Stomach/Bowel issues linger after Veikera/Riba 12 wk ??? Help

[parsnipbun]

I completed 12 week of the Veik/Pak and Riba on Feb 17 2017. I found treatment quite hard at times (brain fogs, tired, etc) and in the last 3 weeks also suffered with cystitis and then a pelvic infection for which I had 3 types of abx - one of which (metranidazol) I reacted very badly to including getting pain in the upper stomach area.

I am now 2 months since taking the Riba/Veik/Pak and the abx - but despite no longer having the pain in the upper stomach area I now have  bloating and stomach cramps in the bowel area really badly some days regardless of what I eat/dont eat. They are much worse in evenings. It seems like all the symptoms for ibs - BUT before I took all the treatments I never had a stomach pain in my life or any bowel issues (I am 60). Now it dominates my life and I find work quite hard (I am an evening lecturer).

Has anyone else had this?? I really dont know if its the Riba/Vaik or the abx that did it. I also still have the odd taste in my mouth that I had all the time taking the Riba/Veik.

I know its meant to take age sto leave the body but its 2 months now and I still feel worse than before I took the treatment (I was symptomless before).

Should add that I was clear at 12 wks so I know I should be feeling grateful but bowel cramps and huge bloating is no fun.

[Lynn K]

What has your doctor said? Are you having any testing to try to find the cause and hopefully treat you condition? What have the test results said?

[parsnipbun]

What has your doctor said? Are you having any testing to try to find the cause and hopefully treat you condition? What have the test results said?

Hi thank you for replying!

I have seen the doctor once  about a month ago and they told me to wait and see if it went away. I am going to go again next week. The problem is that I dont want to get put on a series of perhaps unecessary drugs because I have hafdso many drugs recently and always get side effects that lead me round in circles (for example I am now on a possibly hepatic toxic drug (diflucan) for 6 months  to cure the chrinic thrush side effects of the abx that I took for the pelvic infection that I got due to lowered immune system that I ended up with whilst on hep c treatment for liver . . . . ).

I just wondered if anyone else had had the stomach pains and if so if they went away after a while. A friend of mine who had cancer had stomach pains after her treatments but it went away after a year so I wondered if ribavirin etc could do the same but eventually go away .

[parsnipbun]

PS I am also in UK so the GPs dont tend to leap into action here as the nhs is under a lot of monetary pressure. They are far more likely to suggest drugs than tests.

[Gaj]

The ingredients of V/P leave the body quite quickly, Riba has a halflife of nearly two weeks so it does take quite a while to fully leave your body but after two months you should be feeling a lot better. As you noted, you have also been/are on other medications that can cause similar sides.

But we should also remember that many of us are moving into the age group where we may start to experience more health issues possibly including stomach/bowel symptoms that are unrelated to ours and our doctor's previous primary focus of HCV. After a month without improvement I would definitely be seeing my doctor to investigate further including non HCV related possibilities.