Viral Load Testing Reports FYI

[ma snart]

All, I know everyone wants to see the word UNDETECTED, but this could be the reason you only see a <15 or maybe a <50, please check with the Lab that you are using, I called the genetics lab director of a major Hospital in our town that are performing Helens testing and on week 8 she still showed a 22 viral load, on week ten we got a <50
I would have been very confused, but since the director told me their standard is to inform if even 1 is visible, when UNDETECTED they report the <50. he explained that there is so much confusion that this how they have informed all doctors in town of how there testing will be reported. They do not report the word UNDETECTED on any results they perform.  I find this hard to believe that everyone else gets the words UNDETEDTED, but is this from the actual report or from the Doctor reporting what was reported and they translated it? See below for the actual reports from week 8 and then week 10.

         Component                              Standard Range           Your Value
Hepatitis C Quantitation by PCR         IU/mL <50 IU/mL                       22
Hepatitis C Quantitation by PCR         logIU/mL <1.70             logIU/mL 1.35

         Component                              Standard Range           Your Value
Hepatitis C Quantitation by PCR         IU/mL <50 IU/mL          IU/mL <50 IU/mL
Hepatitis C Quantitation by PCR         logIU/mL <1.70             logIU/mL <1.70

I have confirmed with Helens doctor, and yes he confirms this is normal reporting and it does equal UNDETECTED on week 10.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this.
Thanks
Ma Snart

[MEG]

Thanks so much for this information ma snart. I'll have my first  4 week on-treatment loads this week.

It's at a different hospital and this is very helpful as I don't know how they will report the results...

[dragonslayer]

Hey Meg.. I wanted to thank you to the link to this thread which you mentioned in the other thread we were both reading.

Unfortunately this really doesnt shed any light on my situation. .. Since I was reported as having a fixed viral load value of 29, and not a 'less than' value, even on the system  of reporting referenced in this thread, my test would still have been reported as Detected and outside the standard reference range.

[ma snart]

Dragon, you are correct, although there is a possibility that the test was in error, or in Helen's case she still showed 22 at 8 weeks,  and I was a bit discouraged that most had reached UD by 4 weeks or so, it took a couple of more weeks to get it, not sure if Harvoni continues to work its magic after EOT but if it does, there is still a possibility that you may have achieved UD a day or so after your test, I would ask for a retest just to find out.
GL to you
Snart

[MEG]

Shux, dragonslayer. I agree with Snart re: having it rechecked if your doctor is willing. There's nothing to lose since you're already operating on the premise that you're still detectable and perhaps the joy of knowing your UD to gain?

[dragonslayer]

Ive got a dr appt mid april; Ill do the quant rna test  a wk before, at the 12 wk post treatment marker.

[MEG]

Fingers crossed. Best to you, dragonslayer.

[motor]

Been thinking of you, DragonSlayer, and have more positive expectations for UND results of Apr testing than when I first read your 8wk results.  Hope you're feeling better about it, also.

[dragonslayer]

Been thinking of you, DragonSlayer, and have more positive expectations for UND results of Apr testing than when I first read your 8wk results.  Hope you're feeling better about it, also.

Thanks, guys.. Naw, really, Im fully expecting for my VL to have gone way up and attacking my liver with a vengeance.   Not knowing really plays games with your head. .Im feeling more liver pains, and my palms seem redder.. Or do they?   The only thing Im really sure of is I cant sleep more than  about 3-4 hrs a night.. Ill get to sleep ok, but almost always seem to wake up in 3 to 4 hrs, and not feel drowsy enough to get back to sleep.  Must be my liver doing it.. .  And those liver pains.. maybe Ive progressed and not in a good way.  Or not.   Intellectually, I know its not likely, but it doesnt stop me from worrying...  40 plus years of this disease.. In '08 bx shows stage-0 and grade-0.  '13 bx showed stage 0-1, grade 0-1.   Havent had any alcohol  to drink since then, so its very unlikely to have advanced much beyond that.    But Im always looking for reasons I did not achieve UND at my EOT test.   Could I have gone from stage 0 to stage 4 in 2 yrs?   Highly unlikely.  My VL test was done about 3.5 wks prior to commencement of treatment... I tested 2.4 mil; could it have gone to over 6 mil in that ensuing month leading up to treatment?   Since the highest vl Ive ever had was back in '08 when I was diagnosed and that was 3 mil, its not likely.   Maybe it was a supplement I had taken..  As I said, Ive got horrible insomnia... So I made a calculation.  The body needs sleep for the immune system to function, right?  I took my Harvoni every day between 9 and 10 am,  and I took sleep aides about 8-9 hrs earlier, so there was plenty of separation time for the Harvoni to be absorbed and not interfered with supplement-wise.   I would rotate ambien, 5-htp, and diphenhydramine (antihistamine) during most of the treatment taken 8-9 hrs before Harvoni.  Sometimes Id toss in a melatonin.. Nobody told me those were contraindicated. I also took a daily levothyroxine (synthroid) for hypothyroid condition every morning about a hour or two before my Harvoni, but again, nobody told me to stop taking my thyroid med.   And thats about it.. I keep reading here how one after another manages to go UND at end of treatment or earlier, so I cant help searching for reasons why I didnt.  Yet I come up with no answers.

Maybe youre right.. Maybe the EOT test only found non replicating virions that were soon thereafter flushed from my system... But Im not giving that any weight.  Ill know soon enough though... in a couple of months.   I could do a test earlier; I have a signed lab req the nurse sent me that can be copied and used. But Im choosing to wait.   He told me to do the test at 12 wks post treatment and thats what Im going to do.. I find these tests to be very anxiety producing, and with the odds greatly in favor of not being UND, I'll just wait and do it then.  Ill do it a wk before my appt.. That way, when  the test comes back bad, Ill be able to immediately meet with him to explore treatment options, rather than do the test now, and then have to endure 2 months of waiting til my appt to come up to discuss further treatment plans.