Hepatitis Forums
Hepatitis C Main Forums => On Hepatitis C Treatment => Topic started by: Anne on October 13, 2015, 03:22:14 pm
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1B TT F4 , age 58 female , failed 3 treatments infected in 1988 via blood transfusion
1. standard peg 1 year. 2. ribavirin pegalted interferon 1 year.3 Boceprevir Ribavirin, peginterferon 48 weeks 4
Currently on my 4 th treatment, Harvoni and Ribavirin for 12 weeks , week 7 now taking 1200 mgs ribavirin aday
staring viral load was just under 1 million, week 2 viral load 67 week 4 viral load 37, quite shocked and worried about still being detected at week 4 , as everyone else seems to be either undetected or detected but unquantifiable at 4 weeks, I understand the test can pick up dead virus, but think mine is still active as able to give number
do you know of anyone on your site who was still detected at 4 weeks and went onto get SVR. I have also read that if you are undetected at 4 weeks you are less likely to relapse , there is no way in England that I can get my tx extended treatment past 12 weeks, after so many failures and such a good log drop in week 2, it has knocked my confidence and getting that deja vu feeling again.
any advice research based would be very helpful.
thanks Anne x
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Hi Anne. And welcome to the forums! I wouldn't worry at this point about still having a small amount of virus detected at Week 4. There are absolutely people on these forums who were still detected at Week 4 and even at End Of Treatment, and who STILL went on to achieve SVR12 and be cured. So don't lose hope.
At could be that at stage F4 (cirrhosis) it takes the drugs longer to reach every nook and cranny of functioning liver tissue. I don't know. Just a theory.
Keep us posted.
kim :)
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Hi Anne,
Kim is absolutely right. Don't give up. There are plenty of folks old these forums that were worried with still a small number at EOT, but ended up undetected!
Please hold out hope, thing the best and pray hard,
<3 Marianne
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Anne, your chances of being cured are still excellent. One of our moderators, Lucinda Porter, RN, posted a Q&A article that explains why. Here's the relevant excerpt:
I just finished HCV treatment, but my viral load was detectable at week 8 and 12. Does this mean my chances of being cured are low?
No. In the old days, back when treatment was long and used interferon, there were clear milestones that helped us know what our chances were of permanently clearing hepatitis C. Now with new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), things have changed. Research by the NIH Clinical Center showed that low levels of HCV RNA at the end of treatment are not predictive of treatment response among patients with hepatitis C virus treated with interferon-free regimens. (Clinical Infectious Diseases, March 2, 2015) Harvoni was used in this study, but the trend is likely to apply to all treatments using HCV DAAs.
and here's the link to the entire article: http://www.hepmag.com/articles/hepatitis_c_questions_2502_27873.shtml
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HimAnne,
With the new DAAs they seem to be more focused on LFTS, than V/l. As a fellow relapser I understand your worries. I am in Australia on week 8 and have not had. v/l since week 2 and won't have one till EOT in 4 weeks. But the Doctor us only looking at the LFTS as he says V/l is not an indicator if SVR. I hope this soothes the nerves a bit. I know we can't help but be anxious, you've done some major txs there Anne. I'm sure this will go well for you. The drugs are so strong now. Cal :)
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Big breath and sigh of relief
need to keep confident I guess , but hard after so many failed treatments
have my 8 week bloods this Friday 16 October, think they will check my viral load again then,
Dr told me he thought my chances of success was around 90% at start of Tx. I am sticking to highest dose of Ribavirin 1200 mgs a day, half the time I fatigued but have poor sleep. then I have days when I feel like I have overdosed on caffeine. still just over 4 weeks to go I can do this.
my ALT dropped to normal range after 2 weeks which was amazing, it had dropped to normal levels on Tx before but had taken quite a few weeks.
will post results
thanks Anne
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Hello ! i am f4 compensated cirrhosis.
my sgot and sgpt is only 20% down after 4 weeks in treatment/
what is this? any help?
before treatment:
sgot 60
sgpt 80
after 4 weeks
sgot 44
sgpt 60
Thanks alote.
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Hi Anne,
Yep the ribas are horrible. Yu sound like me. One minute I'm on the couch, the next I'm up and speeding. Its the ribas. They seem to me anyway to be more potent without the ifn? Just a theory. Anyway, your LFFT sound great to ddrop to normal so quick. I think it sounds really good. I won't tell you to not worry, that's just mental! :P Cal :)
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Hi Logaridis,
sgot 44
sgpt 60
I don't know what they are. I have looked up my LFTS blood tests and can't see them. What country are you in? Perhaps they are called something else in Australia where I am, or in the U.S. ?
If their straight Liver Function Tests maybe they are AST and ALT? Even then we don't know what range is normal for your lab. Can you give more information? Are they in the normal range yet? Or is it something else again. Hopefully someone with some knowledge of these
measurements will come along. I'll do my best to help you though. Cal. :)
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Hi Logaridis,
sgot 44
sgpt 60
I don't know what they are. I have looked up my LFTS blood tests and can't see them. What country are you in? Perhaps they are called something else in Australia where I am, or in the U.S. ?
If their straight Liver Function Tests maybe they are AST and ALT? Even then we don't know what range is normal for your lab. Can you give more information? Are they in the normal range yet? Or is it something else again. Hopefully someone with some knowledge of these
measurements will come along. I'll do my best to help you though. Cal. :)
Hi Cal and logaridis,
It helps to be a nurse. SGOT is now AST and SGPT is now ALT. Perhaps if you call your lab they can supply the normal values for those tests. My lab considers 0-35 normal range for both.
Because you have compensated cirrhosis, the drop in LFT's might be slower. Don't give up! You are progressing in the right direction.
Mary
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And my labs normal ranges are different mine say
ALT (GPT) < 33U/L
AST (GOT) 0-40 U/L
Results can vary from different labs so you need to find out the reference range they are using.
When I first was diagnosed with hep c in the late 80's and through a good part of the 90's my lab reports said SGOT SGPT and GGTP now called GGT I was confused at first when I saw ALT and AST
But a reduction in both is good news even if you are still above normal that is great news!
Good luck on treatment
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thank you guys..
Yes i am talking about ALT and AST.
My labs range is
alt 5 to 40
ast 5 to 40.
and increase 20% in alt/ ast . & i have 10% increase in platelets .
I AM f4 compensated.
thanks alote
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Hello ! i am f4 compensated cirrhosis.
my sgot and sgpt is only 20% down after 4 weeks in treatment/
what is this? any help?
before treatment:
sgot 60
sgpt 80
after 4 weeks
sgot 44
sgpt 60
I think you meant a 20% decrease not increase in your last post
For your ALT & AST a decrease from before treatment to on treatment is good news. Your liver function tests are almost to normal levels where before they were further above normal that USA change in the right direction.
What were your platelets before treatment and on treatment? If your platelets increased on treatment that is great news.
On my lab report 150 is minimum normal and my platelets run about 80 to 90 well bow normal I wish my platelets would increase and 10% really is not a significant change but any increase if your athlete are low like yours probably are from your cirrhosis is also a great sign
Good luck
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hi
yes indeed i meant they are down ....
so you mean to say that the levels drop slowly sometimes?
because in the forum everybody says that within the first 4 weeks , and they had normal alt ast.
Yes my platelets are better.
was 105 and came up to 112 . range of the lab 140/ 400.
my g gt is still 181 the lab says 7/50
thanks alote.
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We are all different and respond differently also only some of us have cirrhosis and so we have more damage.
Mine went into normal range but mine have only been slightly elevated for decades so I did not need to have much of a decrease to be in normal range.
Other things than hep c can cause elevated liver enzymes for example being overweight can cause fat cells to form in the liver which can also irritate the liver and raise ALT AST numbers also certain medicines like Tylenol
You should ask your doctor what they think
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Thanks alote Lynn.
But i do worry... :)
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Sure we all do I totally understand.
I am having my 24 week post test next week and even though I was SVR 12 I a still just a bit worried since I failed treatment 4 times in the past this last treatment with Harvoni for 24 weeks along with 15 weeks of Ribavirin was my 5th and hopefully last treatment for hep c.
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Sure we all do I totally understand.
I am having my 24 week post test next week and even though I was SVR 12 I a still just a bit worried since I failed treatment 4 times in the past this last treatment with Harvoni for 24 weeks along with 15 weeks of Ribavirin was my 5th and hopefully last treatment for hep c.
did you take the riba at the bigining or at the end of treatment?
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I am having my 24 week post test next week and even though I was SVR 12 I a still just a bit worried since I failed treatment 4 times in the past this last treatment with Harvoni for 24 weeks along with 15 weeks of Ribavirin was my 5th and hopefully last treatment for hep c.
Good luck on your labs next week, Lynn! :)
kim
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Thanks Kim!
Logaridis
I started with just Harvoni and about 6 weeks in I asked my doctor if she thought we should add Ribavirin she said yes so by the time my insurance approved it I started taking the riba at week 9. I was taking ribavirin from week 9 till the end of treatment for 15 weeks
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Hi Anne,
Do what you need to and don't worry.The new treatments are amazing.I know it's easy to worry and get discouraged but don't until there's something to worry about.You'll beat this,just stay the course.
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Sure we all do I totally understand.
I am having my 24 week post test next week and even though I was SVR 12 I a still just a bit worried since I failed treatment 4 times in the past this last treatment with Harvoni for 24 weeks along with 15 weeks of Ribavirin was my 5th and hopefully last treatment for hep c.
Be lucky Lynn, I'm sure you've got it in the bag! But as a fellow relapse I hear ya. Cal :)
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I phoned up hospital to chase up my 8 week viral load result from 16/10/2012 still detected but unquantifiable.
nurse said my virus is being stubborn but they have seen it happen before and still had a good result
fingers crossed
Anne x
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Hi Anne,
I've heard of this a lot. Hang in there and try not to stress, it's a powerful drug and it's doing it's job. Cal :)
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Hi Anne. Reading your story is much needed inspiration as I've just begun the 12 wks of Harvoni/Rib. Having gone through multiple treatments I pray this one does the trick! I had decided not to go through treatment again and take my chances, but recently learned I have cirrhosis and the cure rate for this therapy makes retreatment impossible to ignore. I can't wait to see your "I'm Free" entry on this site!!!!
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HI CAL
I AM FREE
I AM FREE
LV Anne xx
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BEAUTIFUL :D :D WELL DONE !
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Congratulations, Anne! That's the best news.
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great news Anna! Congrats :)