Shame that cycloferon is drawing out so many side effects in you, FunkOdyssey. As you said yourself earlier, interferon injection treatment often produces side effects such as fever, headache, depression, fatigue, arthralgias, and myalgias (see
interferon side effects); so it might be expected that interferon boosters like cycloferon produce something similar in certain people.
I personally find any treatment that increases my depression levels very hard to bear, and tend to drop it quickly!. I don't mind extra brain fog or extra fatigue, that does not worry me so much; but when depression levels get worse, that's my Achilles' heel. So I can completely empathize!
I have already tried Amixin and arbidol, and I was fine with these; I am still waiting for my cycloferon to arrive, so I am not sure whether I will experience nasty side effects from cycloferon.
Ideas for mitigating the side effects of cycloferon/interferon treatment:
• Perhaps cycloferon is actually working too well for you, in that each cycloferon tablet is producing a very large output of interferon in your body - more than the average person. Assuming this is the case, then taking a half or quarter tablet may be the answer. Plus it is more economical.
• I read that taking
paracetamol (acetaminophen) or
ibuprofen can greatly reduce interferon side effects:
"Panadol is in fact a wonder drug with regard to mitigating Interferon side effects. Just two or three a day really does make an amazing difference" - this anecdote from last paragraph of
this page.
See also:
Tolerating interferon: a new study shows that the use of ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatories can help decrease adverse effects.
• The depression from cycloferon/interferon might be mitigated by taking serotonin boosters. I cannot tolerate SSRI anti-depressants myself (they dramatically increase my depression levels!), but oddly enough,
high-dose (10 grams daily) inositol powder (a B vitamin) works well for me, as a natural serotonin booster and potent anti-depressant.
• Also, although this sounds unbelievable,
saffron herb has been shown to be as potent as Prozac as an anti-depressant; saffron strongly boosts serotonin; ref:
(1). I have tried saffron for depression, and unlikely as it sounds, saffron most definitely works (only with proper Spanish or Iranian saffron; other stuff like Egyptian saffron is far too weak).
Saffron dose is around 10 to 20 strands (saffron stamen) every 12 hours. You can take saffron as and when you need it: its anti-depressant effect kicks in fast: within a hour or so of taking it. So this herb is very good as a stand-by solution for depression when you need it.
• Since the half-life of cycloferon is fairly short (4-5 hours), perhaps take cycloferon just before going to bed? That way, most of the cycloferon will be out of your body by the time you wake up, and so perhaps the worst symptoms you will be unaware of while you sleep.
• As mentioned before:
Green tea EGCG attenuates the neurotoxicity of IFN-gamma augmented neuronal damage from HIV-1. Ref:
(1).