Hep C Discussion Forum

Hi John,

Glad to meet you here, and glad you are going to start your 12 weeks of Zepatier soon!! 

When you do start your pills you could start your very own thread in the "On Treatment" section, to where we can converse together and join in with you on your journey to being cured!

I am so glad you are getting this opportunity to be rid of this virus and with these very excellent new "modern" DAA's we have these days. It's about time for you, packing this free-loading hitchhiker since about 1981, you deserve to be freed from it now! 

You will need a signature line (see Tig's a good "how to" link - red)) in his sig. line. Maybe something like .... "M, (age), GT (1?) (a or b?), Dx HCV (2003?), possibly contracted 1981, HBV (1986?) - no treatment required for the hep b?, Biopsy? date , No fibroscan?, Fscore not available, U/S done date with result of liver, spleen, pancreas "pretty normal", Pre-treatment ALT 55, AST 33, VL aprox. 5 mil. 12 weeks of Zepatier approved. SOT date, EOT date ." ...  

Please do use the sig line to confirm some of the basic info you already know, like GT etc. Makes it waay easier for folks to know a few of your basic details to be able to chat better about things that you might want to bring up or talk about. 

I am very glad you are soon to start, you have received some excellent advice thus far. Let me just "echo, echo, echo" the IMPORTANCE of striving to drink a gal per day of water - VERY important. 

Please re-assure me, that your doc HAS assessed your past hep b status, confirmed by blood tests, and that both you and your doc are satisfied that you know where you are currently at with both your hep a and b immunity. Important to know whether you have, or don't have, "chronic" hep b. It is "sounding" like you "may" have had an actual case of hep b once, but that you luckliy "naturally/spontaneously resolved it" (successfully resolved the infection on your own, did not require treatment) - this hep b info is hard to piece together from the info here - but regardless of how this hep b went for you in the past, it is still very important to have your hep b antigen/antibodies tested for, and your a/b immunity levels assessed prior to treatment for HCV, and important that if your a/b immunity levels are not high enough, that immunization be started (or re-started as the case may be). Just double check with your doc that your a/b HAS been assessed - it probably has. If it should be determined that you did need extra a/b immunity by way of immunization, it could be started now and will not delay your start.

You say you are going to have blood tests every month? So, are you getting LFT's and VL's then at each week 4, week 8, and end of treatment (EOT) week 12? 

I am so glad you decided now was the time to get yourself cured, no better time than now.  C.

Haha, okay , I lied, my Wife is 10 years younger than me.

Once a week?    

I believe you're making the right choice. I'm the same, if it "ain't broke, don't fix it" type, but sometimes I've been up that proverbial creek without a paddle. It's no fun trying to swim upstream when you're sick. It's a game of chance and if you read our pages, it's a game many haven't played well.

The thing I've come to see during my time advocating for people with HCV, is one, they are often asymptomatic, for decades. Two, when they realize something isn't right, years or decades later, they're told their liver is severely damaged or other HCV manifestations have caused other ailments. You don't want to be that person if it can be avoided. Now that you're going forward with treatment, you just did...

Good luck tomorrow! If you have read our recommendations, then you are aware that you should increase your water intake to at least one gallon per day. Take it at the same time every day and set an alarm to make sure. Keep your medication in a pill keeper. That way you'll have a second way of confirming you took that day's pill. If you're taking any other medication or supplements, be sure they are allowed during treatment. Most supplements should be avoided during treatment.

I would seriously consider waiting the 12 weeks to go back to work or limit your hours worked and stay within the allowable guideline for employment on MC. 

Merck has a 12 week course of Zepatier, priced at $54,600.00 for 12 weeks. Harvoni is $94,500.00. It depends on the price that particular company or agency negotiates with Merck or Gilead. Getting stuck for a half of that is out of my price range. So make your choices wisely. You absolutely do not want to risk stopping mid treatment because you couldn't afford it. That can cause additional problems as well

There are payment assistance programs and coupons that cover most copays. There are links in my signature. They work, contact them for assistance. There are options available and depending on your fibrosis stage, you may opt to wait for a new insured position. I don't advise anyone to wait. The longer you have this, the faster things can go downhill. "Maybe nothing will happen" usually doesn't... Treat as soon as possible and put further Hep C damage. It's quick and effective.

The old Interferon days are gone, but not forgotten by many of us. The new DAA's are like everything else along the way, a series of studies and then fast tracking it through the FDA. We are all the pioneers of new and exciting (?) treatments to kill this beast. The new drugs are coming out every year now. They didn't offer anything but Interferon and Ribavirin for almost two decades. They were the dark days. Now it's a full time job keeping up with all of the breakthroughs! Progress in a pill.... 

Thanks for the welcome. I've had Hep-C, along time, maybe since 1981, started monitoring it for a 10 year period, starting about 14 years ago. I never did any treatment, my doctor always tried to push me, but the drugs were too hard on the body. Presently my ALT-is at 55, my AST- at 33, my viral load shot up to over 5mil. Ultra sound good, liver, spline, and pancreatic petty normal.

So, right now, I hit a slump and I qualified for Medicare......but I am employable...... Medicare approved payment for treatment, what if i get a job in the middle of treatment and the company gives me insurance ? I'm scared Medicare will just cut me off and my treatment will end abruptly before completing the cycle of 12 weeks???

What to do? 

Hi John,

Welcome to the group, you're among friends. I'm glad you're going to get started on treatment. Do you have a start date? 

We haven't had many members that were on the Zepatier protocol. I remember a couple of people starting and were progressing well. Unfortunately we haven't heard any final results from them. No reason to believe they weren't successful though. Zepatier is a effective treatment.

Regarding the HBV reactivation, this is a warning established by the FDA on all of the new DAA's. Do you know what your HBV Antigen status is? You will always be antibody + (positive). Did you ever have an active infection? If so and you were treated for it and are now antigen - (negative), they will simply monitor you during treatment. We have others here that had B and completed HCV treatment on other DAA's without reactivation. The odds are low that this would occur, but it has to be mentioned. I wouldn't allow that prevent me from going forward.

Please tell us a little more if you can. Do you have your genotype, liver function tests and an idea of your fibrosis stage? Anything you feel like sharing will help us when replying.