May theForcebewithyou, Annie, I hope you are doing well.

Hi Annie, that really is bad news about your eye damage but it`s good that you can still see enough to read and do your artwork with your left eye.  And at least you`ve successfully  completed tx.  So good to hear your sx are fading at last too. 
Hope you have a really good time on your trip over to England - you deserve it after the rough time you`ve had!

Love Jill xxx

Hi Annie,
Sorry to hear about your eye problems, I had some but  think they are clearing up.  I'm glad that you are feeling better and I'm sure that you'll enjoy your trip.  I too am glad to be out of treatment - life is still tiring but I am nearly sx free.  Good luck to everyone on tx.
Dragonfly xxx

I love your phrase "tx underworld"  How appropriate.  I remember being told about the effect interferon may have on eye sight and wondering what I would choose if given the choice, sight or virus free (virus free always won).  I am so glad you weren't given the choice, well like you said there would be no choice, tx would have been stopped.  The sx will slowly leave and life will be worth living again. It's so nice to have a holiday to look forward to and visit your parents and old friends.  It will take you mind off the wait for the final results.  I wake up every morning still unable to believe that the virus is gone after having it for 35 years or so.  The most drastic improvement I've had is feeling less depressed and aggressive.  The side effects of hepc had gradually been creaping into my life and getting worse over the years, without me even knowing.  I just thought I had turned grumpy in my old age. Grumpy and achy. I hadn't been the person I should of been for the last 10/15 years as a result of hepc.  Anyway, look to the future and have a great holiday. Will you be over here for Christmas?
Love Jan x
p.s.  Hair is growing back slowly but growing back grey:(

-- Edited by jan on Thursday 18th of November 2010 11:18:27 AM

Hi Jan, There is nothing that can be done about my partial loss of vision, however if  the eye doctor had discovered the damage 11 months ago,  the tx would have been stopped and I would be worse off, as the damage was already done, and I would still have the virus! They can operate if the retina detaches completely, however this wouldn't restore the vision I have lost, but would probably save some sight in the right eye. No point in worrying about this, I'll know soon enough if it happens and will go straight to the hospital. Glasses don't make any difference. I can still read and do artwork with the left eye, which is not much effected. I can still see with the right eye, but it is like looking through a fine grey veil. I'm still getting used to this being  permanent, but count myself lucky it isn't worse. I think maybe the damage occured due to a big drop in blood pressure I had early on in tx, as low blood pressure is often a cause of retinal tears and haemorrages in people not on tx. Previous to tx, and the past few months, my blood pressure has always been normal.
I'm so glad I am out of the tx underworld now, and it is just in the past week that I can feel the other sx gradually ebbing away, and some energy returning. My memory isn't too good, but I don't feel like a zombie anymore!
Has your hair got thicker again? Mine is still falling out a lot, I wish some more would sprout soon! I'm really looking forward to going to England to see my parents and some old friends on 1st Dec, and feel that I will be well up to the train journey by then. I'm excited at the idea of being able to travel, and be independant again. I hope you are still feeling on top of the world with the knowledge that you are SVR!
Thinking of all those still on tx.........
Love Annie xxxxx

Hi Annie,

I am sorry to hear about your eye damage.  Am I right in understanding that there is nothing at all that can be done to improve your vision?  Thank God you have finished tx and are starting to feel half human again.  The increased energy level is great, soon you will be running up the stairs, two at a time.

Love Jan x

I'm now 5 weeks post-tx, and generally feeling much better. I had my appointment with an eye doctor yesterday to find out more about the damage to my eyes almost certainly caused by the interferon. The doctor was very thorough and found the cause of the problem, which wasn't detected by the previous doctor I was sent to last Dec/ Jan when the damage occurred. The last time she didn't examine the retina and optic nerves (at the back of the eye ball).  I have had a haemorrhage of the vitreous gel, and there are multiple fissures or tears in the retina, this is in both eyes, but I was told it was 'not serious' in the left eye and 'more serious' in the right eye. The hundreds of 'floaters' I can see, are shadows of all the escaped gel.  My eyes cannot repair themselves, so my vision will not improve. Hopefully it will not deteriorate either, though there is a possibility of the retina detaching in the right eye, that would require an emergency operation. For the future I will need once yearly visits to the same hospital to have the examinations repeated, more often if my vision deteriorates. The optic nerves are also effected, so I find it hard to tolerate bright lights or strong sunlight, even with dark glasses.
Suprisingly, I will be allowed to keep my driving licence, as I don't have a lot of peripheral vision in one eye, and wouldn't feel safe driving on main roads, or in towns.
I don't want my experience to frighten or put off anyone doing tx, or considering doing it.  There has been quite a lot of research done into the effect of Interferon on the eyes, and while minor permanent changes to vision are quite common......... about 5 percent of people in the studies I've seen, more serious damage is pretty rare. I am actually glad that the previous eye doctor didn't detect the problem early on in tx...........they would have taken me off tx immediately, and as I said before, I can live with the impaired vision, and I would rather have that than the rapid (in my case) progress of the HepC.
I'm not feeling too worried about what I found out yesterday, it is what I was expecting, and overall the tx drugs are starting to wear off, less brainfog, more energy, less itching, in fact half-normal again.
Love to all, Annie xxxxx