Strange neurological symptoms do happen as an extra hepatic manifestation of HCV.

HCV is not the only cause of neuropathy so if you treat your HCV and it does not get better we would need to look for another cause.

I had a very interesting patient, who, prior to treating people with HIV I would have thought was mad.

He had whole body tingling (a very unusual thing).

Anyway on treatment the tingling started to go.

First from the middle, then from elbows down, then wrists, then fingers, then gone.

Quite remarkable and certainly an improvement.

Diabetes is very common in patients with HCV and can cause neuropathy so that is a good one to look for.

I have had similar symptoms of skin itching or burning for years. They have abated a little since treatment but still flare up at times.
I also get muscle cramps sometimes which I relate to too much carb or sugar consumption. I do try to limit consumption of these and definitely have less cramps if I eat mainly vegetables and fruit with some protein and fats like nuts, avocado and eggs, but some carb heavy foods taste so good especially on cold winter days.

Since I was diagnosed with Hep C in 2013 I have had on going attacks in which I would wake in the early hours of the morning with burning sensations to my mouth (tongue), hands and chest. I would burn up and sweat like if I had a fever and then become freezing cold.
These symptoms would also occur after eating bland food or drinking water where I would burn up with the sweats , have heart palpitations, feel nauseas and have abdo pain. I saw several gastrologists and they all thought it had something to do with outside their field of expertise. In other words that didn’t have a clue. It’s always present and the intensity comes in cycles

Thanks so much for posting this, Meg! I have been looking into this, and while I have not been tested for Cryoglobulinemia, have had all of the classic symptoms. It is astounding that physicians here in the US seem to know nothing about it, and even when patients have ‘Cryo’, don’t seem to know what they are looking at, or that it is even associated with HCV.

The arthritis aspect of the disease is particularly concerning to me since I have had a Birmingham hip resurfacing for my left hip, a complete hip replacement for my right hip, and recently a surgery to correct a severe spinal stenosis. All since 2010. Since I have or had other symptoms associated with ‘Cryo’, I am looking at this very hard as the source of severe joint issues for which there is no family history.

This is really terrible stuff, and another compelling reason to get treatment for HCV as soon as possible. An excerpt from the article Meg posted follows:

“In a French study of 36 patients with type I cryoglobulinemia, skin or vasomotor symptoms were present in 75%; nephropathy in 30%; and neuropathy in 47%. The underlying B cell disease was a nonmalignant monoclonal gammopathy in 36% and hematologic malignancy in 64%.Treatments included fludarabine and rituximab-based regimens. Five-year survival was 82%.[3]”

Please elaborate, Price. I know for me this is something of a bombshell, and I’m sure there are others here suffering from HCV related joint problems as well.

ETA: Bingo! http://www.rheumatology.org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Diseases-Conditions/HCV-Rheumatic-Diseases

(Thanks Price!)

All of this makes a lot of sense, Price.

Haven’t talked about 4 week labs much, but the progress that has been made is rather incredible. Several areas that were abnormal have just snapped back into the normal range like a rubber band. One of those is Glucose, which had been on the high side for years, now solidly in the normal range, along with just about everything else.

Still have a slight calcium deficiency and had started taking Vitamin D to see if that will help.

More than anything, I am beginning to see effective DAA treatment as a sort of panacea for HCV sufferers. This stuff is a real miracle! It is becoming clear to me that this disease is so much more than just a liver ailment. It really appears to be an entire package – a syndrome if you will with the HCV virus at its core, wreaking absolute havoc throughout the entire system.

I have to think that if the health care system looked, really looked, at the big picture with regard to the cost/benefit relationship of curing HCV Syndrome, the standards for initiating treatment would have to change dramatically. However, it is clear to me that this information has not been compiled, cross referenced and presented in an effective way to the medical community, because most of them don’t seem to have the slightest idea about it. The level of ignorance is tragic, and astounding!