Hi, this is my first post here and I have a few questions around treatment. I am genotype 1a and have been treated twice before. First time in 1995 with straight interferon. Second time in 1998 with interferon (This was before peg interferon) and Ribaviron. On this second occasion my ALT dropped to t...
The battle between medicaid/insurance companies and Gilead rages on. This article was recently published in MedPage Today. Not only are Gilead's prices being questioned, but efficacy and safety concerns about Sovaldi are beginning to surface: Medicaid Directors Question Need for $1,000 H...
Hello and greetings. New here, a brief bio of my adventures with HCV. Infected 1970 while in military. HCC in 1998, transplant 1999. I have done well with the transplant but the HCV has pretty well destroyed the new liver. Stage 4 cirrhosis and now have edema I am guessing from portal vein hyperte...
I'm on day 19 of treatment with Sovaldi and Ribavirin. I am genotype 4c. After 2 weeks of treatment, my doc says my VL went from 600,000 to 43...AMAZING...my ALT from 99 to 31 and AST from 114 to 29. I am feeling so alive and energetic. My only side effect is insomnia and the doc says to take my second dose of...
Well I have one week left and I notice the fatigue, nausea and insomnia are getting worse pretty much daily. I take sovaldi and ribavirin. I eat mainly heathy but with some processed foods. I drinks lots of water and get daily exercise. But the past week I've been having a worsening of side effects. I had...
From the 15th International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of HIV and Hepatitis Therapy, May 19- 21, 2014, Washington, DC."Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, a fixed-dose coformulation of two direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for HCV infection, did not have a clinically significant impact on five fr...
I'm not about to get into any sort of conflict with my doctor (who seems to have a large ego when he says, "I've cured 100 patients...etc" - I just want to heal but I'm wondering if it's normal that he's making me come into his office to find out my lab results instead of letting me know over the ph...
Hi all, Just got my most recent lab work done and my ferritin (iron) count is way high (360). I've NEVER had an out of range reading for this. My liver enzymes all were within range except one which wasn't too bad. Anyone know what this means and what I can do to mitigate it if it's a bad thing? My doctor d...
Well almost 9 months post treatment and getting back strength slow but sure, many positive changes, brain fog has lifted, skin sensitivity gone, can enjoy the sun again when it is out, all and all best I have felt in 5 years. kidneys returning to normal and just celebrated 27 years of sobriety, divorce...
five paragraphs from the bottom, "Comparing the price of a pill or a bottle,, to treating it for life??? So does that mean if the cure is to high we all have to suffer and pay for life a cost for treatment that just sustains, when there is a cure????? What the H LL??
Hello, I was wondering, are people generally being approved for the new interferon free combo therapies by their insurance companies? I will be starting treatment in September and was wondering if I was going to have to come up with enormous co-pays for the drugs. What are you folks seeing? Thank...
Hello everyone ! I was wondering if anyone has had a constant side ache (liver area).. I've been on Sovaldi/Olysio for 33 days and the only side effect I've had is insomnia and a little nausea. My liver function tests are all in the normal range and I get my viral load results tomorrow (HOLY COW) !! I've...
Alcohol Use Alcohol blunts immune responses to hepatitis C, which may be why heavy drinkers generally have higher hepatitis C viral loads than non-drinkers. Regular alcohol intake is known to increase the rate and severity of liver damage in people with hepatitis C; it also increases the risk for l...
Does anyone other than me have a terrific appetite? All the comments I am reading are about loss of appetite. I am just curious, its not a problem as I only eat really healthy foods and am not craving anything I should not be eating. I have noticed to when the weather is still and hot on the island, I itch a lo...
I have responded to several people on another thread about taking supplements while on treatment. I have contacted a couple of people (on other forums) that did trials with the new meds. They, like me, were required to stop all supplements before treatment. I had to stop supplements 30 days bef...
Hi all , I've been reading this forum for about a year now and feel it's time to take part . I was diagnosed about two years ago , geno 2b . last VL was 750,000 . I was approved for Peg/Riba last year but opted to wait for new meds . I'm about to be denied treatment for Sovaldi/Riba as I guess my insurance co , Un...
Denied by insurance company (Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate in Maine) for dual drug sofosbuvir and simeprevir - not sick enough - fibrosis only at stage 2 - threshold is stage 3. Doctor says slow progression, wait until fall and new drugs - looks like the guidelines from http://www.hcvguideline...
Well, after much back and forth and conversations with hubby, Dr. and nurses, I have decided to move forward with Solvaid/Riba treatment. 24 weeks and I am scared as h***. I didn't think this disease had affected me very much except for the silent havoc it wreaked on my body, but after copious read...
Hi everyone, Just to let you know I'm ok. I battled on a little longer with treatment but the panic attacks wiped the ground with me and I had to quit. This was the only side effect that I couldn't cope with. I will prepare better next time around with some medications to combat it. I am disappointed in my...
Just got a call from a nurse at UW Harborview !!!! I started to be snappy because I've been waiting 8 days for my first viral load update ... I went from over 6,000,000 to 12 in 4 weeks ! I'm in a pretty grateful mood finally.... wish I would of found this site along time ago, hope everyone is doing well !! ...
I am undetected. at 12 weeks. finished, I get retested in 3 months , all my liver profile is within normal limits, even lower than at 4 weeks. But my platletts is a little low at 87
Since my blood work was off (1,3,5 week labs) I was showing UND at week 5. I was at 40 at week 3. My doctor said that there is no reason for me to extend treatment or even be concerned since I had such a massive drop from 39,000,000 on Feb 14th. There was no specific reason I was off on the blood work. The nurse...
Hello, I met with my Gastro yesterday for my blood work and he mentioned that they recently approved the interferon free Hep C treatment. I'm scheduled to start the 12 week treatment this fall. I'm thinking about taking sick leave from work so I can focus on the treatment and to deal with any side effe...
Hi Everyone, After a week's delay my EOT +12 week viral load results are in. I'm happy to tell everyone that the test came back as "UNDETECTED"!!! AST 21 ALT 19 I must admit that I was beginning to be concerned. The delay in getting results when that information means so much can really wear...
Well guys and gals , it's official as of 5 mins ago, I'm SRV. After finally after 144 weeks of therapy and 14 years of misery from treatments I am finally SRV. My Doctor is even more thrilled than I am. I have a long way to go in my recovery but at least I can move onto a new chapter in my life. For all of you that ar...
Just got my end of treatment labs and HCV is still NOT detected! All my labs except LFTs are within normal range. My levels all steadily dropped but given the short tx duration, they didn't get below normal. Very thankful for all those things. My only concern now is that my ALT is 160 & AST is 106....
Just got the results for my 24-week PCR test today and it came back undetected, so I have attained SVR. Looking back at the journey over almost 40 years I see how HCV affected me and those I love. I have been fortunate to have had the support of my wife Lisa and the rest of my family and close friends. My wor...
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