I am on treatment with Harvoni. I don't do any foreign substance, herb, drug, alcohol so any changes I note are due to treatment, not pre-existing condition

1) I went through depression but then I realized that I have been mildly depressed for a very long time. That is the disease affecting my liver.

2) For 50 years my liver has been abnormal. For example, one side effect I am seeing is muscle tone. That is improving without exercise.

These are small things but the fact is, my liver doesn't know what normal is. As the Dragon dies, I am getting fluctuations and adjustments in all sorts of ways. I have insomnia, which if I were really stressed or sick, I had for many years. Liver function gets out of whack with stress or illness, so insomnia, depression, what friends have said for years "my lethargy" lack of muscle strength, these are symptoms of the dragon disease.

Now, after so many years of abnormal liver function, I have the idea that my liver is having to search for normal. That might take a while.

This is a tremendous change we are experiencing. The Dragon has ruled. Now the body has to adjust to the new regime of normal healthy. Could take a while and the fluctuations such as depression, lethargy, insomnia  associated with liver function is the disease letting go.

JMHO

hi Skewed,

I was on elavil for a short period of time when I first got sober.  After being diagnosed I had suicidal thoughts/ideation and was then switched over to prozac. It helped immensely, especially when I was on interferon and RIBA. (no ill effects from the prozac) I remained on it until shortly after failing the old treatments and asked to try life without it and luckily for me,  I was able to do so. We think for me a lot of the depression was early sobriety and then the HCV. 

The benzos as Tig mentioned are good for many other things but depression is best handled with the serotonin update meds. Many docs use them interchangeably so I am hopeful you will talk to you doc and get your needs met. I worked in a psych hospital prior to my career now and have seen this time and time again. 

I'm rooting for ya,

wendy

Hi Skewed,

i have finished 12 weeks of RIBA, sof,dac. Intended to do 24 but doctors took my off the RIBA arm. So I have just finished the first week of sov and Dac without riba.

i am disappointed I couldn't complete the  24 weeks triple treatment and feel like a weakling but the riba was too much for me. What ever quirky faults your personality has, they will be magnified on Riba. One of my quirky faults has been a life long state of depression. I have tr various drugs - the one I am on now is called Pristiq - I only take 50 mg a day but it alleviates my anxiety and depression without making me feel like a zombie.

Now that a lot of the riba has left my system, the Pristiq is  working again. You are probably right about the pathways used by the virus being now blocked. At least though you are virus free, and I hope to be one day too. That's a big blessing to count.

i hope you can find a means of enjoying your life and would recommend Pristiq.

good luck,

Syd

been a while skewed.i had a right bad time of it for a long time after tx.it got better as the riba left my system.like mike me and AD dont mix.so i knew i just hd to sit it out.it has got better the last few months.but for me there seems no quick fix.but being svr is a relief.thats now is repair time and some days it is all i can do just to keep moving.your not alone mate .keep in touch best of health to you                                                                                                                                                          william

Hi Skewed. It's good to hear from you again although I wish you had better news to report. I've had my share of depression issues too so I know what a big problem it can be at times. I had a big problem during my 1st treatment when I was taking Sov/riba, but I blame that on riba since my last treatment with Harvoni, which also has Sovaldi, didn't really affect my already present depression. The Olysio may be a different story but I doubt you'll find much "peer-reviewed evidence" either way. I haven't seen any of our members previously treated with Olysio post here in a while but it would be interesting to find out if any of them are having continued depression or insomnia issues.

 My depression treatment history has included trying several different anti-depressants, some of which I wasn't willing to keep taking long enough to see if they would work or not due to undesirable initial side effects. Two that did help me were Citalopram and Zoloft but even these I had to start off with a reduced dose then increase to full dose after my system got accustom to them. But that's just me and from what I've seen, what works for one does not necessarily work for another. There is certainly a degree of trial and error but one thing seems to hold true which is that it takes some patience, and willingness to go through some possible temporary discomfort in order to find what works for you. But once you do find what works it will be worth it.

Still riding that ZX-14R? I know it has to help at least some.

Keep us up to date on what's going on with you.

-- Edited by wmlj1960 on Sunday 13th of March 2016 08:00:22 AM

I had trouble with depression during and after my first course of Interferon back in the 90's. Something just clicked and I was no longer myself. Over the course of the 20 years since that failed tx, I have been on and off AD's for notable depression. Some times worse than others. Before I started my last course of the evil triple treatment, I requested and started them again. Interferon and Riba amounted to depression in prescription form, in my opinion of course. As I said, I have tried living without AD's, but find that whatever "clicked" that time 20 years ago returns when I stop. It's not a difficult decision for me Skewed. You have a choice to try them and perhaps find the relief you're in search of, or deal with something that really makes living difficult.

One thing I can tell you, drugs like Xanax, Valium and Ativan only make it worse. They shouldn't be prescribed for depression (imo). They're a benzodiazepene, which are addictive and will relax you, but won't improve depression. True anti depressants are a totally different class of drugs. You should discuss an SSRI, which affects serotonin uptake. There are others out there as well. I took Wellbutrin on treatment and it worked pretty good. I'm currently giving Zoloft a go and it helps keep the gray clouds at bay. They have both been around for your required timespan... I think it's worth discussing with your doc. Good luck buddy. We're here to talk anytime!

I tried to take anti depressants during my incevik treatment and it made me sick to my stomach. My doctor told me there were new pills that were easier and less addictive, so maybe a newer one might make the difference. They have done a lot of research into depression in the past few years. It might be worth considering. Especially if it's interfering with your mood a lot. I didn't take anything, and the depression eased up. Hoping yours does too... :)

Thanks Gracie, I have considered treatment BUT I will NOT take any medication that has not been on the market for at least 20 years. No more being a guinea pig for me. I was on Xanax, ativan, valium and even tried Librium they all work, but are very addictive and create new problems, so I'm hoping for something with little or no side-effects and is not addictive. Unfortunately, there is probably no such animal--so-to-speak.

That's sucks skewed... did you have RIBA? Perhaps the treatments bring out or make worse depression in some. I know it takes years for liver damage to reverse, so my hope for you is that your depression will lessen as time goes on. Have you considered being treated for depression? I know that treatment works well for some. 

During my lifetime, I used to get mildly depressed on occasion, BUT since SVR and now I'm well over a year and still clear, I am staying VERY depressed (I have to stay obsessively busy not to notice the depression). Also, I used to sleep like a baby, but now I'm lucky to sleep 4 hours a night! This is no coincidence. As I've stated before, I believe that the new DAAs permanently block the pathways the HCV virus used to replicate itself and these blocked pathways are the cause of the depression. If you have peer-reviewed evidence to the contrary, I would like to see it.