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Author Topic: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?  (Read 15525 times)

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Offline MikeHaynes

  • Member
  • Posts: 7
Hi guys,

Just got my first viral load test results today after one month on Harvoni (scheduled for 24 weeks).  Viral count has gone from 47Mil/ml to 30Mil/ml.  Is this good, bad, or mediocre results? Is this any indicator of future success or failure? (I keep seeing folks here who have cleared the HCV virus after only one month, and I'm 30Mil/ml away from that lofty goal!).

PS: I have had Hep-C since '78,  have cirrhosis, and have had two failed 'Walks Through Hell' (Interferon/Ribavirin). 

BTW, I spoke to the Harvoni Support Path, and the nurse there told me they have NO IDEA what the viral counts should be on a month-by-month basis during treatment!!

Many Thanks,

-Mike
Non-A Non-B (HCV) since 1978
2 Needle biopsies
2 Failed Interferon treatments
Cirrhosis

Offline Mike

  • Member
  • Posts: 999
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2015, 06:20:42 pm »
Hi Mike,

First, you started treatment with a very high viral load - so it may take a bit longer for the Harvoni to knock it down.

I wouldn't worry at this juncture - as the medication is working and you have another 20 weeks to go.

The important VL test is the one at the end of treatment.

Hang in there, the treatment is working, the VL is going down and you should slay the dragon this time around!

Best wishes, Mike
Genotype 1a
Treated 2001 with PEG and RIBV
Treated in 2014 SOL+PEG+RIBV
Cured July 2014

Offline MikeHaynes

  • Member
  • Posts: 7
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2015, 08:48:51 pm »

Thanks for the info Mike!  Much appreciated!!  (So strange that some people have very low VL counts and a few, like me, have such high ones... :P)
Non-A Non-B (HCV) since 1978
2 Needle biopsies
2 Failed Interferon treatments
Cirrhosis

Offline atomic dog

  • Member
  • Posts: 160
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2015, 10:42:36 pm »
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni.  Good or bad news?

Everyone's physical makeup is unique, so don't compare yourself to others. You're numbers are headed in the right direction. Work closely with your doctor. Be kind to your liver while you are on treatment. You can beat this disease.
Infected 1969, dirty needle
Geno 1a
Stage 2 fib, some necrosis
TX naive
1/29/15 ALT61; AST43
2/16/15 Started Harvoni; VL 1.5 m;
2/19/15 ALT40; AST24
2/29/15 ALT29; AST25
3/9/15 ALT28; AST25; 
3/9/15 < 20 IU/mL (3 wks) HCV RNA remains 'detected'
3/24/15 ALT30; AST25;
3/24/15 <20 IU/mL (5 wks) HCV RNA
4/10/15 <20 IU/ml (7 weeks) HCV RNA
4/20/15 ALT36; AST27
4/20/15 UND
5/11/15 UND (EOT); ALT33; AST25
6/11/15 UND; ALT 34; AST 29
8/14/15 UND
11/15/15 SVR, 24-wk EOT

Offline Tpropane

  • Member
  • Posts: 65
  • Heal the past by living in the present.
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2015, 11:41:41 pm »
That seems unusual. Ask your GI doc. Please keep us advised. What type of diet, lifestyle, other meds are you on? You aren't taking any omenprazole, zantac, or Prilosec? Seems like the only medicine that really interferes with harvoni are antacids.
I hope your next VL is better.
TPROPANE
Hep C 1A / TT diagnosed 2009
Non Responder Boceprevir/riba/peg 2011
F-4 Cirrhosis
TX Harvoni 24 weeks started 1/20/15
2 week labs VL 174!
4 week labs UNDETECTED !
8 week labs UNDETECTED !

Offline MikeHaynes

  • Member
  • Posts: 7
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2015, 12:19:55 am »

Hi all!

I just personally looked over my one month VL test results that I had posted above as "30Mil/ml".  Here is what it says exactly:

"Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, PCR, quantitative: 30 iu/ml 03/11/2015"

Is this "30 iu/ml" number considered a high viral count as compared to others here on this forum?
Non-A Non-B (HCV) since 1978
2 Needle biopsies
2 Failed Interferon treatments
Cirrhosis

Offline atomic dog

  • Member
  • Posts: 160
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2015, 12:31:46 am »
30iu/ml is very low, well on your way to being undetected.
Infected 1969, dirty needle
Geno 1a
Stage 2 fib, some necrosis
TX naive
1/29/15 ALT61; AST43
2/16/15 Started Harvoni; VL 1.5 m;
2/19/15 ALT40; AST24
2/29/15 ALT29; AST25
3/9/15 ALT28; AST25; 
3/9/15 < 20 IU/mL (3 wks) HCV RNA remains 'detected'
3/24/15 ALT30; AST25;
3/24/15 <20 IU/mL (5 wks) HCV RNA
4/10/15 <20 IU/ml (7 weeks) HCV RNA
4/20/15 ALT36; AST27
4/20/15 UND
5/11/15 UND (EOT); ALT33; AST25
6/11/15 UND; ALT 34; AST 29
8/14/15 UND
11/15/15 SVR, 24-wk EOT

Offline MikeHaynes

  • Member
  • Posts: 7
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2015, 12:40:26 am »

Wow, thanks Atomic Dog!  When the nurse told me my VL numbers today I tried to get some sense of what they really meant, since I was only used to the old non-metric HCV VL numbers.  But I can see now -- and suspected when I was speaking to her -- that she had NO idea what any of these numbers mean AT ALL. (She scared the cr*p out of my wife and me!!)
Non-A Non-B (HCV) since 1978
2 Needle biopsies
2 Failed Interferon treatments
Cirrhosis

Offline Lynn K

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 4,546
  • Get tested, get treated, get cured, fight Hep c!
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2015, 02:14:22 am »
many of the tests have a lower limit of detectability of <15 IU/mL so you are not much above that at 30 IU/mL which is read as 30 international units of virus per milliliter of blood. I will bet anything your next test comes back as virus "not detected"

Our stories are similar dx hep c in 1990 probably got hep c in 1978 or 1979 and dx cirrhosis in Jan 2008. This is tx number 5 for me. 1st was 3 shots a week on interferon mono-therapy and 2 attempts on interferon riba null responder. Last year I treated with Sovaldi & Olysio for 12 weeks but relapsed at 12 weeks post tx test so I am on 24 weeks Harvoni and we added ribavirin at week 9 of Harvoni. I have 7 weeks to go.

Good luck
Genotype 1a
1978 contracted, 1990 Dx
1995 Intron A failed
2001 Interferon Riba null response
2003 Pegintron Riba trial med null response
2008 F4 Cirrhosis Bx
2014 12 week Sov/Oly relapse
10/14 fibroscan 27 PLT 96
2014 24 weeks Harvoni 15 weeks Riba
5/4/15 EOT not detected, ALT 21, AST 20
4 week post not detected, ALT 26, AST 28
12 week post NOT DETECTED (07/27/15)
ALT 29, AST 27 PLT 92
24 week post NOT DETECTED! (10/19/15)
44 weeks (3/11/16)  fibroscan 33, PLT 111, HCV NOT DETECTED!
I AM FREE!

Offline Mike

  • Member
  • Posts: 999
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2015, 07:21:41 am »
Hey Mike,

30 is a million times better than 30,000,000!

Best wishes, Mike
Genotype 1a
Treated 2001 with PEG and RIBV
Treated in 2014 SOL+PEG+RIBV
Cured July 2014

Offline charly8

  • Member
  • Posts: 113
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2015, 09:55:02 am »
Hi all!

I just personally looked over my one month VL test results that I had posted above as "30Mil/ml".  Here is what it says exactly:

"Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, PCR, quantitative: 30 iu/ml 03/11/2015"

Is this "30 iu/ml" number considered a high viral count as compared to others here on this forum?

I am so glad you posted this.   I read last night that it had dropped to 30 mil. and felt really bad for you.  Going from 40mil to 30 (not 30 mil) is a HUGE drop and says you are responding well.
1a, VL  1.05 Mil, ALT 47
Fibrosure F3 December 2014
Fibroscan F0-F1 March 2015
1995 INT & RYB -non-responder
2007 PEGIN & RYB 72 weeks tx - partial responder relapsed
1/23/15 Started Harvoni 12 weeks, EOT 4/17
2 week blood work -  <15 Und. (ALT 25)
4 week blood work - <15 Und. (ALT 29)
2/20/15 added RYB (4 weeks into 12 of tx)
8 week blood work - <15 Und. (ALT 23)
(EOT) 12 week blood work - <15 Und.
4wk POST tx VL - Und. (ALT16, AST 17)

Offline MikeHaynes

  • Member
  • Posts: 7
Re: Viral load of 30Mil after one month on Harvoni. Good or bad news?
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2015, 11:22:23 am »

Thanks guys!  I had always known I had a "high viral load", but if I hadn't looked at my VL test results online in their 'Clinic Patient Portal', I would never have known that the latest numbers were in "iu/ml"!  The rather inexperienced nurse I had spoken to yesterday had only told me that my VL had started off with "42" pre-treatment, and was now "30" one month later.  I knew such a small drop in VL was bad news, but she had no answers for me because she knew very little, apparently, about HCV VLs.

And as Mike said above, "30 is a million times better than 30Mil!"

Thanks very much for all the support and concern guys; and for those still on Harvoni, I wish you all the best of luck!!


Non-A Non-B (HCV) since 1978
2 Needle biopsies
2 Failed Interferon treatments
Cirrhosis

 


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