Needing to know?

[Rich1957]

Have read plenty about the damage Hep-c does to your liver, but does it have a direct affect on other organs or or systems in your body? Are there ant studies out there? Does the viral load have any affect on the recovery rate?

[rikkyde]

Good questions Rich. I'm also curious about the VL and recovery rates.


My VL is 34 million; that's a lot higher that any I've seen this forum. I think the highest was about 9M. 


So, is it "harder" or the treatment less effective to attain SVR from 34M opposed to 3M or 300K? 

[jberlin]

Rich, Hep C specifically is a liver disease and attacks the liver.  However, because of this constant war your body is fighting there can be a toll on your body, mostly around fatigue is what I have heard; but I had Hep C from 1976 to 2012 and didn't even know I had a disease until the late 1980s, and if I had symptoms ever during those 36 years, I did not notice them.  The only time I got sick from Hep C was during my 72 weeks of treatment.  Also, viral load is an indicator, and not really much of one, as it can naturally fluctuate.  Remember millions in a small blood sample translates into many billions in your body!  Hope this helps a bit, and I also hope that perhaps there are people in this forum with more medical experience that can give you a more in depth answer.  -jack

[jberlin]

Rik,

Again, my opinion from experience, but I do not believe viral load is any indicator of the success or lack of success in your body's responsiveness to a particular course of treatment.  -jack

[Mike]

There has been some research on VL and treatment outcome; but most of it related to the old interferon/Ribivrin treatment. It suggested that the higher the VL - the lower the treatment response. However, I haven't seen any conclusive research regarding VL outcomes and SOL+INTF+RIBV treatments.

There is some research that indicates certain generic markers can impact treatment outcomes with SOL, as can virus mutation that may occur during treatment.

The important thing to remember is that type 1a's have an across the board 90% success rate with the triple therapy we are both taking. Of that, the hardest to treat 1a's (i.e., severe liver damaged, non and null responders to previous tx and genetic markers) still have a 71% clearance rate.

Another important consideration is that there is a new wave of highly successful treatments on the horizon. If we, by chance, don't achieve a SVR24 this time around, we will in the very near future.

I've been warehoused for the past 14 years waiting for the Solvaldi revolution.

And guess what - it's here! Hope is finally here! ♪♫♪♫


Best wishes, Mike

[Rich1957]

Thanks guys for the info. I'm on sol/rib for 12  Geno 2 Hope it all works. Hope it works for everyone. I also have been infected for many yrs at least 25 and my viral load is 3.5 mil. Thanks again.

[Mike]

Rich,

Genotype 2's have the best chance of clearance (95%). Your VL is consider medium. You should be able to beat this fairly easy. There has been a link between Hep-C and developing type II diabetes, though it is not conclusive.

Best wishes, Mike