TOPIC: after treatment ends how long till i feel normal and have energy

Hello everyone,

just a quick question please. I took my last pill on Tuesday, today is Sunday and i still feel horrible. I have no energy and feel different in so many ways. I had a hard time on my treatment as I'm super sensitive when it comes to tablets. Does anyone have any tips on feeling better please, and how long will this last?
I had my bloods done and I'm undetected which is great new, Had geno 1B and had hep C roughly 20 odd years, but just feel drained, please help

Hi Tanya,
Seems common that people at the end of treatment seem to need, and feel better with, some vit D, and B12. I've seen lots of people go through treatment and it really varies- and perhaps depends what meds you took. But, big changes have happened, like you say, had it a long time, and is not uncommon to slowly feel better over 2-3 months afterwards. You might bounce back. Hope so, take it easy, it will happen.

Hi Tanya

Sorry to hear you still are feeling crappy but nice to see you are Und. at the end of your treatment.

As Hazel mentions everyone will have somewhat different reactions.
My personal experience was I had-fatigue from the virus and fortunately quite quickly into treatment it started to lift and I do feel much better on that regard 3 months afterwards.

Keep in mind your body has been through a lot. You had the virus a long time and then it deals with potent drugs for quite an extended period then has to adjust to it having no virus and then abruptly stopping the meds.

Our poor old body’s must sometimes feel like we are treating it like a “theme park”.

It’s only been a few days.Treat your body well(proper diet, stay well hydrated, try to get sleep at the right time and some exercise)
If in time you don’t start to feel improvements then possibly a full work up by your doctor to look for cause.

Keep in mind , ridding yourself of HepC , is a great step towards our good health, however as we age good health is usually the result of many steps doing what we can to maintain good health.

S

Thanks Hazel and songbird,

i will get some Vit D plus B12 today. I know its only early days so i will just take it day by day and see what happens in the next few weeks, months. Its mainly by legs and arms are so weak, brain fog is not so bad, and my eye sight worries me as its gone down hill. My tiredness is not to bad now but still early to bed and thats not like me. Just hoping it picks up quick as i need to get back to work, but at least i have got ridden of this horrendous disease after all this time. Thanks for all your help x

I had HCV for 40+ years, commenced Epclusa in February of this year, had my first UND a month later, and expect to have SVR next month.

My physical lifestyle involves swim, bike, run, and I had to stop all of that about one month into treatment because the Epclusa made me so dehydrated. It is only now that I am getting close to the shape that I was in a year ago.

So, my non-medical opinion is that eliminating the virus after 40 years requires months of readjustment simply because your body is dealing with a different metabolism.

L

It may seem strange but on Harvoni only drinking a lot of water every day fixed that for me.

its now been 4 weeks and i"m still pretty much still the same. I have noticed may be a little more energy throughout the day, so thats a start i guess. Morning and night are the hardest, i wake up feeling horrible, no energy, feeling like some thing is wrong with my muscles, and at night I'm in bed at 8 8.30 sound asleep.
I haven't been drinking much water though mainly soft drinks. So as from today I'm just going to drink water and see if that makes a difference, i soon have to get a break, well i praying anyways...

Please be careful with what you drink. Additives in energy drinks can lower the effectiveness of tx and really make you feel like crap as you drink more while on treatment. Red Bull and Monster are not the only soft drinks that add harmful to tx additives , MANY soft drinks now add this crap to so check the labels of everything and no Seville oranges or grapefruit (juice or the fruit) while on tx.

Thanks for the information SHarmon, but no I'm not drinking Red Bull or Monster drinks, i only drink coke or pepsi, but yes been drinking lots for some reason. I did think maybe it could be that and now I'm cutting it and trying to drink more water, hope it helps i just won't to be normal again..

Hello tanya_aa,

You don't want to go cold turkey on the Coke/Pepsi because you're probably pretty used to being dosed with the caffeine, but the best fluid to drink is water, and the caffeine/sugar mix in Coke and Pepsi is not ideal - you get a brief hit of energy from the caffeine and sugar, then an energy slump as they start to wear off. On can a day is fine, but more than that is less than ideal...

Took my last pill three weeks ago and am feeling really trashed and drained little energy and lethargic, I feel worse now than before I started very tired but trouble staying asleep, crashing headaches and sore muscles all over my body, even though i feel very shitty am glad i had the chance to take the medication

Hi christop

Welcome to the forum.
What exact medication for HCV did you take? Possibly tell us a bit more like what amount of liver damage were you diagnosed with prior to starting and did you have any other health conditions other than HCV.

Many of us after finishing up report feeling somewhat re-energized,however there has been some to for a bit of time,maybe struggling with feeling no better ,or possibly worse.

Possibly something else ,health wise needs to be addressed. let us know how you are doing.

Hello christop88,

Can you tell me more about you, what you were like before and during treatment, and what you took? Blood results are useful as well.

The average age of HCV patients is around 55 so something I remind people of is that Hep C treatment provides 0% protection from every other disease that afflicts the human condition.

Diabetes, thyroid issues, neurological issues, a range of cancers and all substantially more common in people with Hep C so where people don't feel significantly better after treatment we need to look for other causes. Here's some of the extrahepatic manifestations known to be associated with Hep C

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4735500/

You are welcome to post more information here, but you should get checked out. That could be online with me on gp2u.com.au/ or with your local doctor. The only reason not to do this soon would be if the trend seems to be that you are getting better day by day. In that case, waiting a while to see would not be unreasonable.

Thanks, Dr James, I got blood test results today 22/03/2019 and it seems i'm Hep-c free, my 12 week treatment started 10/07/2018 and finished 1/10/2018-Sofosbuvir 400mg and Velpatasvir 100mg. I've added a screenshot of the results, My energy levels are getting higher, my swollen legs from the knee down are back to normal and my appetite is raging i'm hungry all the time which is not normal for me. Thankyou for all your help, christopher

Congratulations on your cure Chris, fantastic news, enjoy your Hep C free life