Since my doctor would not do it, I did; I am gradually withdrawing from solupred, and instead of taking ursofalk three times daily, I am taking two, and sometimes one. Zyloric I completely stopped two weeks ago. The eltroxin I only started a month ago and intend to keep on taking it. I am also taking milk thistle 250 and osteocare once a day, as well as vitamin E 800 units daily.
I am starting to feel emotionally better, yet uncertain of my physical well being.
Hello Batatis.
I wasn't sure what the other meds besides Ursofalk were so had a snoop. Know that the one known as solupred is a steroid now (I knew it under a different name years ago) and that could be one that can contribute to depression but at the same time, having PBC can cause periods of feeling down also.
You didn't state what you were being treat for besides PBC but I can hazard a guess at two. Not sure if a good idea to stop taking the thyroid one unless you did or have sought medical advice though as I thought once a patient was on thyroxine then that was permanent like we are supposed to take urso for life with PBC.
I think it's fair to say that everyone who has something that is long-term can have periods of feeling down and depressed. As medics state it is when something continues with no end in sight that it becomes a problem.
I have days (been diagnosed with PBC for 3 1/2 yrs now) when I feel like it is all going wrong. Might be because I had a worse night of the itch and feel tired later afternoon the next day and then wonder as we don't really know what is going on in-between having bloods. If the bloods are still abnormal and the last one wasn't as good as a previous one it is so easy to dwell on it but I have to say I don't anymore.
I decided quite some time ago that I was going to live life, enjoy it otherwise I'd end up going round and round in circle as currently there is no cure for PBC so just got to resolve I had to learn to live with it.
I am certain a feelilng of well-being can make you feel heaps better. I sometimes wonder how I manage as I have nights where I cannot sleep but feel irritated by the itch. I now say I 'morph' in the evening when the itch comes on as the following day it is as if nothing was ever the matter during the night, itch-free until I start feeling prickly early evening again.
Peridot, your reply means a lot to me for it is my first time ever to share my worries!
My case of PBC is causing me fatigue, and only a month ago I was diagnosed as mildly hypothyroid. The fatigue has been on and off since I was in my twenties, now I am 59, but lately it is constant fatigue that is almost debilitating me. I did not and do not intend to stop the thyroxin, it is the steroid that I am gradually withdrawing from even though my doctor is not approving.
Before discovering my PBC in my AMA test, almost a year ago, I was diagnosed with non-viral hepatitis a year or two earlier, and now with thyroiditis. Apparently, the PBCians experience different symptoms?!
Hello again Batatis.
Yes PBC patients do experience varying symptons but the commonest are itching and fatigue. I had itching and fatigue in early 2010. The itching was what made me go and see a doctor after 2 weeks of it that was at the time intense. I never thought anything about fatigue due to working flat out at the time. For me I'd say I lost the fatigue sometime the following year after diagnosis.
I was recently 50 and though I feel perfectly fine at present and not know I had PBC but for this damn itch, never know what the future could be like. I don't think about the future, made that resoluteion with myself quite some time ago. Knowing currently no cure for PBC I decided I'd deal with any symptons as and when as opposed to worrying about them as they may not ever happen. To me this is my way of gettting back at PBC.
I am not interested in every finding out what stage I am supposed to be in with PBC either. I go with how I feel from day-to-day.
I think there are certain stages that you go through after diagnosis, the shock, then the acceptance (took me time to accept I had PBC, I still thought it would vanish) and then as more time moves by you get that bit bolder.
Apparently it can be also quite common for patients with PBC to experience thyroid problems too. You will more than likely read on this site that if you have one auto-immune condition it is possible to acquire more. But for me at present I just have PBC that I know of and I'm not interested. If somethng happens it does but if not then it wouldn't be any good worrying about it in the first place.
Some people on here say they take cat naps for the fatigue. You might find that gives you a bit of a boost.
The general inability (ies) that PBC can bring on, would cause depression in many, when Hepatic encephalopathy (poisions in the brain due to liver failing to filter them out) then depression is expected, I am on citalopram for this reason, and depression wise I am "mended" . Doctors tend to know little about H.E. ours fought with my wife for weeks finally we persuaded him WE were right - Citalopram was prescribed. (In hospital they clearly acknowledge one drug they have to have lots of is Citalopram) Thats the good news, the bad news is it suggests liver is failing more. Good Luck and keep brave
Someone, please pass the magic wand to me
PBC and Cholesterol
Vitamins and antioxidants as well as an alkaline diet help immensely 
Now I have PBC.
Osteoporosis treatment 
