Interesting topic - there are multiple threads about "Starting Harvoni" and that came is and also a related topic came up there as well.
My personal opinion - I concur withe several of you: - no judgement of any addiction - been there, done that - if you suffer from addiction, perhaps this treatment should be combined with some rehab or something so that you stay away from alcohol and/or other potentially interfering substances at least while your're on this treatment - if you have Hep C you should stay away from alcohol, period - if you're on Harvoni, it is not only irresponsible to take alcohol regardless of any studies, but it is disrespectful of all the others all over the world who have no access to this new cutting edge treatment and would give anything for it if they could, while we here are debating whether we should give up drinking for a few weeks - I must say, if the insurance company has to make a choice between providing this treatment to somebody who is willing to stay away from alcohol and drugs in order to get it and somebody who doesn't care - I would have no problem supporting the first choice - I think it would be fair - again, addiction is a different matter and then please see my first and second point above
Now, I have a question related to this topic, but yet very different in my opinion. This is about weed and would love to her what you all might know and/or think about it. As I said this topic came up elsewhere on this forum so please follow this link for a reference: http://forums.hepmag.com/index.php?topic=1806.msg14715#msg14715
Thanks and best of luck to everybody!
MEG:
Hi Tiger, re: marijuana. I found this study which shows that it's ok. But I'd need to see more studies to confirm it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25157529
Tiger:
Thanks, MEG! That's what I thought - THC shouldn't really have anything to do with liver... Alcohol on the other hand, has everything to do with liver... Well, I'm taking no chances anyway - will stay totally clean till at least 12 weeks post EOT and then we'll see - by then it will be like almost 9 months without weed or tobacco, so it would make perfect sense to just keep on... However, if it's not SVR, God forbid - then I will definitely go get a stash and will never again consider life without it... :)
Tpropane:
All that I know is that on one of the 3 denial letters I received from Blue Shield before I was approved contained a sentence and I am paraphrasing here. "Blue cross will not approve and reserve the right to deny Harvoni for abusing alcohol or illegal drug use." I called my doctor and made it clear I was no longer even drinking the occasional glass of wine. My Drug of choice is wine. To be honest it was the hardest thing in the world for me to give up. But my liver went from nearly normal or NAFLD F1 at EOT on Boceprovir, riba and pegintron relapse in 2011 to bounce back in 2014 to full blown cirrhosis. I think boceprovir once failed caused the virus to come back with a bang. But I am merely speculating. My doc and I sat around and did nothing for 4 years. Waiting for a Harvoni, I guess. Yes I drank wine during that time. Not a fifth of tequila, no hard liquor at all. I'm talking a glass or 2 of wine a night. Those of you with old liver results. Throw them out the window. Only very current tests will determine your status. It was like lightening, in the blink of an eye. Unless the first biopsy and ultrasound were wrong? But the cirrhosis was confirmed by blood tests, fibroscan ultra sound and cat scan. No cancer spots but my biggest concern of course. I think I got my docs attention when I said, "Which right to die state he would move to? Washington or Oregon?" Then the results said no liver cancer. May the odds be ever in your favor. It scared the wine right out of my glass.
Roger:
There are so many alcoholics out there (in the world) that hide behind the 2-3 glasses of wine per night... They 'aren't alcoholics though'... but get them to put down the glass with 'ease' for a mere 30 days. Ha! Nearly impossible.
All of us are sooo lucky that we received Harvoni - a 2nd chance. Not one of us should even consider taking another drop or anything else for that matter. Frankly, I had enough wine, beer & liquor for 10 people. I haven't had a drop since June 2009. With the HCV AND the alcohol eating away at my liver, I knew I had to give up the drink, in order to stay alive long enough for Harvoni to be invented.
I remember reading a post on one of the forums that the poster 'just couldn't wait' to be able to go out and drink beer once again. It's like playing with fire. Alcohol is romanced all over the world. It's cool, the nose is wonderful, etc, etc, etc. Alcohol is actually poison. Anyone who has been given this second chance should not take it for granted.