Has anyone here been undetectable at 4 weeks who has Cirrhosis and high viral lo

[ponygirl]

Just checking. I am new here but have been on message boards in the past during a failed Interferon/Ribavirin TX.

I am 64yo,  1a and have cirrhosis and HAD viral load of 22+ million at start of Harvoni and Ribavirin 4 weeks ago. Now at RNA Quantification  <15 and IU Log <1.18 Since the test result does not say otherwise, I assume that I still have a detectable viral load. Has anyone else here with cirrhosis cleared after having an initial 4 week detectable?

They just decreased the Ribavirin  from 1000mg to 600mg per day because of major depressive and panic symptoms. I won't go into the rest of the symptoms of the Ribavirin. Been there and done that and so far the physical symptoms, while not pleasant are moderately manageable. The depression and "most" of the panic symptoms have decreased with the decreased dosage.

Thanks


"May the odds forever be in our favor"

[coloradogirl]

Awesome report! It's working, and with the Ribavarin it bumps up the odds According to the studies. They call it Riba Rage, and it can mess with your head. On the other hand, at the beginning of my Harvoni treatment, I was all kinds of emotional.  It definately felt like the battle raging inside affected my psyche. It settled down, and I feel better.  I hope you find things will settle down with you, too. Your army kicked some major ass! Way to go!

[Lynn K]

Hi Pony and welcome!

My viral load was only 2.4 million but I am a 3 time null responder to interferon based treatment and also relapsed last year after 12 weeks of sovaldi Olysio. I have had cirrhosis for 7.5 years.

I was undetectable at week 4 and week 12 but the data says being weekly detectable at week 4 is of no concern and has no relationship to eventual SVR the important thing is you have had a significant drop in viral load. We even had one person who was weakly detectable at end of treatment (EOT) and still made SVR 12 when tested after treatment.

So no worries you are on your way to beating this thing!

I am treating with Harvoni for 24 weeks and we later added ribavirin started out at 1200 mg but had to reduce due to anemia so am taking 1000 mg. At the end I will have taken 24 weeks of Harvoni and 15 weeks of interferon.

Good luck on treatment

[ponygirl]

Thanks to both of you. I know that I am probably getting ahead of myself but my Gastro team was really optimistic that I would clear at 4 because the lab accidently ran an RNA at 10 days and I had dropped from the millions to 84 in a 10 day period.

I have had erratic pulse and high BP since starting (I have always been low to normal ranges) which has really effected my ability to exercise. I am now at cut off # into anemia. I am still walking an hr a day but really slowly. The effects are better than they were with the Riba Interferon but I start having anxiety and depressive symptoms and BP issues  2-3 hrs after my Harvoni and 200 mg Riba dose. in the morning. They become more manageable about 6-7 hrs after the dose. I have a team; specialty pharmacist, Gastro, and Cardiologist that share all the info that that helps. 

[MEG]

Hi Ponygirl..

the effects are better than they were with the Riba Interferon but I start having anxiety and depressive symptoms and BP issues  2-3 hrs after my Harvoni and 200 mg Riba dose. in the morning. They become more manageable about 6-7 hrs after the dose

I'm sorry you're experiencing anxiety. Such an unnerving feeling.....

I'm wondering if since you seem to feel better 6-7 hours after dosing whether taking the H before you go to sleep would help?

[Tpropane]

ponygirl, welcome. may the odds be ever in your favor. Today is the halfway point for me. Will go for labs and sure i'll be undetectected again. But with Cirrhosis and non-naive I'm halfway thru. It is a cake walk compared to the past treatment. Drink water. Get a mason jar, stainless steel bottle or... and just keep it full and drink water all day every day. Wash the virus out. 12 weeks to go. If I can do it. And work and function. I'm just a bit more tired. 6pm I'm usually done for the day. I have ups and downs. Headaches sometimes. Water, Water, Water. Healthy eating. Veggies, fruit, unprocessed, low fat, low salt. I try.
Stay here, check in, lots of good information here. And FELLOWSHIP of the HCV.
All the best,
TPropane