hep c ?, is being on methadone hurting me?

Bill Handle
#1. February 25th, 2009, at 5:47 AM.

Feature articles on painkillers:
FDA proposes warning on acetaminophen painkillers 30 years after the fact
(NewsTarget) Dr. Peter Lurie, Deputy Director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen — a non-profit consumer advocacy organization — issued a statement this week questioning the length of time the Food and Drug Administration took to issue recommendations for warning labels on over-the-counter…

Prescription painkillers now more common than heroin as street drugs
(NewsTarget) Hard recreation drugs are being passed up many drug abusers in favor of prescription narcotics like morphine and OxyContin, according to a new study across seven Canadian cities. A recent research report states that heroin continues to be the number-one illegal drug across cities such…

11 million bottles of acetaminophen recalled after metal fragments found
(NewsTarget) Generic drug maker Perrigo Co. announced yesterday that 11 million bottles of the popular painkiller acetaminophen are being recalled because they may contain fragments of metal. The recall affects bottles of 500-milligram acetaminophen in varying quantities that were sold under store…

Common painkillers linked to heart attack and stroke, research finds
(NewsTarget) Britain’s Commission on Human Medicines is warning UK doctors that daily high doses of common painkillers such as ibuprofen may increase patients’ risk of stroke and heart attack. The British Medical Journal published research in June warning that prescription-strength daily doses…

Common painkillers taken by expectant mothers linked to congenital defects in newborns
(NewsTarget) New research published in the September issue of the journal Birth Defects Research Part B found that pregnant women who take NSAIDs — non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — in the first trimester run an increased risk of having a child with congenital birth defects, particularly heart…

Painkillers tied to risk of erectile dysfunction (press release)
Regardless of the reason for taking them, painkillers classified as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) apparently increase the likelihood that middle-aged and elderly men will develop erection difficulties, according to a new report. NSAIDs include several widely used drugs, such as…

Prescription painkillers cause more overdoses than heroin or cocaine
(NewsTarget) Death due to overdose of drugs such as heroin and cocaine have been overshadowed by deaths from opioid prescription painkiller overdoses, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study recently found. The opioids Oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone and fentanyl have been sold…

Common painkillers associated with increased risk of first hospital admission for heart failure (press release)
Common painkillers, such as ibuprofen, are associated with a 30% increased risk of first hospital admission for heart failure, reveals research published ahead of print in Heart. Although the overall risk is small, say the researchers, it may have a considerable impact on public health, particularly…

Merck caught in scandal to bury Vioxx heart attack risks, intimidate scientists and keep pushing dangerous drugs; Vioxx lawsuits now forming
The truth has finally come out about Vioxx: insider emails published by the Wall Street Journal reveal that Merck, the maker of Vioxx, was fully aware of the health risks of its COX-2 inhibitor anti-inflammatory drug as early as March, 2000. As is apparent from the published emails, there was a concerted…

Arthritis creams merely mask symptoms and offer no long-term relief, study shows
New research published in the British Medical Journal is showing that arthritis creams used topically offer only temporary relief that fades within 2 weeks. This is the conclusion from a trial involving nearly 2000 patients, and it indicates that arthritis creams are basically useless. All they do is…

Long-term use of Tylenol (acetaminophen) found to cause kidney damage, says new study
New research shows that long-term use of acetaminophen — sold under the brand name Tylenol — harms kidneys. This research was conducted on 1,700 women, and spanned 11 years. Overall, it showed that 10% of the women experienced a decline in their kidney function, indicating that their kidneys were being…

FDA once again asleep on the job; the GAO investigates a dangerous drug manufacturer
Here’s another opportunity to contrast the actions of the FDA’s actions on prescription drugs versus herbal medicine. As you are probably well aware, the FDA aggressively bans herbs that cause just a few deaths. Ephedra’s isolated problems were highly exaggerated and widely publicized in order…

Bad medicine: deadly dose of painkillers prescribed to boy with a headache
Very few of these medical area stories ever make it to press, but when they do the details are usually quite appalling. In this case doctors manage to actually kill a 12-year-old boy suffering from nothing more than a severe headache by prescribing a fatal cocktail of prescription drugs. The…

Aspirin and painkiller drugs cause widespread stomach ulcers
A reported 40,000 people die each year from the use of over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin. This statistic goes largely unreported, of course, since it’s not something the pharmaceutical industry wants people to know about. Think about it: each year, almost as many Americans die from OTC painkillers…

reikigirl8
#2. February 27th, 2009, at 3:17 PM.

There arent many drugs out there that are good for your liver.The best thing you can do for your life is to become drug free!I know how hard it is,but you dont have to do it alone!You might want to try group counsling.Narcotics anonymous is a great program .If you also drink try alcoholics anonymous.Ive seen alot of people come in with yellow skin from liver disease and after getting clean and sober,Get their health back.
People can live many years with liver disease,but if you continue down the path your on,you WILL Die!!!!No ifs ands or buts death is around the corner for you!PLEASE HELP YOURSELF!!!!!
aa.org
na.org
There are meetings all over the world.7 days a week
Arent you sick and tired of being sick and tired yet!!!
Start LIVING today!!!!!

Arlette s
#3. March 1st, 2009, at 12:10 PM.

How long ago were you diagnosed with Hep c ? Please help and are you taking anything for that?

giggling.willow
#4. March 4th, 2009, at 9:09 AM.

first of all, let me give you a little insight on hcv. it can actually cause the feelings of panic, depression ect.
hcv usually affects a person with depression as the first sign (or other mental illness). many don’t understand that just because you have hcv and think you may have gotten it sharing drugs, the chances are you probably had hcv prior to drug use (i.e., the depression is the first sign, hence the self medicating).
now that i have that out of the way….

your on a very low dose of methadone-that is not the drug to worry about, however, the klonopin would be the worse one to take out of the two.

have you looked into treating your hcv infection or do the doctors think that you will have to get off of the maintenance dose of methadone prior to treatment? (most want you clean for at least 6 months prior to treating)

HCV does not just reside in the liver. It is all throughout your body. HCV does pass the blood brain barrier. The feelings you are experiencing are probably from the HCV itself as well as the toxins your liver cannot filter or that the liver is unable to handle the process of filtering at a normal rate….I do not think it’s your addiction persay….I think it’s just the toxins, the hcv virons (there are millions and millions of “quasispecies” in the body. HCV changes it’s viral makeup everytime it makes its way back to the liver. This overloads our body as a whole. It causes very strange feelings and weird symptoms.
Having HCV affects other organs and all tissues throughout the body. Most without knowing the connection to HCV have many “bi-directional” diseases. Some are hair loss, rashes, depression, mood swings, bi-polar disease, even your joints and bones hurt as well as Other organ overload and injury, such as the lungs, heart, spleen….everything we have is infected with hcv.

So, not only are you fighting a battle with the HCV and all it can cause, the medications you are on are also adding to the issue-medication buildup in the system.
bi-directional diseases or symptoms can happen at any stage of liver damage as well. It doesn’t mean your liver is seriously damaged, you could have minimal damage and still have these issues.

My best word of advice is to try and drink a gallon of ice water a day. Try to wean off the meds your currently on. Ask your doctor for a very good antidepressant and antianxiety med. I was on zoloft and buspar during treatment for my hcv.

Again, I think it has more to do with the HCV affecting your body than that of the “addiction” sense. I would find a doctor who knows a bit about HCV- in the sense I am talking.

I know how you feel- even though I never had an issue with drugs, I do know what the virus is capable of doing….
Panic attacks-due to caffiene intake and the liver not filtering it out quick enough. All at once I’d have this HUGE sense of panic…so bad that ambulances had to take me to the hospital because i thought i was dying and they didn’t know what to do.

I quit all caffiene-it took a good 7 months with no caffiene to comepletely get rid of the panic attacks (severe anxiety as I’m sure your aware of!)

Please keep in mind that the low doses you are on will never fix what the HCV is doing-unless you get serious and make the doctors do their job, you will be stuck.
Would you rather be stuck in the endless battle with the meds or would you rather be able to get on some medications that actually help the side effects of the HCV and get on treatment to help the liver so you dont have to have all these weird feelings and aweful sensations?

I hope I’m not being to blunt. I have seen people get stuck…I was stuck myself -taking antidepressants until they quit working, then back into the hospital, different meds again, then those would quit working and back and forth in a circle I went….until they found out that I had HCV and that it was HCV causing all my issues-it wasn’t just depression and panic attacks for no reason-it wasn’t “all in my head”. (but in the HCV reality of it all- it was in my head…and in my liver, my blood-everything connected!

When I had my diagonsis, I jumped on the antiviral chemotherapy wagon and kicked some butt. I can now drink caffiene again, I no longer have to see a psych and no more antidepressants.

If you ever need to talk I am here!