Author Topic: High viral load..effect cure rate from DAA's? (Read 10453 times)

NoDarkCloudz · « **on:** July 22, 2016, 11:25:16 pm »

Hi,im on my 4th week of treatment on Solvaldi/Daklinza now.Everythings going great no side effects whatsoever.I just had my first checkup with the clinic nurse and got the bloods taken.il fond out how effective the tx has been in 2weeks.I noticed while with the nurse my viral load was 13.000000 when i started.apparently its quite high.My question is-Does the amount of viral load effect how effective these new DAA's are?? The nurse did mention that some people had higher amd usually after 4wks some came back with only 15! Which she said was basically undetectable and thats hopefully what i should get.Any info would be apprecciated.

Philadelphia · « **Reply #1 on:** July 23, 2016, 08:23:26 am »

Viral loads doesn't seem to play any part in whether or not you clear the virus. We are hearing people with wildly ranging VL numbers clearing - for example mine was close to 400,000 when I started treatment and I cleared. And then I know of people here with VLs well into the millions who also cleared.

Don't be surprised if your VL plummets remarkably in the first few weeks. There was someone here on a trial who had their VL taken every few hours for the first couple of days and it dropped dramatically even in that short time, down into the hundreds or maybe even double digits (I've forgotten now but I remember being amazed at how quickly it happened)

NoDarkCloudz · « **Reply #2 on:** July 23, 2016, 08:31:42 am »

Hi philadelphia,
Thanks for your reply.much appreiciated.Yes it was abit bewildering because from what ive been seeing on this forum the most i saw anyone have was 3-4million so when i saw mine was 13.000000 i was kind of worried.My fibro was 6.1 and apparently this is really good.No cirrhosis.But i cant rememebr the word for it.but my liver was highly inflammed.normal range was 50-90 and i was 148.Im still trying to understand all these terms relating to this desease.But im hoping it should still be all good and the tx is doing its job well.

BillT · « **Reply #3 on:** July 23, 2016, 09:27:35 am »

Hi Dark,
Like Philly said it is really amazing how quickly the VL drops on these treatments.Your Fibroscan number looks great.I was told they were looking for anything under 7.Mine dropped from 10 to 5.3 on the one I had done recently(6 months EOT).I think once you clear the the virus you'll find that all your numbers will go down nicely.I'm glad to hear you're breezing through this.I love watching dragons die.

AussieRosa · « **Reply #4 on:** July 23, 2016, 11:03:57 am »

My viral load before treatment was almost 3 million. At 4 weeks I was undetectable. At 12 weeks post EOT I was still undetectable and therefore cured. I wouldn't worry about viral load numbers until you are EOT. Best of luck for SVR!

FutureThinker · « **Reply #5 on:** July 23, 2016, 01:12:31 pm »

Hi Dark, re: VL numbers, mine ranged between 15 and 3 million over a ~ 5 year span, so don't be alarmed! I also had the virus for over 4 decades. I remember how alarmed I, too, was when I saw my first VL, so I understand your concern. They are using the VL at this time to determine length of treatment for some, but that's also still being looked at. That's why you'll see some folks on 8 wks of Harvoni and others on 12. My doctor chose 12 weeks of treatment due to my fluctuations over time, despite being at 3 mil when I started treatment.

Hope this helps, FT

Lynn K · « **Reply #6 on:** July 23, 2016, 01:29:37 pm »

Really the factors common to the most difficult to treat are those with advanced liver disease and those who were prior treatment failures more so than higher viral load.

I treated with interferon based treatment 3 times and was a null responder. I was diagnosed 8 years ago with cirrhosis and my pre treatment fibroscan score was 27. My pretreatment viral load was 2.4 million. But even with all that I was able to be cured.

These new meds are ground breaking curing nearly all.

You will be cured too believe it.

Wiglaf · « **Reply #7 on:** July 23, 2016, 03:55:59 pm »

Look at my vl before tx. Hep C virus was undetectable at four weeks.

NoDarkCloudz · « **Reply #8 on:** July 30, 2016, 06:43:47 am »

Thankyou everyone for your replys and much sought after advice and info! Im not as worried now thanks to all you great ppl on this forum.Im into week 5 now.I go to get my first lab results in a few days.I cant wait to see just how affective tx has been,if anything like most ppls experiences have been on here i should well and truly be on the way to that magic word...UND......!! One thing i havent been doing is drink that much water.never really been a good water drinker to be honest.But il try and do better.Besides that everything has been great.Have had vivid and weird dreams ever since the 2nd week of tx..its great!lol Hope everyone is doing great and heres to a brighter day!:)

BillT · « **Reply #9 on:** July 30, 2016, 10:47:10 am »

You must be some kind of Goddess to have done the interferon 3 times and survived Lynn.I can't even imagine that.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Lynn K · « **Reply #10 on:** July 30, 2016, 12:14:33 pm »

Hi Bill

LOL mostly a dragon fighter of old determined to try to beat the thing no matter how difficult to do. When the going gets tough just get tougher and fight on!

NoDarkCloudz · « **Reply #11 on:** August 05, 2016, 08:57:55 pm »

Hi guys just like to update..I got my first bloods back (4wk) and im Undetected!! From 13.000000vl to Undetectable is unbelievable! The doc said ive had one of the best results in terms of effectiveness.My liver was highly inflammed before i started treatment,was in the region of 3x the normal functioning level and now im back to totally normal.This daas are a godsend.waited so many years to be in this position i never thought it would come.So keep up the good fight everyone.
God bless us all ❤️

Philadelphia · « **Reply #12 on:** August 06, 2016, 12:30:24 am »

Great news No Dark Cloudz. So pleased for you.

brie41 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 08, 2016, 09:20:03 am »

Hi,

Congrats on those numbers! It is amazing isn't it how powerful these drugs are and yet we barely notice them working their magic! I also freaked out when first diagnosed and my Doctor told me I had a viral load of 6 million. My viral load was around 2.5 million when I started treatment. I also cleared the virus quickly and so far so good. Hang in there! Brie

BillT · « **Reply #14 on:** August 08, 2016, 10:26:26 am »

By the end of the year they may have to put dragons on the endangered species list.

Baxter · « **Reply #15 on:** August 08, 2016, 02:33:32 pm »

I was at about 6 million at start of treatment, and tested at 60 at 4 weeks, <15 at 8 weeks, and clear at 12. I'm 8 weeks post treatment now, and still feeling great. A month away from my 12 week post, but you know... when you've been sick 20+ years, you know what it feels like - and I think you kind of know what it feels like when you're not sick anymore.

It seems more and more clear that high viral loads are not that much of a factor in whether or not DAAs work; the question is whether your particular strain is resistant or not. Evidently the drug either works or it doesn't, regardless of how high your viral load is.

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Author Topic: High viral load..effect cure rate from DAA's? (Read 10453 times)