Hep C Discussion Forum

Sis,

Welcome from me again - I did say howdy to you ever so briefly when you first came, but that was just over on the side bar. So glad to see you are well on your way to being done with this liver infection.

Let me venture an opinion/guess, that (even though you have not felt too badly while you have had this hepc infection, and even if your lab values and some of your other tests do not appear to be too severe or out-of-wack because of the hep c infection), perhaps the hepc (still) has been taking a negative effect in regard to your inner cholesterol control, AND, that (perhaps) once cured of your hep c, you might just find (if you are lucky) some naturally occurring improvements in your chol. levels. Just a (my) hypothesis, but wouldn't that be nice? I'll keep my fingers crossed that that's what will happen for you. BTW - what have your chol levels been, how high, how long? You noted the allergies, do you have any other medical/health issues you are dealing with or being treated for?

When you have time, if you could write yourself up a little signature line, that would be ever so handy for all of us. 

The folk around here are correct, to remind you to drink a lot of water while on these DAA meds., keep your water works flushing WELL. 

Glad you are soon to be cured.  :)  C.

. 

Welcome aboard, Sis,

I support the previous posts here: best to treat it and have it out of your system, especially to halt fibrosis.  I really trust you will be just fine.

I'm glad you stopped by to ask.  There are so many people here who really know the ropes.  Take the treatment and take care of yourself.  

Drink LOTS of water!

Thanks for your response. My cholesterol concern was from an article about a study they did on Hep C and cholesterol levels rising after treatment.

Sis,

I’m not aware of anyone here having problems with cholesterol related to the new DAA’s. Like you, my doctor doesn’t want me taking a statin, as they can be harsh on the liver. What I do take, is Niacin (flush free) 500mg once daily and fish oil caps twice daily. It actually works pretty well keeping my total cholesterol between 180 and 210. The brainiacs that decide what’s normal, decided to drop the normal to 170, so while still considered high, it’s okay in my mind. I’m soon to be 63, so I’ve got more to work on than those few points. If I would eat better, I’m sure I could achieve it, but I like my junk food and bratwurst, too much, lol!

Scruffy, you used a four letter word, “activity”...  Shame on you! 

Welcome, 

I certainly dont feel worse from treatment, I feel better...my disease had progressed to cirrhosis which I still have and I still have very serious ongoing health problems that I deal with but...the improvements are incredible and wonderful. Treatment has definitely added years to my life, I can go for a walk then shop then cook all without lying down exhausted every 5 minutes. I havent had to crawl up the stairs in ages...

as Tig said, you may come to realize that the HCV actually has been impacting your life/health ....once its gone. The virus mutates your cells so it can affect almost every system in your body.

Do you know what your fibrosis level is?or your bloodwork numbers? 

Besides high cholesterol what is your general health like? Do you get infections or have allergies or arthritis? 

Thanks for your welcome and response. 

Hello Sis,

I'm so happy to welcome you to the forum! It's nice to have a new face in the crowd. I'm anxious to know more about you. If you can establish a bit of history in your signature line, it will help us answer your questions without having to ask too many. You can see most of us have entered a bit of information about ourselves, such as genotype, some of the initial lab tests, like your pre treatment viral load (PCR), liver function tests (ALT and AST), liver fibrosis and the day you started treatment. Of course that's up to you, but it helps and allows us to cheer you along and follow your progress. You may not know them know, but you can find out easily from your doctor or nurse.

You asked about why it was important to start treatment, even though you were feeling fine. Simply put, even though you were experiencing no ill effects or problems beforehand, this disease has a terrible way of sneaking up on you and then dropping the hammer. If you're like most of us, there may be some nagging problems, joint pain, abdominal pain, or different things you might even relate to something else, advancing age, etc., the "ah-ha" light goes off and you're able to put 2 and 2 together. HCV is a quiet and insidious disease that causes more harm than you might believe. The truth is, regardless of how you might feel now, the disease was progressing, sometimes slowly and sometimes it takes off like wildfire. Many don't experience any problems, until one day they find out that this disease has caused significant problems to any number of systems. The big thing we worry about is the progression toward cirrhosis and liver cancer. It may never happen as quickly in some as it does in others, but we have many people here that found out they were quite ill and didn't even know it! Sounds kind of odd, I know, but when your liver decides one day to start failing, and you find out you've been packing around a virus that was lurking for decades, destroying you slowly until it wasn't. The old school of thought by many, including the doctors, was as long as your tests were normal, you didn't need to worry about it. The old standard was, something else will kill you before Hep C will. That may be true in some cases, but in most others, by the time you realize you've had the disease for decades, your fibrosis levels can be quite severe and that places a huge compromise in your health and wellbeing. Everything goes through your liver and if it begins to suffer, even slightly, other things start to go awry with it. If your liver can't filter out the toxins adequately, where do they go? They begin to build up and damage other things, kidney, bones, vision, immune system function, etc., etc.

The good news is Mavyret and the other newest drugs on the block. You are treating this disease at the best possible moment in our history. It's so effective and so mild mannered, many don't even know they're taking medication. I took the old school drugs, Interferon, Ribavirin and Victrelis. I failed the first go around on Interferon monotherapy in the mid 90's and waited until 2013 to try it again, this time with Riba and Vic. I took them for 27 weeks and was so sick from the drug therapy, I felt like I was going to die. It was awful stuff! The rates of success were only 50-60%, unlike Mavyret which is 95+%. I'm unaware of anyone here that has ever failed to cure the virus on Mavyret. It's great stuff and you're very fortunate to have gotten it. DO NOT question yourself for getting treatment. It's the smartest move you could've ever made. Once completed and cured, your entire body will begin the repair process and you will notice improvements. Some are quicker than others, but the disease will no longer be able to cause the progressive damage. Left unchecked and uncured, any number of problems can develop and the older we get, the harder they can be on us.

If you have any questions, please ask. We have loads of good and current information here on the forum. Utilize the search function above and insert a keyword or two and you'll find it. Others will be along to welcome you and offer advice as you go forward. If I may offer you the first piece of advice and I guarantee you will make your journey smoother and essentially free of drug side effects, is to do your best to drink 3-4 Liters of water, each and every day!! That is a well established fact that many doctors don't bother to tell you about. Water is your best friend during treatment, I kid you not...

Since you are already on treatment, I moved your post from the General category to On Treatment. In case you were wondering! I'm glad you're here