Harvoni Success. - SX help. What Dr's won't tell you. New Group Challange

[I fightis thetitis]

Hi All,

Well I guess I am also one of the lucky ones so far..
Initial labs back to today and I am Hep C Undetected. Hell yeah!
And, after four decades of "out of range," my Alt and Ast are in normal range.
AFP still out of range, but hey..I'm happy happy! Numbers below.

SX Help and Ideas. "What the Doctors could not tell me."
I have read of a few who have encountered some varied degrees of unpleasant sides.
I would like to share dietary and lifestyle changes I made that helped me to hopefully help those who are struggling.

My SX were/are headache, (gone) Fatigue,(gone) REALLY bad insomnia. (still there but not as bad)

To counter sides, below is what I cut out, and what I added to lifestyle and diet.

1. Reduced/eliminated all "added" salt and sugar. Very hard since most packaged items have both. I stopped buying chips, crackers, cereals with sugar. My cheat food is small amounts of bread.
2. Replaced with Oatmeal w/fruit/nuts EVERY morning. Since Harvoni is mostly eliminated through feces, being regular has helped helped. OATMEAL w/no added sugar, just fruit has helped.
3. Took Harvoni with meals instead of empty stomach.
4. I am addicted to sweets...so I replaced all sweets with plain greek yogurt with fresh (or thawed) berries. Berries of all kinds made a noticeable diff w/headaches for me.

Lifestyle.
1. Exercised "EVERY" day before I took Harvoni. Bike ride, Walking, sit ups, push ups, ect.
2. Deep breathing exercises after workout. Oxygenates the blood and calms the internal chatter. When I missed this step.. SX were "always" elevated.

Lastly, as a former P90x trainer and soccer coach for 12 years, I am entertaining a daily exercise and diet group "Challenge" on this forum, or poss another website.
Reply or PM me if you are interested and if enough people want to join the health challenge, I will sort out the details on how we all can join, log in daily and help keep each other accountable to build stronger bodies and regain health to help deal w/ SX.
Hopefully, we will evolve enough and this is what GI Dr's SHOULD be doing to better help their patients.

All good things,

Greg

[gnatcatcher]

Greg, way to go! -- CONGRATULATIONS!

Putting cinnamon in oatmeal adds a little pizzazz and lowers cholesterol. And if you ever get sick of oatmeal, Post Shredded Wheat 'n Bran doesn't add salt or sugar and has excellent fiber. On really cold days, I eat it hot, which tastes different than cold, adding more variety.

I agree 100% on daily exercise -- my Harvoni log was right next to my exercise log, and I didn't miss a day of either.

Keep up the good work!

Gnatty

[I fightis thetitis]

Thanks Gnatty!

Yes cinnamon! I add nuts as well. especially walnuts and raw almonds.
 

[gnatcatcher]

Yup, I'm a big raw almond fan and mix it up with the other tree nuts. BTW, I checked the Shredded Wheat 'n Bran box: it says 0 sodium and 0 sugar. When I travel, I carry some cinnamon with me and tell the server "no brown sugar" when I order oatmeal for breakfast. I also carry raw nuts and high-fiber cereal as munchies.

[MaryC]

Greg,
Congrats on your excellent initially labs and healthy lifestyle!  That Hep C doesn't stand a chance of surviving!  And you are giving your body and mind a leg up in your recovery.

I never stopped exercising during my treatment and felt it really helped my overall mental attitude.  I eat mostly healthy, but do struggle with a bit of a sweet tooth also.

Mary

[Terri Tree]

Wow, that is so Awesome for you.  You must feel so good.  I am so encouraged.  I like the plain greek yogurt with berries and hazelnuts.  sometimes I make a berry syrup with honey and stevia as sweetner, doesn't need much.  Diet and exercise really help with feeling and looking better.  Keep up the good work!