Most people learn to inject themselves. Ask your doctor or nurse for more information. This is a drug that has been available for many years to treat a virus that causes chest infections in children. More recently it has been shown to be active against hepatitis C too. It is thought to act as an immune stimulator.
Ribavirin is a capsule which is taken twice a day.
It also helps if the interferon is taken last thing at night. These symptoms often subside after a few weeks as the body adjusts to the interferon. However, a small number of people are unable to complete a course of treatment as the symptoms are too uncomfortable. Unfortunately ribavirin seems to make the side effects of therapy much worse and in many patients ribavirin causes a mild anaemia which aggravates the interferon induced fatigue. Numerous other rarer side-effects have been reported.