New sides and lab questions

[slats1056]

Hello All You Global Gladiators United Against The Hep Dragon,
  Just got My CBC & Liver Panel for 8 week blood draw. Didn't get My copy until after seeing G.I. for check up. Most of the results are in the normal range with a few exceptions. Been internet checking on the few out of range. Trying to figure them out & corelate to Hep C and Harvoni treatment. I will have to check back with G.I. on them. They are as follows.
 AGAP low 9.0 of 10-0 to 20-0 range
 SEGS low 43.7 of 45.0 to 75.0 range
 Lymphocytes high 45.1 of 20.0 to 40.0 range
 Eosinophils high 4.1 of 0.0 to 4.0 range
    About as near as I can figure out until talking with the Doc. , it appears to be the Meds kicking up the immune system to fight the virus within. Any ideas all You highly knowledgeable and helpful heppers out there in Heplandia?
 Starting week 10 of 12 in the epic battle against the heathen devil Hep Dragon tomorrow. Been sleeping rather well lately. Not to many headaches. Tinnitus in left ear is extremely annoying. Still having joint pain in the hips, knees, knuckles, and neck.
  New sides seem to be constant lower back pain , even after losing about ten pounds. Blurry vision and dry eyes off and on.Told the Doc about them. Advised to cut back work hours. Limit lifting and bending, ( 11 plus hours at working doing inventory prep. ) and go see the eye Doc next week to get checked out.
  Hope everybody is doing well and is getting healthy.

[gnatcatcher]

Hi,, Tommy --

I'll leave the AGAP, SEGS, etc. to those who did a lot better in biology class than I did, but here's a thought about the blurry vision and dry eyes. Last week I brought my 93-year-old mother to see an optometrist who does a really thorough exam. (Mom's ophthalmologist had been so rushed, his exam was essentially useless.) Mom's major complaint was blurry vision, and the optometrist noticed that Mom's tear glands don't flow well, hence her eyes were dry. The optometrist said that dry eyes cause the light to scatter, resulting in blurry vision. She added that people tend to forget to blink when they're using a computer or watching TV, which leads to dry eyes, which leads to blurry vision. While she was doing the exam, she must have asked Mom to "Blink Blink" at least a hundred times. I was tempted to tape a large BLINK BLINK sign to Mom's TV.

One of the optometrist's remedies for dry eyes costs no $: Put a warm washcloth (no soap) over one's eyes for 5 minutes 3 times a day.

I hope the above hints make things better even if they're not the total solution.

That's quite a list of side effects -- you're a real trouper! According to a book I just read, the fact that you can see the good side of things is helping your health, so your delightful and encouraging posts are a win-win: they help the rest of us and you!

Gnatty

[terih]

Hi Tommy, I had all of the aches and pains you just described during treatment! I used a local pain rub and an occasional ibuprophen. I hate to sound like a commercial, but Arnicare rub was my best friend during treatment! It's a natural product, but I've even seen it at CVS! Lukewarm showers and Arnicare got me thru! The aches and pains did last for a while after I finished treatment, but did eventually go away! So there's hope! 

All my best wishes for you! Teri

[slats1056]

 Gnatty, Greetings and salutations to the Mother Hen of the Helping Hand Hep Forums!!!! Why did I not know that You would be right on top of things like a gnatcatcher on a gnat!!!LOL.
  Don't want to sound like I'm complaining, just putting it out there. The way I look at it , if I am the 2-3% group I'll take it. That means that the other 97-98% out there are having less problems than Me. I guess it's only fair because of the inequality of the Virus itself. After all , many like You have to go through the War by no fault of Your own. Unlike Myself who through My own negligence and bad choices put Myself in front of the train. Besides with the way My luck runs I knew it was going way to easy when I got the Meds. in less than two weeks without a hitch. All of You out there that had to fight so hard to get help should be able to kick back a little and enjoy the victory rather than jumping right back in to the fight the way I look at it.
  I'll try the warm towel trick to see if it helps any. I have to go to the eye Doc. for annual check up & glaucoma test anyway. Hopefully the nurses won't freak out when I explain the reason for My G.I. being involved.

 LIFE IS LIKE A BOWL OF CHERRIES, HOW SWEET THEY ARE BUT LOOK OUT FOR THE PITS!!!

[Rosie13]

Hi Gnatty & Slats! I can't blame Hep c for the dry eyes but love the suggestion on warm h2o 3x\day.My eye Dr.  told me to turn the ceiling fan off at night.He said we open our eyes all night long & over the bed ceiling fans a no no.Too bad my husband thought that was an awful idea! So to keep the peace I love the way cloth idea.Waiting on labs in a few days Yippee!!!!!!!!!

[slats1056]

 Went to the eye Doc this afternoon to be on the safe side after talking with My G.I.
Thursday. Got a complete exam, glaucoma test, Checked out blood veins , & so on. Talked with Him about the blurry vision & weird thing happening at times. As He was explaining the basic workings of blood supply & nerves to the Eye , Something dawned on Me!  The veins that supply the eye constrict & dialate causing of all things, WAIT FOR IT!!!!! HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES!!!!!! Pre existing, caused by Tx, aggravated caused by both? Who knows??  Any who , clean bill of health. Need to update My readers, but no need for prescription eye wear. Just an old fart getting older and experiencing the normal progression of OLD TIMERS DISEASE!!!! LOL!!!

BE CAREFUL ABOUT READING HEALTH BOOKS, YOU MIGHT DIE AF A MISPRINT.
               
                                         Mark Twain

[Rosie13]

Glad your eyes are just aging gracefully & we got plenty of water to splash around if that's what we need!My eyes are starting to feel weird too.I'll push through of course...
Day 17 rolling along.

[slats1056]

 Hey Rosie, Hope all is well. Kinda feel like an old timer finishing up week 10!! If it gets to wierd check it out to be on the safe side!!!! I scraped together the $65.00 exam fee just to ease My mind. I mean to tell You it was a load off My mind. As well as My wallet. LOL!! It is good to know what was probably causing all My headaches the first 4-5 weeks of Tx.
 AMERICAS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS NEITHER HEALTHY,CARING NOR A SYSTEM!
                           Walter Cronkite

[Lou66]

I'm on the side who have problem on the therapy. Musclepain, neck and shoulder pains, and now intestinal problem like toomuch gas in my intestin and often eject out, but yesterday try to eject gas but don't work, and pain strong me. Anyone have this problem? What solutions helps?
Thanks at all

[gnatcatcher]

Lou, yes, I have had the problem a few times during Harvoni treatment. When the gas finally did come out, the puzzo was the worst I can ever remember! I wondered whether, thanks to Harvoni killing the virus, my body was releasing a large quantity of toxins at once, but I don't really know.

As to the neck and shoulder pains, they might be related to the gas. For decades, whenever I would eat what we Americans call "rich food" (high-calorie, high-fat food), at some point I would get shoulder pain, which was my signal to stop eating, or else the pain would become excruciating. The pain would go away after I released a lot of gas.

Is the doctor whom you see for hepatitis a gastroenterologist? If so, your doctor may have a solution for you.

Gnatty