For whom the bell tolls...

I live in a beautiful place in London, not that far from a very old clocktower that gives our neighbourhood a nice village-y feel where people come to bring up kids and have a nice, easy time on Sunday mornings. I love it!

However, as an insomniac, the clocktower plays the part of a torturer whenever I can't get to sleep at night. And never has that been so true as this week. Before my treatment started, a couple of sleepless nights were annoying but I could cope with it. This week, after a few weeks of tiredness, a night of sleeplesness resulted in me missing a day of work and feeling like I just wanted to bury my head in the ground and sleep for weeks on end. It was very hard.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that it was a dificult week. Being tired all the time is becoming increasingly wearing as time goes by. I've been trying to tell you that it's not a horrible side effect but, as side effects go, tiredness is difficult. I'm starting to hate it!

That on the left is the weekly dose of drugs that are making me feel like this every week. I've had a full-on weekend [Saturday: My parent's 28th Wedding Anniversary! [Well done guys!], Sunday: Colombia's Independence Day] so this week might be hard as well. But I'll complain about that one next Sunday.

See you then!

Introducing Mr Billy-No-Weekends!

Remember when I merrily mentioned during the first week of my treatment that I was just feeling a little bit tired? And then when I worriedly mentioned last week that the tiredness and achiness remained? Well, three weeks in, I'm physically and emotionally drained! As a very active 25-year-old, suddenly facing waking up in the mornings being just as tired as I was when I went to bed and knowing that I've got a long day in front of me, it's e-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-n-g! It's pretty much like taking the juice away from the duracell bunny! Mean!

Anyway, it just means that by Friday evenings [the night of the injection] I'm ready for a wild weekend of crashing on my sofa looking like your stereotypical dope-head without the aid of recreational drugs! A barrel of laughs as you can imagine... Thankfully, my partner is an angel and life is not as bad as it could be.

Having got that off my chest, everything else is alright. The tiredness is an annoying side effect but one that relaxing under the sun will sort out nicely. I'm still very positive and I'm feeling healthy. I'm eating more than normal [I've gained a couple of kilos] and even my sleeping patterns are starting to resemble a normal person's fare.

That's my weekly update and if you want to know a bit more, you know the deal, drop me a line!

See you

Tiredness here to stay!

Second week into my treatment and I haven’t got much to report really which, depending where you’re standing, it’s either good news or bad news. As I mentioned last week , after my injection I just felt tired and my muscles a bit achy but that was it. Regrettably, the tiredness and achiness never went away and it was, needless to say, a long week. However, bearing in mind the long list of side effects I was presented with before I started my treatment, it’s going rather well!

This week I had to give myself the injection and it was a very shaky affair I must confess. I don’t know if it was fear or anticipation but my hands would not stop shaking. Thankfully I managed to do it and it was alright. The tiredness and achiness are still here and they seem to be here to stay but I’m feeling very positive and very happy that no big side effects have really kicked in so, all in all, another good week I’d say!

That’s it for this week really. If you want to find out a bit more, drop me a line as I’d be happy to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention something else. I have had two injections so far and I've got two big red spots in my stomach where the injections went in. It is a well-known side effect and nothing to worry about but 12 days after the first injection, the first of the lovely red spots is still going strong. They are the size of a golf ball and a bit tender to touch. Nothing really massive really but I thought I should mention it anyway.

Good news for Hep C sufferers

Hello,

The EU has just approved a shorter version of the Interferon treatment for certain patients suffering from Hep C. If you want to find out more, here's a link to the story.

Thanks for stopping by.