Lloyd--
Thanks for your site. It makes me feel better about
my plight because I've been afraid to talk about it because
I don't want to discourage anyone from seeking some sort of
treatment.
I had a really bad time of it on Intron A back in 1991.
Despite the fact that I have been PCR negative and had unbelievably
low ALTS (between 5 and 12), I feel that I'm still continuing
on being sick.
Anyone who saw me on Interferon wouldn't
ever take it and my slew of doctors agreed they had never
seen anything like it. I had acute hepatitis C in my
last year of grad school and they gave me a year to live without
therapy (I didn't even know I was ill).
On interferon, I totally changed. I developed severe
endometriosis (which I also didn't know I had-- I believe
it was caused by Interferon) and was in screaming pain a lot
of the time. On one emergency room visit, the doctor
nearly threw up doing the exam and said it was the worst he'd
ever seen. I ended up sterile with poly cystic ovaries
and a lot of pain after therapy and had to get a full hysterectomy.
I had deep depression and my GI doctor told me I was just
feeling sorry for myself and I should get a little
job. I couldn't do the simplest things and got disoriented
trying to get home from work and had to have someone get me.
I didn't know what town or state I was in.
They then started trying me out on antidepressants, all of
which I became allergic to. They tried estrogen for the endometriosis
and I became allergic to that. They gave me darvocet
for the pain (which I had taken many times before the hep
c) and I became allergic to that. I have these drug
allergies to this day.
My psychologist recommended a doctor friend
she had to see me. This doctor determined that I was
developing allergies to anything taken by mouth. My
mental state worsened and I developed severe anxiety (my insides
itched and I wanted to take a knife and cut myself open and
rip my guts out), I developed suicidal thoughts, severe short
term memory loss, disorientation, severe rage, all things
I hadn't had before.
They persist to this day and now I'm being treated as a bipolar--
even though I wasn't one before. I seem to have major
medical problems every year-- four teeth just shattered and
I had to have a bunch of lymph nodes removed (the doctor said
they were burnt out from the interferon), pneumonia, meningitis,
and I just got some abnormal blood results today (TSH, potassium,
esonphile, etc.). I'm only 39 but the dementia and bipolar
stuff just keeps getting worse and my liver seems weaker and
weaker. I've put on about 40-50 pounds all in the gut
and my iron was high for years (I think it was ok on
this one).
Anyway, if my experience can help in any way, let me know.
I was given interferon despite the fact I had a head injury
and history of depression. Is anyone suing these guys?
my name is M. Thanks again!
Note from Lloyd:
These are the human tragedies that occur every day from the
use of interferon. The stories that your doctor does
not tell you, the liver foundation does not tell you, the
drug companies do not want you to know. This could
be you!
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