I hear you. I feel your pain.

In 2009 -2009 I participated in a 2nd Stage testing of a 12-month HepC drug therapy using interferon, ribavirin and Boceprevir, a protease inhibitor being developed by Schering Plough. It was a terrible drug cocktail and I suffered painful rashes, flu-like
symptoms, insomnia and anemia. After 9 months I could no longer care for myself and had to quit the study before completion in the 11th month. The HepC virus was non-detectable within 3-4 months of starting the drug therapy and has remained so. Unfortunately, I didn’t fully recover from the therapy. I suffered from anemia, low white blood cell count, insomnia, depression and suicidal ideation. I was soon after diagnosed as bi-polar and treated successfully with lamictal (lamotrigine) 25 mg.

Although I was able to manage a normally paced life-style for the next 3 years I began to suffer from strange, periodic 1-2 month bouts of flu-like symptoms. Similarly, I suffered severe reaction to oral surgery in 2014 but this time never never recovered. I was consequently diagnosed with ME/CFS. My symptoms included the following:

1. Fatigue made worse by exercise
2. Flu-like malaise, feeling “sick all over”
3. Insomnia and non-restful sleep
4. Severe migraine headaches (after accumulative exertion)
5. Tinnitus (nearly constant)
6. Swollen lymph nodes in neck (daily)
7. Heart murmur, palpitations
8. Cognitive function problems
9. Brain fog
10. Difficulty understanding speech (occasional)
11. Attention deficit disorder
12. Memory loss – especially short term memory
13. Depression
14. Mood swings
15. Excessive irritability
16. Decreased libido
17. Nightmares (frequent)
18. Balance problems
19. Tightening of the muscles of the sole of my feet (usually at bedtime)
20. Swelling of hands and feet
21. Restless leg syndrome (infrequent)
22. Sensitivity to light and loud noises
23. Alcohol intolerance
24. Dry eyes and mouth
25. Temperature and weather sensitivity

Over the last 4 years I have traveled the world (I reside in Southeast Asia) searching out advice and receiving medical care from specialists including Dr. Stewart (Austin , TX), Dr. De Meirleir (Brussels, Belgium) and Dr. Jose Montoya (Stanford University, CA) as well as numerous authorities that I accessed online including Dr. Rawls at Vital Plan. Over this time and through great effort of experimentation I have cobbled together a self-prescribed treatment plan that has reduced the adverse effects of my condition and vastly improved my quality of life.

It was only recently that I received any feedback from ANY specialist that corroborated my conviction that my ME was caused by the interferon/ bocefivir therapy. My local endocrinologist confirmed that tests had recently been completed confirming averse effects on a percentage of interferon survivors. (I was unable to access any of these tests)

I stumbled on this Mayo chat only recently and was saddened to witness so much suffering. I too share the anger and often suffer from the despair that comes from the terrible isolation of this unrecognized and often maligned condition. Few of my friends and family have any real notion of the suffering I have endured and the pains to which I must go to manage my symptoms.

Obviously I´m not qualified to recommend treatment strategies. I have witnessed so many variations of adverse effects of the interferon and I´m convinced that there is no "one size fits all" approach to treating the illness. However, because of the apparent unwillingness of the medical profession to properly address post interferon syndrome, specifically, and ME/CFS, in general, I feel we must do what what we can to help each other develop the skills of self-advocacy to carry on. In that spirit, I hope to see the thread of shared anger and pain become a source of information and positive action and offer my experience.

Don´t give up.