Hep C Discussion Forum

Hello -- It's been a while since I've been here. I got my labs back this week. I completed 8 weeks of Mavyret on Feb 27, 2018. It's been 1 year.

HCV Not Decteded!! Wow

AST 16, ALT 17. and Wow

My gastro doctor didn't do the labs for me, he said I was cured and it wasn't necessary. I got my primary doctor to order the labs.  I think I finally believe that I am cured.  For over 40 years I had my ALT and AST checked every year and they were elevated. I no longer have to worry about my liver and my health.  I am so grateful and still amazed that the HCV is finally gone. 

How are my fellow Mavyret people doing?  I hope you all get same results as I have.  Peace and Love 

Hey mpls,

CON-GRATS!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, it IS a good day!

Yes, me too, exactly - I too feel very grateful for these new wonderful drugs, and the good and hope they provide for so many.

I too felt a little tear that I gulped away (a tear of happiness for you), when you described how you felt when you read your SVR17 UND result! I started feeling relief right from the first announcement that I succeeded in getting into my trial, to that first pill past my lips, and then more all along the way through treatment, with every lab and VL!, and, beyond! The feeling of knowing, it's going to be alright now - it's very nice isn't it?

You did a stellar job getting through everything you did. Time to do some celebrating. Here is an example of the happy dancing I am doing for you today! 

Mistro please ...    click here --->   Happy_(Pharrell_Williams_song_-_sample).ogg

And that's just how we do it.   C.

I forgot, the PCR Log is an old way of listing the viral load. It means the same thing as the PCR Quantification. Pay the Log no mind. You’re undetected, woot!

Congratulations mpls!!!!! Fantastic news. You must be feeling absolutely fantastic about now. I am so pleased for you. When those of us on treatment or waiting for treatment read something like this it makes us so positive that we will be joining you shortly. Thank you for sharing.

This is exciting! If they can do a PCR in two hours, I’ll be surprised, too. They did my last a couple months ago and it took several days. It wasn’t too many years ago it took weeks to get one back. I hope you get the good news tonight and if you do, I know we all want to hear the good news!

Labs were taken today!!!!

Waiting for results, the phlebotomist said they may be in "my chart" in a couple of hours.

My appointment with my hep doc is Thursday June 21. Is it called SVR or SVR 12 or SVR 14. What is the correct acronym ?

My Hep doctor only wants to know if the Hep c is gone, so he ordered only 1 test.  I asked for CBC and Liver panel because i want to know my what my WBC is (which was super low at EOT labs) 

Anyhow, we should know in a couple of hours now..... I'll be checking My Chart and will let you know the news real soon!!

Thanks for the welcome MPLS!

I've read  your posts, as well, while I was still "lurking" here. It's so nice to have a place to visit where everyone is so helpful, and encouraging! I'm looking forward to having you all along for the ride with me!

You mentioned, that you're tired? I'd guess that could probably be partially from the Nicotine withdrawl?  I still don't sleep well, since I quit smoking, and weaned off the patches/gum. Maybe you should have your vitamin levels tested?? Or try taking a B vitamin...and maybe a D as well?? just a thought, but your family Dr can run those for you, it's a simple blood test.

Keep us posted on how your 12 wk goes! You know you have the biggest cheer section here! :)

Welcome to the SVR group RLS.  Some of us just need a little more time on the treatment train but it looks like we all get to where we want to go!!   You stuck to it (at it) and look at you now. Congratulations fellow dragon slayer!   RC

Wonderful news RLS. - You give me HOPE!!! you are GT1b, like me.  Whew!!! Also, like you, they called it non A non B when I contracted it too.  We've come a long way! It's about time the found a med to kick it's butt!!! Thanks for all your support and encouragement on this site.  Have a fabulous weekend I'm glad the weight has lifted!!!! 

That is fabulous RLS! CONGRATULATIONS! I'm sure you're going to find that your 24 weeks will be clear as well! Any lingering effects?? I see my GI on the 17th, and I'm counting down the days!

Ah ha! Tig's Magic 8 ball - it has NEVER been wrong RLS!  C.

Hey RLS,

Good luck with your blood work today! My Magic 8 Ball says you have nothing to worry about. I know the anxiety of this test, but I also know how effective these treatments are. You got this one in the bag!

Hey RLS!

You mentioned (on a dif. thread) that you are going for your SVR 12 draw tomorrow! Yay! We need some more good news around here, and that's just what we are all going to get, when your results come back! We'll be waiting, right here, for blow by blows. Be excited, not nervous, you've done it this time! Can't you just feel it? Never mind, I AM positive you have. Your SVR 12 milestone is coming right up for you. Good thing you are keeping us straight on your testing timelines. We never want to miss out on partying for a SVR12. 

How does everything else feels now, still got the GI trouble, hope that eased off. Wshing you a fast and easy draw tomorrow. C.

Hey RLS,

You‘re in the final leg of your journey. If you weren’t on the Mav Bullet Train, I’d tell you to open a window and smell the flowers. Probably not a good idea to open the window doing 200 mph, lol! You got it Brother, this is the time you’re going to finally tell this fire breathing lizard goodbye. 3 more weeks, you can do that standing on your head. If you try that, please send pictures, ha, ha! Seriously, the last month took forever to go by for me, too. Just know the odds are really in your favor. Chin up and enjoy that 200 mph view, it’s the last time you’ll be on this train...

Life is good  

Hey, hey!

I love all the added comments "keeping the faith" (DL), "staying positive" (RLS)!, aside from your updates. . All good to hear. And from Angel too, ... "everything is good"!

You should all be feeling VERY positive about your progress/outcomes, excellent labs shown as you go, everything going to plan, all because of a new DAA which is leaps and bounds more effective than your prior DAA.

It's an especially hard thing to go through, the devastating disappointment you 3 have had to work your way through when a treatment did not work for you the first time around, it automatically can put you over in a hard to shake confidence deficit zone, but, it has also made you VERY strong to have rallied and come again with justfied hope to the newer and newer (ever more potent/effective) DAA's, like Mav, where you WILL find your ultimate success. Nowadays, we are seeing bitter disappointments less and less for people, it is now VERY, VERY rare indeed that this would ever happen to you now, again, especially now with likes of Mav under your belt! Mav (and Vosevi) were created and designed JUST for folk like you! And the bonus beauty of these drugs is also their "pan-ness", so they happen to be ideal for everyone else too. 

So, no more doubts, all of you have done it with Mav, wiped that beast out once and for all, forvever! 

Sorry about the divertic bout right now RLS, and for your fatigue DL. Ya, how i envied people who felt some improvement(s) while on treatment, but I was always glad to hear about those who did! (Kinda like you DL, I too did not get a sense of feeling "better" while on treatment with my Vosevi, aside from feeling thrilled to bits that i could see I was getting cured - I recall the coma state well)! But boy did I ever enjoy and revel in the dribs and drabs of regressions and resolutions that occurred for me after I finished treatment, and long after, no matter how slow they were to come, or how small they might have appeared to others, they felt huge and amazing to me, they still do!, and they are still coming! 

So, you are right ... keep the faith, stay positive, everything WILL be good!  C.

Congrats Akemi on starting treatment. I recently completed my Mavyret treatment and will be retested in five weeks to see if has been eradicated. Other than a few occasional headaches (probably due to not enough water intake), I had no other symptoms. The new treatments are far better than prior and more invasive treatments.

Keep us posted on your progress and test results. The forum is a great place to share news and ask questions.

rls

Hi Akemi,

Welcome. Glad you have been reading the Mav threads here, meeting other Mav people and all of us. It's always good for all of us to have each others experiences to share, to compare to, and advice to draw on.

Fire away if you have any burning questions.

Tig has brought up important points for you, drinking lots of water and taking every dose on time.

Like mpls's doc, too bad your doc is not planning to do a viral load (VL) test on you until the end of your treatment. Some docs do that. That is how confident they are in these potent new DAA's we have at our disposal nowadays. But it is always nice to see your numbers start to go down while on treatment, often makes people fret less to see their progress.

So, reading "between" the lines of your posts, we can piece together some of your important background data, but if you could try to create a "signature line" that would be very helpful in conversations. (See how we all sport sig. lines at the bottom of our posts?) There are instructions (via the link in Tig's sig. line) in how to create one for yourself - you can create your sig. on the same page where you first put your bio when you became a member.

I do not think you have mentioned yet what your genotype (GT) is, or what your viral load (VL) is. It's real helpful for everyone to have a sig. line for "info at a glance", instead of scrolling through posts searching for key data. If you have troubles figuring out how to do the sig. line just let us know and of course we will try to assist.

I have questions for you - about your F3 - was that determined by a blood test or by a "fibroscan", just wondering? Also wondering if you had been given an abd. ultrasound (U/S), and if you had your hep A/B immunization checked prior to your Mav start?

So, could I suggest a sig. line for you, something that contains info like ... Sex, Age, GT, dx 3 years ago, VL, ALT/AST (and any other abnormal labs you want to post), U/S result (if one was done), fibroscan kPa number and fibroscan Fscore (if fibroscan was done), and/or the name of the blood test you had that determined your F3 Fscore, rx 8 weeks of Mavyret, start of treatment date (SOT) and end of treatment date (EOT), hx of gastric issues. So far, the underlined bits are what we know.

Try not to be nervous, take your Mav with a meal, drink lots of water throughout the day, you'll be fine. I'm glad you got started, your 8 weeks of treatment will probably feel both long AND short!   C.

BTW - the 2 dif GERD drugs you mentioned ... ARE YOU currently on one of them, or not? "Protonix" (generic is pantoprazole) AND "Prilosec" (generic is omeprazole) are similar, they are both "PPI's". Some DAA monographs do recommend avoiding PPI's and using other GERD drugs instead while on DAA treatment, other DAA's you can be on PPI's - some people end up having to switch to other gastric drugs, H2 blockers, such as "Zantac" (ranitidine) or "Pepcid" (famotidine), but, if you read the Mavyret monograph - even though you can see "Prilosec"/omprazole IS mentioned (read section 7.4), and (section 12.3 - table 8), omprazole IS listed ONLY in that the interaction between Mav and omprazole IS NOT SIGNIFICANT. 

MAVYRET (glecaprevir and pibrentasvir) - RxAbbVie

https://www.rxabbvie.com/pdf/mavyret_pi.pdf

Note, also in the mongraph, (read sections 2.2), and (12.3 - table 6) about taking Mav WITH a meal.

Hi Akemi,

Welcome to the forum! Mavyret is the real deal and you will do well on it. There have been very few side effects mentioned by anyone on this treatment, so you shouldn't be concerned about that. Any that might pop up are generally just an indication that you're not hydrating well enough. If you concentrate on drinking at least one gallon of water every single day, you should have no problems at all. Headaches tend to be the most common when people fail to do that. Treat yourself right, get some rest and never miss a dose and you're going to be dancing in no time!

The reason you're doing 8 weeks is because F3, while considered advanced fibrosis, is NOT cirrhosis. That starts at F4. These are very effective drugs and I have no doubt you'll be singing the praise I've been listening to from others. I haven't met anyone here that hasn't been successful on it.

I'm happy to hear your baby tested negative and advise your husband to go ahead and get tested now. It's easy to find out and easy to treat. If he is positive, there's no reason you can't both jump on the Treatment Train together. At the very least, he can get all of the preliminaries done ahead of time and be ready to rock and roll when the time comes.

Others will be along to welcome you soon. We've got a great bunch of people here and loads of friendly suggestions and endless helpful advice. I'm glad you're here. 

Hello and welcome to the Mavyret club.  Good luck to you. My experience with 8 weeks on Mavyret was good. I had some anxiety the 1st week, just because of my uncertainty of what the 3 pink pills were doing to me. I had very few side effects. I had a mild headaches about 5 times, mild nausea about 5 times, mostly tiredness, but I was able to work throughout my treatment.  I work part time.  I was undetected after 8 weeks. I have read several posts that people were undetected after 4 weeks. My doctor wouldn't test me until the end. I have read several other posts where people handled the treatment well with very mild to no side effects.  So, I hope it goes well for you too. Keep us posted. Ask your doctor if you can continue to take your GERD meds. I'm excited for you!!! 

Hey Waffle!

Glad to hear from you. : )

We are straddling 2 threads here (this "Mav.2" one, as well as posts over in "Mav.1"), regardless, I think you checked in last on the other "Mav.1" thread, back around the time of your 4 week UND results.

(Over in Mav.1) I was was trying to figure out how long your course was going to be.

Initially, (I guess maybe it was your doc who originally made this made this suggestion to you) that there was some possibility that you would only be doing 8 weeks of Mav, IF you were UND at 4 weeks?

I am still not sure how long your course is, (what date is your EOT?), I am assuming (now) that you ARE still continuing it, for it to be a 12 week treatment? So, your EOT treatment date would be about March 23?

IF you are on a 12 week course, your 8 week blood draw should have been drawn about Feb 23, and, so then, your 12 week EOT blood draw should be drawn about March 23? That is, if they are done "on time".

Please set me straight about your EOT date OK? I have always been of the mind that us GT3's should welcome longer treatments anyway, if and when offered.

Your next May "return" appointment (mid-May or late-May) doesn't make time-sense to me either - as you said it was for your "final" blood draw? ... if you were on an 8 week treatment then your "final" (EOT) blood draw should have been done around Feb 23, but if you were on a 12 week treatment, then your "final" (EOT) draw should be on about March 23??

After anyone's EOT blood draw (whatever that EOT date may be), then your next blood draw after that EOT one, should be 12 weeks after your EOT, (your EOT+12 week SVR blood draw). 

Gee, too bad your can't get a "verbal" on the phone, about what your 8 week blood draw results were! You must have the patience of Job!

Thanks for checking in and filling us in on all these things, hair, skin, having to do more maintenance! Pleased to hear you say **drinks water** though, that's a good thing!  Very good to hear from you.   C.

The AST and ALT are your liver enzymes. Yours are a lovely shade of normal. The PCR Qnt is the viral load test. The test sensitivity was 15 and the log is another way they score it. Sometimes a test will come back with a result of <15 but Detected. That means the number of viral particulate was too low to count, but still detected. That happens ocassionally but not in your case. Undetected is a lovely word!

Big news.. Good news...

I'm happy to share with you my successful results after 8 weeks on Mavyret:

Hep C PCR Not Detected.

Not sure what these mean: Hep C PCR Qnt < 15 and Hep C PCR Log <1.18

ALT 10 and AST 17.