Injection 17

This shot went without and problems, Xmas day went well - had dinner at my Mums and came home and went straight to bed to unwind and relax as i was exhausted....slept for about 2 hours and spent the rest of night dozing.

Spent most of Monday in bed despite wanting to tidy my flat a bit....going to Edinburgh tomorrow to visit my brother.

Injection 16

Done injection 16 last night and went to bed.....felt like i slept all night till 10:30am but i know i never as i remember (i think) getting up a couple of times during the night.

Extreme tiredness is my main issue just now.....dosing off waiting for busses and within 5 minutes of sitting down.....just cant concentrate.

12 week FBC results.

Got my 12 week results today:

HB = 12.4
WBC = 4.9
Neut = 2.9
Platlets = 162
ALT = 37
Bilirubin = 8
Alk Pho = 85
GGT = 55

Injection 15

Injection 15 done on Friday night - Felt terrible on Saturday but forced myself to change my bedding and wash my clothes and dishes. Went to bed on Saturday night and never got to sleep till about 4.30am.....had another night of broken sleep and just dozing.

Injection 14

Injection 14 went without any problems.

Injection 13

I did my Injection a day early again as the peak was on Mondays and I wanted to have the peak on Sunday when i am able to rest and take things easy.

I had my 12 week bloods done on Friday (26/11/10)....awaiting results.

I had my Dr today (30/11/10) regarding my Citalopram - PHQ-9 score dropped from 25 to 18 so he is happy it has dropped but has increased my dose from 20mg to 30mg daily for 2 weeks then increase again to 40mg daily.

Injection 12

This Injection went well so will see how things are on Monday, this seems to be when my Injection peaks as shown the last few weeks.

Injection 11

Injection 11 went well untill Monday morning when i got up and half an hour or so later i felt hot, sweaty, sick and dizzy which lasted about 5 miutes or so.....really felt i was going to pass out. I was at my jobcentre course later on and got the same feeling again and had to drop almost to my knees incase i passed out. Had a mars bar and felt fine after about 10 minutes with no further problems the rest of the week.

Injection 10

Well a lot has happened from my last injection, firstly i had a real bad time on Monday when the sides really hit me like a brick wall and i had to go to my GP on the tuesday to try and get help. I was put on Citalopram 10mg for 8 days then take 20mg a day for rest of the month and go back to GP to see if they are working or need dose raised.

Wednesday and Thursday I had 4 hour driving lessons and on Friday I had my test...which I passed first time.....ye haw.

Today was injection 10 and i forgot to take my Riba this morning and took it at 4pm....next dose due at 9.30pm but will leave them till about midnight and take them.

I hope next week starts better than this week did.

Injection 9

This one went pretty much the same as the rest with no problems and i feel ok - have done very little today as i feel real tired again - think i will have an early one tonight, its nearly 11pm so off to bed soon. Hoping to tidy up a bit when i get up in the morning.

Injection 8

Sorry this post is almost a week late but had a few other things to attend to and forgot to update my blog.....have rapped my own knuckles.

Injection 8 went well and sides have not been too bad either....had a few close shaves with utter morons but managed to control myself. I feel quite a bit weepy but only when i am alone as there is no-one asking me questions and i have more time to think about things....common on treatment from what i have read.

Next Injection due in the morning so will post again in a few hours and try to keep posts on time.

7th Injection

Today I had my 7th Injection and all went well - despite knowing Paracetomol helps with the side effects of treatment I tried going the last week without taking them and must say slowly but surely i have felt worse. I have noticed that i am no longer wanting to do ANYTHING but lay about.... I have however pushed myself to do some cleaning and try and keep my dishes washed so they dont pile up.... I am going back to taking Paracetomol to see if I feel better this week.

6th Injection

Had my 6th Injection (Sat 9th) and all went well after my last problem with the pen, still have no major sx apart from the fatigue.

Phone call Re: PCR

Just received a phone call from HepC Specialist Re: PCR Test last Friday....... oh no I thought, has there been a problem with my blood and they could`nt test it....no, there was no problems and tests went well and we are pleased to tell you they came back UNDETECTABLE........ a million and one thoughts rushed through my mind and I felt myself filling up with delight and was on the verge of crying but managed to control myself...just.

Replacement Pen

Went to clinic yesterday to get my injection pen replaced and asked for my results from blood tests from 20/09/10 as i forgot to ask for them last Friday due to problems getting blood and they are as follows:

Last results (20/09/10) were:

HGB (Haemoglobin ) 13.3
RBC (Red Blood Cell) 4.14
HCT (Haematocrit) 0.412
MCV (Mean Corpuscular Volume ) 99.5
MCH (Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin) 32.1
MCC (Mean Corpuscular Concentration) 32.3
WBC (White Blood Cell) 7.0
NE (Neutrophils ) 4.1
LY (Lymphocyte) 2.2
MO (Monocytes) 0.6
EO (Eosinophils) 0.04
BA (Basophils) 0.0
PLT (platelet ) 296

Which I beleive all look fine, I do however have raised Triglycerides levels (3.79) and was advised to have a Cholesterol test done by my GP and as I was getting a little twinge in my chest area a day or two after injection to also get my blood pressure checked, this has previously been found to be slightly high but not monitored.

Made my way to my GP and have an appointment to see GP Practise Nurse on Monday 11th to have tests done.

UPDATE:

Just got a call from my GP receptionist to advise my appointment has been cancelled and needs to be rearranged - now have one for Tuesday 12th.

5th Injection

I went to give myself my 5th injection today and my pen mixed fine but i got no drips from the end of the needle and was unable to pull out the dose setter on the end of the pen so had to use another one which leaves me one short so i will have to phone my nurse on tuesday to arrange another pen.

PCR Test

Attended my PCR Test appointment today and had major problems giving blood, my nurse tried for about half an hour to get blood but everywhere she tried the viens kept colapsing and in the end we had to get another specialist to try in my groin and after 10 minutes of trying he eventually got enough for the PCR Test and Full Blood Count and a couple of back ups. I have to wait for a couple of weeks for the results to come back then if it shows clear we can then decide if it is to be 24 or 48 week tx.

4th Injection

Had my fourth injection yesterday which was a day early - previously cleared by specialist and my sleep was really bad again - woke up near every hour on the hour again, lets hope I get a good nights sleep tonight.

Apart from the constant tiredness and just not being bothered to do anything I have not had any real sides and am hoping this will last the duration of treatment.

3rd Injection Today

Went for my third injection today and all went well again except for my last bloods (13/09/10), I got my results for Full Blood Count (Purple Tube) but there was not enough blood for the other test ( Yellow Tube). This time i went to give more blood and they got plenty in the Yellow tube but very little in the Purple tube so I will have to wait to see if they need more taken before I get these results.

Last results (13/09/10) were:

HGB (Haemoglobin ) 15.9
RBC (Red Blood Cell) 4.82
HCT (Haematocrit) 0.482
MCV (Mean Corpuscular Volume )100.0
MCH (Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin) 33.0
MCC (Mean Corpuscular Concentration) 33.0
WBC (White Blood Cell) 10.9
NE (Neutrophils ) 6.4
LY (Lymphocyte) 3.8
MO (Monocytes) 0.7
EO (Eosinophils) 0.08
BA (Basophils) 0.0
PLT (platelet ) 253

2nd Injection today.

I went to see the nurse today for my second injection and all went well untill she wanted to take blood, she could not find a vein good enough to get blood from so she sent me to phlebotomy to get blood taken and they managed to get some - just.

My first week has been not to bad compared to what i was expecting ( which is always a bonus) and the only real symtoms are tiredness, mild dizzyness/detached feelings and waking up every 2 - 3 hours but seem to get back to sleep quite easily although my eyes have been bloodshot for the last day or two.

Finally Started Tx

I have finally started Tx and got my first Injection today - I am at home now just waiting for 2 hours post Injection to take a couple of Paracetamol.

I have a slight headache but i think that has more to do with the fact it is quite clammy here today rather than Tx.

I can take my Riba either starting tonight or in the morning but will opt for tonight I think.

Second Appointment

Attended my second appointment with the liver specialist today and was told i have genotype 1 and a V/L 560,000, which seemed to me to be quite low and have been approved for starting tx on 6th September.

I will initially be started on 48 week tx comprising of Viraferon peg (either 100 or 120) and ribavirin (1000mg) 400mg in the morning and 600g in the evening and if 4 week test shows undetectable would have the option to continue on 48 week or drop to 24 week tx and this would be entirely my decision but there would be a 5 - 10% better chance of clearing with the 48 week.

Was also told my chlolestorol was slightly high and it is most likely nothing to wory about but to have it checked by Dr.

Not sure if i am glad i have another 2 weeks to wait or not but have my theory test next thursday so at least i will be able to do that without worrying about being on tx.

Well I had my fibroscan today and all went well - my reading was 4.9, anything lower than 7 is considered a normal healthy liver.

Fibroscan Appointment

I received an appointment today for the Fibroscan Clinic and this appointment is for 13th July. This procedure is to assess the stiffness of my liver and is a non-invasive process which has instant results and consists of 10 measurements being taken and should only last about 10 - 15 minutes.

Ultrasound Appointment

I have my ultrasound appoinment today and have not been able to have my morning coffee as I am not to have milk, even in coffee prior to my appointment.

Results:

Well I had my ultrasound today and found out a few things, firstly my liver has quite a bit of fatty tissue ( from what I could see on the screen and) from what the doctor was saying to the trainee and a little healthy tissue around the edge but he said it was nothing to worry about.

Secondly he also said I have gallstones but that was to be expected, no reason given as to why that was - guess I will ask the liver nurse at my next appointment (18th August) when I should also find out my genotype and what length my tx will be.

I asked the trainee why I was not allowed to have milk before the ultrasound and she said it shrinks the organs they have to look at, they looked at liver, kidneys, spleen and whatever else they needed to see and gave the all clear with everything but the liver - or at least withing acceptable levels.

Upper Abdominal Ultrasound.

Received a letter today advising I have an appointment on 17th June to have an upper abdominal ultrasound done and this will take around 30 minutes.

First One Over and Done With.

Well thats the first appointment over and done with - still none the wiser as to which genotype I have nor whether anything else was tested for.

There was no notes at all about what was previously tested for just a little note saying I was Hep C possitive.

I did however find out my veins have not recovered from my abuse, none would come up on the folds of either arm or in my hands and in the end another nurse had to try and she got one just on the outside egg shape bit above my elbow.

They have taken blood for 8 different tests so I will have to wait till those results come back and find out if I have anything else, and also if it is to be 24 or 48 week tx.

My next appointment is on 18th August - 3 months away.

I was also advised I would be sent an appointment for an ultrasound and a liver scan/biopsy to check for liver damage.

Oh and I will also get an appointment with my Doctor for a Hep A + B vacine.

No real news but hey I took the first step in my journey, can only learn from here on in.

First Appointment

Just thought I would let everyone know I am going for my first appointment today with the liver nurse and will keep you all updated on the outcome.

Week 1 without Diclofenac

Well it`s been a week now from I started taking Vitamin D supplements and I have felt a lot better as far as the pains are concerned, no real pain just little niggles, that was untill today around 5ish when i started getting a sore back and it quickly got worse as well as me feeling very very tired and extremely short tempered and just couldnt be bothered to do anything.

I got home around 30 minutes ago and put my electric blanket on and am going to have an early night and hopefully get up feeling a lot better.

Steve

Vitamin D experiment started

Started taking Vitamin D instead of Diclafenac to see if it helped with various aches and pains as i have not taken Diclafenac for about a week now and took my first vitamin D today.

I will be taking 2 Vitamin D tablets a day, one in the morning and one at night.

Received my liver clinic appointment.

I have an appointment on 26th May 2010 to see a nurse and it should take 20 - 30 minutes.