Finished with treatment yesterday, quick thoughts for getting through

[Deck]

Yesterday I finished my 12 weeks of Solvaldi and Ribavirin.  I'm undetectable w/ a starting point 4.5 million viral count.  Hopefully I can sum up a bunch of questions I've seen in a short list and maybe even help out others.

1.  Depression- I'm bipolar so this hit me like a ton of bricks.  Exercising at my own pace a few times per week and breaking a good sweat always made me feel better and helped w sleep.  If you find yourself crying for no apparent reason you are not alone.  I'd put on headphones and zone out to The Dead or Wilco or something that soothed me.  Also it's important to let your loved ones know you are struggling w/ this issue and not feel guilty when you say something you don't believe in your heart.

2.  Waterwaterwaterwaterwater, say it fast.  I'd drink a small cup of black coffee in the AM and a cup of green tea along w/ this.  Usually a vitamin water w/ lunch to help w/ the energy loss.  All day I had a water bottle w me to the point my bladder filled every hr.

3. Sleep-  my pattern was broken so I never made plans until each particular day.  Its a day by day struggle.  Ativan before bed was KEY.  Also I took my Am pills around 7, and nightime ribavirin at 7 PM.  The ativan I'd take at 10 and at least there would be 5 to 6 hours of deep refreshing sleep.

4- Itching-  Vaseline intensive care moisturizer twice a day,no Noxema type projects.

5- A heater-  I'd always wake up achey so by putting a space heater near me bed really helped with those symptoms.

6- relax- binge watching netflix,"House of Cards", I did all 100 episodes of Fringe.  Relaxing leads to short naps and aggregates the healing process

7- food- try not to overeat or eat when you are bored.  Every time you place sugar into your blood the liver gets an extra job to do by regulating insulin.  Fruit instead of chocolate.

8-Finally, chill out: get philosophical and hibernate when you can.  I read lots of books dealing w/ the meaning of existence and am coming out of this with no regrets, ready to be the ambitious self i was.  I love and pray for everyone going through this. No regrets, once again relaxing and music are key to this, focus on how the future is better and if you were a drinker how much better you feel after the first week w/o booze.  I'll never turn back for that reason alone!

Thanks for everything Lucinda and all of you for being there, if I got through it so can you!!!!!! 

[Lukey]

Hi there,

Congrats on the UD status. 
How many weeks were you on Tx? Your post says 1 week.

Joe

[Deck]

Hi Lukey, whoops, it was 12 weeks, I just made that adjustment.  Have a great day!

Ryan

[Mike]

Hi Deck,

Congrats on getting through treatment and being undetected!

Looks like another dragon bites the dust! 

Best wishes, Mike

[Lukey]

Congrats.

I fully agree on not over eating. I'm working on it and am turning it around. It's amazing how much less food I really need to feed me vs how much I eat. When it's time for a meal, I'm often not really even hungry, I'm more like just less stuffed, so I eat more. I'm not overweight but my stomach is kind of stretched to be bigger than it should be. If you really try to just eat enough to fuel your body, you'd be surprised at how little you really need. I think a lot of people would. So many people reward themselves with more food but it costs them more and it takes away from their longevity and well being.

Fact is, a body digests small amounts of food thoroughly, but if you over eat, it easily overwhelms the digestive system. Taking digestive enzymes helps but it's no substitute for eating small meals.

A good way to do it is make the meal and not eat until it's ready, and only eat a small to medium sized meal, not a huge bowl of soup or anything like that.
Always eat sitting down. Eat slow, chew well.

With the chronic sluggish digestion I've had, I've tended to eat big meals just to try to push food through my GI tract, but this isn't a good idea, I don't think.

What some people do, and I can do it and have done it, is fast for 16 hours every day. What that means is eating only during 8 hours of a day. What I did was eat only from 10 AM to 6 PM.  Why that's good is because it gives the digestive organs a 16 hour rest and that's not long enough to cause SFX (side effects) but it is long enough to be a healthy way of eating and fasting, without getting into long fasts.

Paavo Airola PhD said in his book to "practice systematic under eating" and it's a great idea if you can do it. You have to be able to know the difference between food craving and actual hunger. If you can eat small meals and wait until you're truly hungry when you eat, your digestion will be that much better and your whole body will run more efficiently. Even your liver and brain will work better and you'll be less toxic.

They say it's ideal to have a BM after every meal and if you can do that, you've got very good digestion. I like to have a minimum of 1 BM daily but today I've had two, which I like even more. Anything less than 1 BM daily is what I call constipation and is unhealthy. I seldom have less than 1 BM daily, and if I ever do I would take something to increase my bowel function like an herbal laxative or by eating less meat. (Not on Tx though).

Best of health,

Joe

[Red Hen]

Congratulations, Deck! The symptoms you mentioned sound very familiar to me. I agree with water,water, water! Every time someone mentions that I go drink some.

[Picnic]

Deck,
I will be finished with 24 weeks S/O on Saturday. I also love Fringe and X-files. I am about 3/4 of the way through Fringe and am addicted!

[lporterrn]

Wonderful Deck - Another winner - regardless of the outcome, when you compete and complete you are a winner in my book, esp when ribavirin is part of the treatment. I love this post! Perhaps you will submit your Hep story and share this good info...http://www.hepmag.com/hep_stories.shtml 

Love House of Cards. I just started watching The Americans. Have you seen it?

[Subwayco]

Hi, that is some great news!  A new life begins for you!  I just finished 2 months and I don't go in for a blood test till the second week in Feb.  I have a question to ask of everyone.  I don't feel anything besides itching and fatigue.  I pace myself but sometimes I do too much and have to sleep early so the next day will be better.  If I do clear I'm hoping for more energy.  I had/have cirrhosis so I wondering when I might see some kind of a boost in my energy level?  Of course, I would be satisfied if the Harvoni  just rid me of Hep C so I don't face future complications.

Any thoughts?

Thank you,
Subwayco

[BattleTheBeast]

Great news Deck and thanks for all the tips and tricks, I am with you on all of them except I somehow missed fringe. I think I will have to add that one into the mix and I still have weeks to go so it shouldn't be a problem

Picnic, you made it!!!! Way to go!! Just a couple more days

It's so good that all of you continue to let us know how your journeys are going after you finish TX because it helps all of us stay strong and motivated. Thank you so much!

Mel

[Picnic]

Thanks BTB , you are really an inspiration to this forum and you have the best avatar!!!! 

[BattleTheBeast]

Awe shucks thanks Picnic!

I was on a mission to find an avatar that matched what I was feeling

Mel