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georgecostanza

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      georgecostanza
      Participant

        Hello:

        Better to be somewhat worried than blissfully ignorant.  I'm no expert, but I believe if there is no lymph node involvement it would be classified as stage II.   You may want to read up on the effectiveness of sentinal lymph node biopsy, it seems to be somewhat controversial whether it tells the full story.  You are right to be on guard.

        georgecostanza
        Participant

          Hello:

          Better to be somewhat worried than blissfully ignorant.  I'm no expert, but I believe if there is no lymph node involvement it would be classified as stage II.   You may want to read up on the effectiveness of sentinal lymph node biopsy, it seems to be somewhat controversial whether it tells the full story.  You are right to be on guard.

          georgecostanza
          Participant

            Hello:

            The truth is, you will never know for certain if interferon has done the job for you or not.  For myself, I just thought if I had new symptoms, I would wonder why I hadn't just done it.

            A few things that applied to me (but may not for others):

            The first month of intravenous treatment, I was also given a bag of Zofran to counteract nausea.  I later looked up some info about it, and found that it could cause terrible constipation (very true).  I asked to try skipping the Zofran, and really felt no more or less nauseous than I had, but the other problem seemed to clear up.  A pleasant side effect was spending less time at the clinic hooked up to the i.v.

            I at first resisted suggestions for anti-depressants, but relented in month 4 after reading up on it.  After 3 or 4 weeks I felt less fatigue, and my outlook was generally brighter, i.e. I felt more like I could make it for the full 12 months.  A fairly low dose seemed to work fine.

            All will suggest that you self-administer the interferon at bedtime, as you will 'sleep through' the side effects.  I followed this for a while, but slept very poorly and often woke up drenched in sweat or with the chills.  I found that I could manage the side effects with ibuprofen if I did the injections earlier in the day, and then I could sleep more normally at night.

            The first few months I was losing hair rapidly, but this seemed to stop subsequent to my beginning to take a daily multivitamin and paying closer attention to proper nutrition.  I won't say that was the cure, but I thought for sure I was going to be nearly bald by month 6.

            I never stopped trying different things to cope better:  more exercise, supplementation, get more rest, ignore the fatigue, whatever.  I will say one of the worst things for me was so-called 'brain fog', sort of having difficulty concentrating, thinking straight, so forth.  A conversation longer than about a minute seemed tortuous to me. I was really concerned that would stick, but I think I'm generally back to normal. 

            I did not miss any work due to this, but I have a desk job, not certain how I would have fared with a more physically-demanding occupation.  I have read on many forums comments that interferon 'ruined' their immune system, but I never contracted so much as a cold during or since my treatment.  Again, I can only speak for myself.

            georgecostanza
            Participant

              Hello:

              The truth is, you will never know for certain if interferon has done the job for you or not.  For myself, I just thought if I had new symptoms, I would wonder why I hadn't just done it.

              A few things that applied to me (but may not for others):

              The first month of intravenous treatment, I was also given a bag of Zofran to counteract nausea.  I later looked up some info about it, and found that it could cause terrible constipation (very true).  I asked to try skipping the Zofran, and really felt no more or less nauseous than I had, but the other problem seemed to clear up.  A pleasant side effect was spending less time at the clinic hooked up to the i.v.

              I at first resisted suggestions for anti-depressants, but relented in month 4 after reading up on it.  After 3 or 4 weeks I felt less fatigue, and my outlook was generally brighter, i.e. I felt more like I could make it for the full 12 months.  A fairly low dose seemed to work fine.

              All will suggest that you self-administer the interferon at bedtime, as you will 'sleep through' the side effects.  I followed this for a while, but slept very poorly and often woke up drenched in sweat or with the chills.  I found that I could manage the side effects with ibuprofen if I did the injections earlier in the day, and then I could sleep more normally at night.

              The first few months I was losing hair rapidly, but this seemed to stop subsequent to my beginning to take a daily multivitamin and paying closer attention to proper nutrition.  I won't say that was the cure, but I thought for sure I was going to be nearly bald by month 6.

              I never stopped trying different things to cope better:  more exercise, supplementation, get more rest, ignore the fatigue, whatever.  I will say one of the worst things for me was so-called 'brain fog', sort of having difficulty concentrating, thinking straight, so forth.  A conversation longer than about a minute seemed tortuous to me. I was really concerned that would stick, but I think I'm generally back to normal. 

              I did not miss any work due to this, but I have a desk job, not certain how I would have fared with a more physically-demanding occupation.  I have read on many forums comments that interferon 'ruined' their immune system, but I never contracted so much as a cold during or since my treatment.  Again, I can only speak for myself.

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