Two months post Harvoni

[straycat]

Well it's been two months since I finished Harvoni and I feel pretty good!  My joints don't ache at all, I wake up rested instead of feeling like I got no sleep at all, I'm more alert and I don't feel like I'm constantly 'coming down with something'.  My energy level is good, but I still have very little stamina.  However, the cirrhosis has a lot to do with that I imagine.

I guess I have to wait till next January to officially state that I've achieved SVR, but my viral load has continued to be zero since I started Harvoni and I really don't expect anything to change now. 

It's hard to explain how I feel emotionally; it's an adjustment to realize that I'm not actively ill with the virus, just a chronic condition (cirrhosis).  So rather than feeling like I have to fight fight fight all the time I now monitor myself for changes.  My mind is much more at ease these days.  But now I'm wondering 'gee where did the last 20+ years go?'  It almost seems like another life or a nightmare that has ended.

I said it before I started:  I never thought I'd see the day when I could be virus-free.  And here I am, virus free!            

[lynnm]

Congratulations!  I love seeing how many people are getting cured!  I have just started the Harvoni treatment and the test results already impress me. 
Lynn

[MaryC]

Awesome news Straycat!  I am so happy for you!  Your body is trying to repair after all those years of being assaulted by this horrible virus.  Hopefully...you will continue to notice improvements every day.  I go for my 12 week post treatment (Sovaldi and Daklinza) next week and keeping my fingers crossed that I, too, remain negative.  It truly is like a weight has been lifted!

Lynn...welcome and best to you in your treatment journey! 

Mary

[Mugwump]

Welcome all. It is wonderful to see those who have been down the same road as I have reach a point where the debilitating effects of this virus are finally stopped. 


We all will heal differently but I am confident that many of use will see a reversal of the diagnosis of cirrhosis. I have seen far too many good people not make it to the "golden years" and become seriously debilitated early in life because of this curse of a disease.


Here is hoping that those who hold the purse strings finally see the need to completely cure this disease. As I have stated in this post there is a need for the truth to come out about how this disease became so prevalent and the fact that this infection is far more wide spread than most people know and why!


I too will not feel completely confident about SVR until one year EOT reads as undetected. But I can tell you that the 24 week confirmation test sure made me feel good! It seems that those of us who have had the disease the longest are more sceptical than most.
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[/size]WHOO HOO [/size][/font][/font][/size]seeing more and more 24 weekers with more liver damage make it the way I have is a blast![size=78%][/size][size=78%]

[/size]Cheers[size=78%]
[/size]Eric[size=78%]


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[straycat]

Thanks everybody for the positive feedback!  Welcome Lynnm - I'm confident you'll be successful too 

Mugwump said "We all will heal differently but I am confident that many of use will see a reversal of the diagnosis of cirrhosis."  and that's what my doc says, too.  Wouldn't that be the icing on the cake!  Meanwhile I'm taking very good care of my liver in the hopes of further recovery.  Onward and upward!

[Forest dweller]

Hello stray cat!!
I'm feeling your thoughts..where did the last 25 years go?  Bitter sweet emotions.
I'm no where near cured, but am having trouble knowing what to do with the extra time I've already got each day.
The last few years have been so low emotionally and physically.  I really felt like I was a waste of oxygen.  We are so lucky to get this cure chance.  Hope everything stays good with you and everyone else who hasn't finished.  As well for me!!!

Forest dweller

Vl > 6 million
G 1b
Contacted 1992?
Tx naive
56 yrs old , F

[Forest dweller]

Just read last post YAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go cat go!!!

[straycat]

Hi Forest Dweller - Yeah, the long dark tunnel of feeling like a 'waste of oxygen' is just a memory now thank goodness!  Now my fatigue/lack of stamina has more to do with my age than anything else, but I'm not yelling about it.  It feels good to be tired at the end of the day because I got so much accomplished, for a change 

From what I've read, you're 4-5 months away from a cure.  I'd say that's very close!  The time will fly and at the same time be measured one pill at a time   

[beto]

hey stray cat,

For many, all of those years infected we were in a state of perpetual low grade trama I think.  Sounds dramatic, however, there was that daily insecurity of when and how the disease was going to take us.  Living with the feeling that nobody can help you.  So the denial starts which (at least for me) thrown into a dissociative existence.   Our lives go on normally but, we compromise our plans thinking that we are not long for this world.  Then all of a sudden we are cured.  wow.  So yes it is like waking up from a dream that lasted for years.  Waking up can take a while.

Your icing on the cake is happening to many.  Lots of fibrotic liver numbers reversing after the burden is lifted.  Kinda like our livers worked so hard for so long that (who knows) maybe it made them stronger in some way and then free of the disease they improve more than anyone ever thought they would.  I will be interesting to see how things evolve.

Good luck.  peace

[straycat]

Hi beto,

I agree - I think the constant worry and having to always pay attention to my symptoms and be careful about everything took up so much space in my head that there was no room for normal life.  I think of it as kind of an 'arrested development' type of thing because now I feel like I just got beamed down into the 'real' world and whoa! what a shock.  I imagine anyone with a chronic illness has felt some of the same things.  And I have all the time in the world to catch up to this new reality 

We are tough as nails to have made it this far, and after what I've been through it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear that I'm continuing to improve.