Hepatitis Forums
Hepatitis C Main Forums => Considering Hepatitis C Treatment => Topic started by: EBSCO on December 18, 2015, 08:13:17 pm
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Hi, so in May I have been diagnosed with Hep C (blood donor), I'm 19 years old and doctors think i got it from a blood transfusion because i had a surgery when i was a baby (1 year old). Now unfortunately im from Europe but my country is not in European Union therefore drugs like Harvoni, Sovaldi etc are not approved/available, and my insurance obviously won't cover a €60k drug (that's the price for Harvoni in Europe). My doctors told me that the only treatment i can get from them is Peginterferon/Ribavirin (48 weeks). So i wanted to know is this treatment really that bad ? I was considering going to India but my parents refused that idea because the doctors told them that there are a lot of fake drugs and it's not worth the risk. I don't have any symptoms and a liver biopsy and I don't have fibrosis or cirrhosis. So anyone who did this treatment, it would be nice to get some feedback. Cheers
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Hi and welcome
I had genotype 1a the hardest to treat successfully with interferon/ribavirin. The odd of it working are less than 30%.
I treated 3 times with interferon based treatment. The first was with interferon monotherapy as there was no ribavirin yet. That was 3 shots a week of interferon for 6 months I felt like I was getting over the flu the whole time I guess I was lucky as others has worse side effects than I did. I worked while I was on treatment full time but it was a long 6 months and in the end it didn't work.
I later treated with interferon and ribavirin another long 6 months and plus I developed anemia from the ribavirin. Again no response to treatment. The third time was interferon, ribavirin and a clinical trial medicine 6 months of feeling bad and still no response.
I would still have treated with those meds as I had no other options but if I knew there were other drugs in the world just not available to me right now I would either find a way to get the new meds or wait until they are available to me through normal channels. Personally, as Harvoni, Viekira Pak and others are out there I would not do the interferon ribavirin for someone like you with out liver damage I would wait until I could get the meds. Is there any possibility you could find a clinical trial?
Just to add most people have little to no symptoms from hep c although many report being tired. So unless you are one of the few who develop extra-hepatic symptoms from hep c you really won't experience any symptoms unless you develop cirrhosis and then the symptoms will be of cirrhosis.
That is why hep c is called a silent killer because it is slowly over many years causing damage but the person is totally unaware if it unless they get tested for some reason. Buy the time you develop symptoms you are very very sick.
I was likely infected in 1978 and was diagnosed in 1990 when I donated blood. I was followed closely over the years and finally in 2008 I was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis which took 30 years to develop.
Hope that answers your questions best of luck to you and I hope Harvoni and the rest of the meds are available to all soon.
Good luck
Lynn
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Hi EB,
Go to the website fixhepc, join, look for the topic Redemption Trials. The huge trial is an effort to verify the effectiveness of the affordable generic treatments available now from south Asia and China. The cost, if you are accepted, is $1600.00 for a 12 week treatment delivered to your door. All meds involved in this trial are tested.
This is HOPE for thousands!
Coach Mike
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Thank you all for replying, i'l wager all options before i make my decision :)
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The new drugs in India are not fake. They are licenced from Gilead and BMS.
You could import too if your country allows it.
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Hey EB,
check out fixhepc. I post there regularly. My user name is mgalbrai.
CM
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The new drugs in India are not fake. They are licenced from Gilead and BMS.
You could import too if your country allows it.
I know that, but like I said my parents don't believe me, and whats even worse it's that doctors are saying the same thing.
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Keep your liver healthy, dont drink alcohol, workout, be strong and wait for the medicines to come. I think soon you will get treated as things are moving ahead with medicines all over the world. Have a nice Christmas :)
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Keep your liver healthy, dont drink alcohol, workout, be strong and wait for the medicines to come. I think soon you will get treated as things are moving ahead with medicines all over the world. Have a nice Christmas :)
Thanks, Merry Christmas to you too :D
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and keep in touch, keep visiting us :) we are always here