Hi Pabilito,

An interesting read. I too have had years of bloating, sharp pains etc. Since I have a nutritionist and trainer as a brother, I sought often advice for diet when things became uncomfortable.

Now you are drug free, buy a decent prebiotic and probiotic and take for at least a month. One thing that happens when we are ill is our good gut flora becomes a lot less, especially after long term inflammation and the bad multiply in its place. To change the conditions in the gut cut out all sugar for at least month. Not only will it stop the bad bacteria feeding, it allows the good to multiply. Replace bread for healthier options like bulgarwheat, couscous, in that period making a salad rather than bread. Diet should consist of heavy plant based products and fish/meat, with the meat portion no bigger than your palm. Olive oil, sugar free maple, ginger, fresh herbs etc are great for adding some taste. 

A decent breakfast is something like:

Oats with almond milk, half an apple browned in a spoon of sugar fee maple. two-three crushed walnuts and cinnamon for added taste.

Lunch:

diced chicken with bulgarwheat, med. vegatable in a low salt broth for taste.

Dinner:

Salmon with spinach, roasted veg, mashed caulflower.

Snack inbetween:

Cheese stick with celery

Handful of almonds

Or a pear with cheese

Any small healthy combination.

Not only will this improve further your gut flora, but also the depression. All the things we crave are bad for us, and generally make us feel poop after the sugar high. Our food has a lot to do with how we feel.

Once your body is back to a healthy state, you can introduce back a few of the bad things in moderation.

That is my belief and it works for me. :D

Great news Pablo and great thread,

All I can say is that I am now waiting for you and Syd to join me and so many others in the ranks of SVR. It won't be long now and I will be here to watch it!

SF

Hey Pablo,

Let me tell ya, improvement at any level is excellent and better (that's the keyword) than it was before treatment. Some of us have been clear for years and there have been good improvements. Those of you just finishing and feeling better should continue to heal and notice more improvements. The benefits of teatment are too numerous to count!

Thanks Tig and Syd

Re the abdominal bloating, I do hope it improves over time.  Every cloud has a silver lining though: it's kept my weight down as I eat less!

Re the anxiety/depression, I'm certain that it's not all related to HCV.  Far from it, but I have noticed at least, say, 30% improvement in both.

Pablo

Hi Pablo, 

like you I am waiting for my post 12 result and it's eerie hearing you list your symptoms which are so similar to mine.

Esoecially bloating, which like you I still have even though ascites has settled down.

more importantly is the anxiety depression thing which I had always attributed to a stuff up in brain chemistry. It's an improvement I never expected to have - not that it's gone or even half way gone, but it's lessened, and some days I know what hope means. I thought that black dog on my back was my own personal silhouette, so finding out it might be a Hep C symtom is weird. negative thinking patterns and anxiety triggers are stil there, but hell, I've been honing those up for 40 years. 

I get more pain in my stomach and right shoulder now which scares me, but they found a duodenal ulcer while they were peering at the varices so may be attributable to that?

by the way I chowed down on an English drama series called The Fear which I thought was pretty good.

Cheers,

Syd

Hey Pablo,

Thanks for starting this thread. It's an excellent idea to get this going now because this is such a new protocol. It's very helpful to have anecdotal and factual reference in one easy to find place for those coming along. It should be very helpful and informative. 

*I appreciate that the science says that the liver has no nerves going into it so we shouldn't, in principle, experience liver pains but this is what I attribute them to.

I do appreciate that same sentiment! The liver itself has no pain receptors, but the supporting tissue and the capsule can transmit sensation from inflammation and changes.  I used to have terrible sharp pains and that has disappeared. Yeah for that!

Hi all

There seems to be more and more people on the forum starting Eclupsa and I'm am just about coming up to 12 weeks post-treatment so I thought I'd start a thread, as I was very curious before I started as to how others felt post-treatment.

One caveat: I was on an 8 week trial of Ecplupsa plus a 3rd drug (Vox); whereas most people now are on Eclupsa only - I say 'only' as they are a wonderful pair of drugs - for 12 weeks.

Before:

- I was lucky enough to avoid many of the problems associated with HCV for most of my time infected (many years) but I had an icky, slightly toxic feeling (like a mild hangover), worse in the morning, all through those years

- I had also experienced liver pains* during these years: a dull ache lasting for 5 mins or so under my rib cage on the right side a few times a week; a darting pain lasting seconds in the same region occasionally; and a burning sensation, again in the same region, lasting minutes and sometimes radiating to my right shoulder blade about once a month.

- but in the last 2 years the HCV-related problems started to kick in with a lot of fatigue, needing to sleep much more than usual (but not feeling refreshed afterwards), abdominal bloating after eating small amounts of food, and a low sex drive

- I've suffered anxiety and depression for years so I don't want to attribute all of these to HCV but my impression is that HCV made them worse

During treatment:

- some mild flu-like side-effects for a few days and feeling dehydrated despite drinking lots of water

- the icky feeling started to go immediately and was gone totally within a few weeks

- a surge of energy, high quality sleep and a return of my sex drive (woof, woof!)

- I fretted a bit about being on an 8-week regime (vs 12) but was reassured by the members of this forum regarding this

12 weeks after treatment:

- the surge of energy has gone but the fatigue I experienced before treatment is vastly improved

- the liver pains are much, much better. I still get them, especially in the morning if I wake up on my right side, but I'd say there's been an 80% improvement

- I still get bloating and need to eat small meals, but I hope this will improve over time

- my mood and anxiety are much improved.  I don't know if this is a biological thing due to the absence of HCV or whether it's psychological now that I don't have worries about my health in my subconscious much of the time...either way, I don't care!

- overall, my body feels much cleaner inside 

So, I'm a pretty pleased bunny, and now all I need is to get the SVR12 result.

Best of luck to all those who are embarking on this journey with Eclupsa with-or-without Vox, and to those on any DAA!  They are wonderful advances in medical science.  Shame about the price point, but seeing as I lucked out and didn't have to pay I can't complain.

Pablo

*I appreciate that the science says that the liver has no nerves going into it so we shouldn't, in principle, experience liver pains but this is what I attribute them to