lab tests

[deacon]

im half way thru with 12 weeks harvoni. how many labs or blood tests should i have got. seems like some people on this forum get a test every week. i had one in june, started harvoni on july 3rd did 1 blood test last week and dr said hepc was udetected. i end treatment in sept. i asked him if he was giving me another test. but he said it would be in december. and i think the reason why is because they originally told me i was getting 24 weeks harvoni ,which is what the doctor originally wrote the script for but my insurance denied me and i won the appeal and then the insurancr said i was authorized for 12 weeks instead of 24. . any ways it seems like alot of people here get alot of blood tests and i just wanna make sure i at least get another in sept. so i can know this virus is gone.let me know what you think. thanks and good luck

[gnatcatcher]

So, you were tested before treatment and after you'd taken 4 weeks of Harvoni and will be tested again 12 weeks after you finish treatment? Those are the most important times for tests. Based on what I've read, many doctors also test at end of treatment and/or 4 weeks after the end of treatment. A few test even more frequently.

Congratulations on being undetected after 4 weeks. Had that not been the case, your doctor may have wanted another test fairly soon. (If after 4 weeks of Harvoni my viral load was still detected, I would have been tested again two weeks later.)

The test you'll get in December (presumably 12 weeks after you finish treatment) is the definitive one. If the virus is undetected then, you're considered cured, which is extremely likely based on Harvoni's track record.

[deacon]

thanx

[gnatcatcher]

The CNP/DNP who supervises Harvoni treatment here is following the same testing schedule as your doctor: labs after 4 weeks of treatment, and if no virus is detected then, no more labs until 12 weeks after the end of treatment. She says the only patients she's ever had who relapsed from undetected were one person who had had a liver transplant and another with an unusual complication. (I just saw her this morning to go over my 4 week lab results.)

[Bree]

Happy to see this post.  My doctor did labs at 4 weeks into treatment (UND). I'm now  6 weeks into 12 weeks Harvoni.  He wants me to do next labs at EOT .  Then next labs at 24 weeks EOT.  I said I also wanted at 12 weeks EOT which he will do since I requested it. 

So my labs would look like:

End of week 4 on treatment
EOT
(+12 weeeks EOT per my request)
24 weeks EOT

I see lots who have labs every 4 weeks while on treatment.  Since I'm not on ribavirin and all looks good, I guess it's not necessary?

[gnatcatcher]

Thanks, Bree. I had the impression that I could have asked the Hep C CNP/DNP for (and gotten) EOT and/or 24 weeks post-Tx labs in addition to 12 weeks post-Tx. It just so happens my PCP's lab request for my 6-month F/U includes a VL, ALT, AST, etc.  I'll be taking those tests when I have only 15 more (of 84) Harvoni pills left, so that's fairly near EOT. My PCP may very well decide to get a VL (he'll certainly get ALT, AST, etc.) for my annual physical, which I should be able to take right at 24 weeks post-Tx.

If someone is on Ribavirin, more frequent tests seem to be common. This could be because the amount of Ribavirin may need adjustment.