Pills_800x0.jpgI have had hepatitis C for 25 years and I’m not going to have it for much longer (hopefully). Yesterday I started an AbbVie trial. Their drugs have had outstanding results with my genotype and I’m certain that in a few months my virus will be history.

The last time I did treatment was in 2005. It was a year-long slog on interferon and ribavirin and I didn’t ever go clear. This time it’s 12 weeks and with no interferon but with protease and polymarase inhibitors. This feels like a walk in park.

I started yesterday and haven’t felt any noticeable side effects yet, which is making me wonder if I got the placebo. The trial is double blind, so I won’t know if I’ve been given the real drugs for three months.

From other people’s accounts of their experiences on these drugs, I might not feel many side effects anyway.

The most common reported side effects are headaches, rashes and stomach upsets. I could get a placebo effect and produce all these symptoms or I could tolerate the drugs really well and not produce any side effects. Who knows?

This entry was originally published on February 13, 2013 on The Hepatitis C Trust. Reprinted with permission.