot night and meows until I throw the needle cap for her. She chases it all over the house, batting it around like it was a mouse. Strange, but cute. Happens every week. :) ahepcat
My meds are Pegasys and Copegus. My first shot was done at my Mds
office. I have been extremely ill from this virus for over a year and I
had to talk my Mds into letting me do treatment. They were afraid since I
was so sick already that treatment may not be good. I was so sick I didn't
care, I want to kill it. After my first shot I noticed my tongue burned
and my arm ached alot. The horrid horrid flu feeling and utter exhaustion
stayed the same, thank goodness I didn't get sicker.
Scherings Pegintron (5ml) and Riba(1200mg)
My first shot I was scared to death to do. Patty talked to me in the chat
giving me encouragement and walked me Thu it. I did everyone of my shots
in the chat room from there on. I guess I just liked knowing someone was
there if I had any problems. My first shot I slept with 911 on redial and
laid the phone on the pillow next to me. I did the shot around 7pm. I took
two Tylenol PM and went to bed I woke up around 3am freezing so I got the
electric blanket out and turned it up on high , Then a while later I got
real hot with leg and stomach cramp's with a slight fever. That lasted
about 1hr I fell back to sleep for a few more hrs then woke with a
migraine and fatigue. The headache last the whole next day. The rest of
the week was just fatigue. When I went to take shot number 2, I was ready
knowing what I had gone Thu with the first one. And I got nothing from it
other than that headache the day after shot. Every shot from there on out
was good going. As they say the first shot it the worst shot!
My first shot was Oct 2002..even though its 110 shots ago I still remember it like it was yesterday. Went to Dr to have him do it and my son came with me and drove me home. I remember having a horrible headache. It felt like my head was "tight"....I took 2 tylenol and went right home to bed. (And have been in bed ever since lol kidding)....It wasn't as bad as I thought. The 2nd shot I was still scared and went to a friends house from a nearby support group. She had injected her husband who had caught hep c from a hospital during an operation. She led me through it and I did it:) What Med(s) did you do?
I did my first shot of Pegasus Feb. 15th with my nurse. She showed me how to do it a few times and then I did it myself, while she supervised. I was shaking & a bit scared. But it was much easier than I expected. I am also taking 1000 mg Riba. I am geno 1a > no fibrosis treating for cryoglobulemia. I felt some mild flu like sx about 6 hrs. later. I took some childrens benadryl to help me sleep. I woke up with a headache, but felt better. it was much easier than I had anticipated. Three days into tx I experienced very bad neurological pain in my feet, ankles & legs. ( I believe this is related to the cryo ) My 2nd shot was Feb. 21st and I had even milder sx than the 1st shot. I am still having the leg pains, but not as bad. I stay off my feet as much as possible and that helps. I know there will be good days & bad. But all and all tx is totally doable and I am glad that I started. God Bless, Sue
Pegintron the first time Did you do your first shot at home or the Drs office? The fist time on pegintron the nurse said bring you meds with you.When I got to the ofice she said are you ready to do our shot?I said well I thought you were just gonna show me how,she said nope your doing it now lol The Pegasys I did at home at 10 PM everyyhing with the pegasys is 10 for
the shots 10 Am and PM for pills that way its easy for me to remember How did you feel afterwards?
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I had 365 1 a day for a year, I took most of |
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I just did shot #15 last night. My first shot didn't pose too many problems either. I'm a bit of a worry wart and was so desperately afraid of the sides. I started drinking 100-120 oz of water a day at least a week before I took that first shot. My best friend came to stay with me for support. Looking back, I'd say the hardest part for me was injecting myself. I'm a scardycat of needles - can't even watch when my blood in drawn. After I FINALLY got that first shot done (it was a Friday night), I stayed up for a little while and then took 2 Tylenol PM's and went to bed - I wanted to sleep through any possible bad effects. Instead I woke up every half hour wondering, "do I feel anything yet?" When I did finally get up the following morning - I felt fine. I had a slight headache and was running a fever of about 101. But ended up going on a short little hike and a picnic that afternoon. I also took a week of work to get used to the meds and was bored out of my mind by Tuesday. Since then I have not missed any work and am doing fine with minimal sides. So minimal that I don't take any rx other than the Peg Combo. I did have to overcome a bit of a hump around week 6-8 with anxiety and depression, but it passed. I just got my 12 week PCR back - non detectable. I'm a 1b with a viral load that varied from 21,000 - 2,200,000 in the 6 months prior to tx. Liver was grade 1, stage 1 when I started tx. Hope that helps - I think it's good news :-)
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| Dawn My first shot, I spent the entire evening bracing myself for the Big Thing that would happen when the shot kicked in. I finally got bored and went to bed. The next day I was a little tense from all of that *bracing myself* for something that never happened. I did, however, break out in spontaneous fits of humming "Is That All There Is?" . Dawn
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| Janet What a group of nice "good news" postings! I just had Injection #2 Friday. The first one resulted in 3 hours of "stomach flu" (not bad) in the middle of the first night. Then I woke up feeling amazingly fine. Wasn't sure whether to allow myself to think the best! The second injection two nights ago resulted in the same 3 hours of "stomach flu", at almost exactly the same time of night -- but even less "not bad". Other than that, just minor symptoms some of which I might not have even recognized if I hadn't been so prepped on possible side effects. I'm genotype 1b -- Grade 4, Stage 3 -- 1.6 million viral count -- and taking the strongest dose of PEG combo (weigh over 165 lb.) As best I know, I contracted this thing over 30 years ago, but was just dx'd in late March. So it's had time to do some damage. I can certainly live with this tx; now I'll concentrate on praying for the results (and since I'm so good at worrying, so I'll be doing that too). Special hugs for those really worried about starting tx! Keep the good
news coming -- especially Grace's kind of good news! Saturday (day after Injection #2). I probably got a little giddy after my first tx, in terms of "this is going to be a breeze"...but I'm learning to pace myself. Here I am, only in my second week, and I was already getting slack about drinking enough water/juice (my goal is 15), trying to go for a short walk each day, and eating smaller amounts of food at a time. I think I learned my lesson the last couple of days -- felt much more tired and low-grade nausea (even though I kept going). I'm learning fast that I need to respect this tx and not try to be super-woman! But I'm also still SO grateful that things are going so well. (((All of You))) Janet Hi y'all who asked how my first shot went! Dawn came over to show me how to do it, and aside from trying to remember all the steps (I was beyond being able to read the paper instructions...)it went well. Doesn't even hurt going in. Then I took my riba and had some fattening food with it (seems it absorbs better with fatty food; seems like a good reason to keep the house stocked with ice cream!) and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up real foggy and went to bed. Drifting off and hubby comes in and wakes me up. Could kill him, cause thats when the side effects started, and the idea is to sleep through them. Now to all who said it wasnt' so bad I have four ideas; 1. I am a wuss. First I was hot, and couldn't stand having cloth against me, then got
cold, then so achy I couldn't get comfy, wanted to get up and get the
Tylenol, but couldn't get out of bed. finally got out of bed and started
shivering so bad I could barely put the thermometer in my mouth. Fever of
101. then shaking so bad couldn't get the bottle of Tylenol open (damn those
child proof caps!). Made hubby open bottle and had to listen to him say I
didn't start shivering until I found out I had a fever. Wasn't shaking in
bed cause i was UNDER THE COVERS! didn't take benadryl along with the
Tylenol. Bad idea. For some strange reason I was afraid of being woozy the
next day from it! So here it is Friday and I feel fine! Not even getting too many hot flashes from the riba. So I'm just not going to plan anything for Thursdays at all, and make sure I take precautionary drugs like everyone else seems to have done, and not be a hardheaded idiot about it. Also, so far no inflammation or itching at the injection site; in fact I can hardly even find it. so, sorry about being long winded, but if i can't dump here, where can I? And my doctor didn't even give me the option of doing the first shot in his office, so I don't know what that's all about. It helped having someone here who could show me how to do it and offer support, especially since I couldn't read the paper, but I could have had any friend do that. So I don't see why you need to go to the doctor. If you do, have someone drive you home. I was out cold within an hour of taking the shot, and pretty woozy before that. So good luck! Joan The second shot was a lot easier. Fell asleep somewhere when the crampy muscle stuff started. Wasn't quite as tired the next day either. But I really have no appetite; I get 'stomach hungry' but not mentally hungry. Do you know what I mean? If someone puts food in front of me, I'll eat it. Otherwise, I'll wait till I get dizzy. So watch out for that. Losing weight at least! Since I'm about 15-20 lbs overweight right now, I don't mind. Just don't want to starve myself. Joan Update from Joan Dec 20 02 I just got the call from my doctor...I WENT UNDETECTABLE!!!! All that worrying for nothing. What a great way to end a sick & soggy week. I'm a 1a, so I was worried. Thanx for all the support I got whining all week. I am just on cloud nine. Joan
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| Gina Hi I'm Gina, I took my 2nd. peg-intron shot last night (Friday) and it didn`t bother me at all!, But the 1st. one there was a lot of aching and a little fever and stomach was upset, I'm on .4 dosage 1x wkly and rebetol 5 pills a day also effexor for depression. (the doctor said just in case) but I'm having no problems as of yet with depression Hi all, well it`s Saturday afternoon and I took my 2nd. peg-intron shot last night! It wasn`t bad @ all ,the 1st. shot I ached and ran a low grade fever, this time I drunk at least 2 quarts of water before my shot maybe that helped also. Well I'm glad I have this forum and I no I`m not alone in this ! love to u all!! Gina |
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Hi all, Just had to let everyone know that everything is going great for me..........I'm wondering if I didn't read all the bad stuff about Hep C sides I wouldn't have waited so long to do this......hoping those that are afraid go right out and do this.........I'm drinking my 4 liters of water a day and I did this before I started and I'm also drinking two protien drinks a day...I'm getting 80 grams a day......Please, Please,,if you are afraid of the sides try it cause it has been a blessing for me.........Nothing yet and I took my first shot last Friday Night.....I just have to post this in hopes it helps someone else that is afraid.....I do know everyone is different but I'm such a Worry Wort not the TX it's just me in general...Merry Christmas to All.........If things stay the same I'm going to look for a job next week...I can do anything now.........LOVE TO ALL...OH YES SAY YOURS PRAYS............. |
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Well I did my first shot on Friday. Felt fine until 1:30am when I woke up shaking uncontrollably. I was so cold! I tried everything to get warm but I couldn't. At first I was scared. My heart was beating really fast. Then I started to think that with every shake I was killing a part of the virus in my body. It helped to calm me down and I fell back to sleep. I woke up again at 4am burning up! My leg fel like it was on fire. I took off several layers and went back to sleep. I slept and slept until I woke up with the worst headache! I felt like I had drank a gallon of vodka the night before! I got up and drank a lot of water and then I drank some more water (I took all of your advice!) My head was much better after that. Spent Saturday sleeping. At 6pm I was thinking, if this is the worst of it...I can deal with this! I slept all night last night. I have slept most of today. I feel much better after finally getting myself in the shower. I was so nervous going into this. The nurse almost wouldn't give me my shot because my blood pressure was so high. I am relieved to have gotten through the first shot. I am hoping that the 2nd will be easier. I am pleasantly surprised at how well I feel! Thank you for all of your good advice everyone |
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What Med(s) did you do? 1) Infregen/Rebetol Oct 2001 - Mar 2002 2) Pegasys/Rebetol Dec 2004 - Present Did you do your first shot at home or the Drs office? 1) At hospital (stayed one day in hospital) This is the protocol in my country (greece), you have to stay one day in hospital to monitor yout reactions How did you feel afterwards? 1) I had fever after every shot :-((((((((((((((
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