week 17

Well I am now over a third of the way through. I find it motivating to measure my progress so I keep record sheets to break the treatment down into chunks of time which I can 'tick off' when I've completed them. It also helps me ensure I don't miss any doses as I write down when I have taken my medication & the time. I have made sure I'm being consistent with sticking to roughly the same time each day as I read that if you complete all the doses as prescribed for the full duration your chance of a sustained virologial response is 63% for genotype 1 & 94% for genotype 2/3. I think I may have missed one dose as I hadn't recorded it which I'm annoyed about. So I have 31 weeks to go. If I was having the 6 month treatment I'd only have 7 weeks to go - that seems like nothing! My message to anyone thinking of trying the treatment is give it a go - I really have found it absolutely fine & you might too. It hasn't disrupted my life & all aspects of it have been entirely manageable.

Other thoughts

I don't think I've mentioned that before starting treatment I took advantage of a flexible working policy & arranged to work longer hours on 4 days per week & start at lunchtime on a wednesday (the day after my weekly injection). I did this in case I felt rough on wednesdays. However, I have always felt ok & don't really need this arrangement though I'll continue with it during the treatment. My weight seems to have remained the same. I'm pretty itchy now (but you can't beat a good old scratch!) & I have got some E45 cream which is soothing. Still no other particular side effects, I have had loose stools quite often but not to the point of it being a problem. I think positive thinking & visualisation have helped me with the treatment. For example, on the very few occasions I've not felt fantastic or when I would rather not have to stick another needle in myself I think about how the virus is being battered, how if I feel bad the virus must be really suffering & how the injection is going to send stuff in to kill it. It works very well. As far as positive thinking goes, well there are many, many worse things to be dealing with than this treatment & after all it is time limited with a potentially positive life changing outcome.