Cured!!!

[JayNick]

Some good news for others. Diagnosed with Hep C two years ago. No signs or symptoms for over 30 years. Don't waste time trying to figure out how I got. I started on Harvoni on 3/27/15. Five weeks later the virus was undetectable! I have 2 more weeks of treatment. I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS!!! NOT A ONE!!. I read more bad experiences in all the forums than good news. Stay positive and trust that the drug is working. My Co pays have totaled $15.00 for 12 weeks. My experience has been without ANY side effects.

[TexasC+]

Congrats!!!!

[Lynn K]

Congrats

Soon the wait for the official cure 12 weeks post treatment aka SVR 12

Hope you stay virus free SVR forever

[Mugwump]

Some good news for others. Diagnosed with Hep C two years ago. No signs or symptoms for over 30 years. Don't waste time trying to figure out how I got. I started on Harvoni on 3/27/15. Five weeks later the virus was undetectable! I have 2 more weeks of treatment. I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS!!! NOT A ONE!!. I read more bad experiences in all the forums than good news. Stay positive and trust that the drug is working. My Co pays have totaled $15.00 for 12 weeks. My experience has been without ANY side effects.

For us who have been through years of a slow downward spiral and have cirrhosis it is wonderful to see others and know that they will not have to go through the hell that is long term HCV infection!

DO something special for yourself and for some you love. Please spread the word and the encouragement. If all of us do a little much will get done to help rid others of this disease and just as importantly, the fears, prejudice and lack of understanding that were created by this plague.

[Else]

Fantastic news!  Congratulations!!!

[djohnso53]

Just did my 4 weeks blood work last week and got a call today that I'm undetected

[Else]

Sounds like we're on the same timeline, dj.  Congrats!!!  Feels great, doesn't it? 

[Mike]

Congrats djohnso53,

Looks like another slain dragon!

Best wishes, Mike

[JayNick]

Some good news for others. Diagnosed with Hep C two years ago. No signs or symptoms for over 30 years. Don't waste time trying to figure out how I got. I started on Harvoni on 3/27/15. Five weeks later the virus was undetectable! I have 2 more weeks of treatment. I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS!!! NOT A ONE!!. I read more bad experiences in all the forums than good news. Stay positive and trust that the drug is working. My Co pays have totaled $15.00 for 12 weeks. My experience has been without ANY side effects.

My Hep C 1a has returned after harvoni 12 weeks. MD prescribed Viekira with Ribavirin. Will start 12 week regiment on Saturday Oct 24.

Anyone had similar experiences???

[Lynn K]

Hi Jay

So sorry to read if your relapse

From what I have read on the AASLD  treatment guidelines that is not the recommended treatment

http://www.hcvguidelines.org/full-report/retreatment-persons-whom-prior-therapy-has-failed

Recommended regimen for patients in whom previous treatment with any HCV nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) inhibitors has failed (including daclatasvir plus sofosbuvir, ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, or paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir plus dasabuvir).
For patients with minimal liver disease, deferral of treatment is recommended, pending availability of data.

Rating: Class IIb, Level C
 
For patients with cirrhosis or other patients who require retreatment urgently, testing for resistance-associated variants that confer decreased susceptibility to NS3 protease inhibitors and to NS5A inhibitors is recommended. The specific drugs used in the retreatment regimen should be tailored to the results of this testing as described below. Treatment duration of 24 weeks is recommended and, unless contraindicated, weight-based RBV should be added.

Rating: Class IIb, Level C

Basically if you don't have cirrhosis you should wait for new treatments and if you have cirrhosis you will need to have resistance testing done to determine the recommended treatment.

As lesipasvir and one of the components of Viekira Pak are in the same family of meds you should not take Viekira Pak and the recommendations from the AASLD go on to discuss what meds should be taken based on the results of resistance testing and Viekira Pak is not on that list.


"For patients with cirrhosis or other patients who require retreatment urgently, testing for RAVs that confer decreased susceptibility to NS3 protease inhibitors (eg, Q80K) and to NS5A inhibitors should be performed using commercially available assays prior to selecting the next HCV treatment regimen. For patients with no NS5A inhibitor RAVs detected, retreatment with ledipasvir/sofosbuvir and RBV for 24 weeks is recommended. For patients who have NS5A inhibitor RAVs detected and who do not have NS3 inhibitor RAVs detected, treatment with simeprevir, sofosbuvir, and RBV for 24 weeks is recommended. For patients who have both NS3 and NS5A inhibitor RAVs detected, retreatment should be conducted in a clinical trial setting, as an appropriate treatment regimen cannot be recommended at this time.

No data are yet available on the retreatment of patients for whom prior treatment with PrOD has failed. However, studies that have evaluated patients whose virus did not respond to PrOD have reported the presence of RAVs that confer decreased susceptibly to NS3 protease inhibitors (eg, paritaprevir), NS5A inhibitors (eg, daclatasvir, ledipasvir, ombitasvir), and nonnucleoside polymerase inhibitors (eg, dasabuvir). Based on these observations, patients for whom treatment with PrOD did not result in an SVR should have HCV treatment deferred in the setting of mild liver disease, and for those with advanced fibrosis, testing for RAVs should be performed.

Data on the retreatment of patients for whom prior treatment with ledipasvir/sofosbuvir has failed are very limited. In a pilot study, 41 patients with and without cirrhosis who did not achieve an SVR with 8 weeks or 12 weeks of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir were retreated with 24 weeks of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir. SVR12 rates varied according to the presence or absence of NS5A inhibitor RAVs. Among 11 patients for whom NS5A inhibitor RAVs were not detected, SVR occurred in 11 of 11 (100%); in contrast, among 30 patients for whom NS5A inhibitor RAVs were detected, SVR occurred in 18 of 30 (60%). Importantly, NS5B inhibitor RAVs (eg, S282T) known to confer decreased activity of sofosbuvir were observed in 3 of 12 (25%) patients for whom the retreatment regimen was not successful. Similarly, in the OPTIMIST-2 study in which patients with cirrhosis were treated with simeprevir and sofosbuvir, the presence of NS3 RAVs, namely the Q80K polymorphism, led to a decreased SVR rate in patients with HCV genotype 1a infection. SVR occurred in 25 of 34 (74%) patients with HCV genotype 1a and the Q80K RAV and in 35 of 38 (92%) patients with HCV genotype 1a without the Q80K RAV. Based on these data, retreatment for patients for whom an NS5A inhibitor-containing regimen has failed should be considered in the context of retreatment urgency and the presence or absence of RAVs to inhibitors of NS3 and NS5A. Further, based on limited data, RBV is recommended as part of all retreatment regimens for patients in whom prior treatment with NS5A inhibitors has failed. Although no data exist, consideration may also be given to the addition of PEG-IFN to the retreatment regimen in patients who are eligible for this agent; PEG-IFN will have antiviral activity regardless of the RAVs present."

You should look at the link and discuss this with your doctor.

A couple of others here have also relapsed and had the resistance testing performed.

Best of luck to you
Lynn
 

[chem_chic]

JayNick so sorry to hear about your relapse      Hoping this round will be it for you. Stay strong!

[KimInTheForest]

My Hep C 1a has returned after harvoni 12 weeks. MD prescribed Viekira with Ribavirin. Will start 12 week regiment on Saturday Oct 24.

Anyone had similar experiences???

So sorry to hear you relapsed Jay Nick. At what point in the process did your Hep C return? Had you achieved SVR12 after your Harvoni treatment? Or did the virus come back before that?

Good luck with your new treatment!
kim

[JayNick]

Looks like I jumped the gun!! Harvoni failure w/o cirrhosis after  3 months. MD prescribed Viekira w/ Ribavirin. Side effect severe depression. I transferred my care to UNC Liver Center. MD there told me to stop taking BOTH meds.  Lynn K was right!!!!! My new MD explained why. He also advised me to wait for new medications in the pipeline. Even though I am clear of the Hep C 1a, after 7 weeks of Viekira, the virus will return. I am awaiting results of NS5A resistance.

[Lynn K]

I am just reporting what I have read at the AASLD American Assoviation for the Study of Liver Diseases treatment guidelines just a data searcher.

Are you also testing for NS3 resistance? The results will let you know what is recommended at this time but as yo don't have cirrhosis you have time to wait for the newest meds coming down the drug pipeline soon.

I know how hard it is to wait for treatment. After I had tried all the treatments available to me and failed I waited several years for telaprevir to be approved. During my wait for telaprevir I was diagnosed with cirrhosis so when it was available the doctors would not let me try it because it likely wouldn't have worked and could have cause me to go into liver failure.

So since Jan 2008 I had been hoping that new meds would be approved before my cirrhosis could worsen and very concerned nothing would come in time.

By your situation is much better than mine was the new meds are coming and you have time.

So hang in there something will be there for you and all the others who have failed these new treatments

Best to you
Lynn