7 Pills Left

[steven_myers]

I have 7 pills remaining in my Harvoni bottle The 6 week lab results showed the virus undetected with my enzyme levels in the normal range. I was so happy to learn this and my prayer is that this trend continues.

In the past few days I have noticed that I'm waking up in the night with pretty bad night sweats. Do you guys think this could be caused by Harvoni or maybe the last remnants of the virus fighting back? Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

[Mugwump]

Steven it seems that many of us experienced this as the liver undergoes a rebuilding phase in response to the removal of dead HCV killed liver cells especially near the end of treatment. Some have also experienced a sudden burst of energy at about 8 weeks into treatment, then in the last 10 weeks or so also had night sweats and other symptoms of feeling sick. It seems to depend greatly on the length of treatment. Mine was 24 weeks but others who were on 12 weeks also experienced this to some extent. It seems to depend greatly on the level of damage the HCV was doing to the liver at the time of treatment.

Don't forget that the way in which HCV infects can be in cycles of attack and some of us might very well have been on a high point of infection and not known it. The amount of time that an individual liver cell can live with HCV is not well known and what triggers the virus once in situ to reproduce to the point of causing the cell membrane to burst is not well understood.

Therefore you can have a low viral load in the blood stream but at the same time have a very great many liver cells that are just starting to be killed by HCV. Over the years when I have had viral load testing I have sometimes felt perfectly ok but have had at the same time a viral load in the blood that was way up in the tens of millions per unit of testing. Then the opposite I would feel like I was sick as hell and only have a viral load way down in the hundreds of thousands.

My GI explained to me this aspect of HCV, that the level of infection in the liver can have very little to do with the level of free virus in the blood.

For me this aspect of clearing the virus was unfortunately exacerbated by a case of the flu at 18 weeks of treatment. A real bummer to say the least.

Hang in there it is most likely not HCV re-infecting and killing more liver cells if you have cleared the virus, but it might very well be your liver rebuilding itself. Either way report your status to your specialist. I know my level of hunger went through the roof and I could eat like a teenage werewolf during the later phase of treatment! But I also found that all of a sudden my body would easily sweat again when I exercised something which had slowly gone away as I progressed to cirrhosis.

Remember the "growing pains" and youthful "hunger pains" when you were a young one? Well I actually experienced them again during treatment, it was marvelous!

It can really be hard to find a sleep balance during treatment for some of us and it is natural for your liver to react to the changes that clearing the virus will necessarily bring.

All the best discovering your new self
Eric

[steven_myers]

Wow thanks Eric. My viral load was around 4 million when I started treatment and I was prescribed 12 weeks of Harvoni. I did notice an energy boost a few weeks into treatment but it wore off. Overall I'm feeling more clear headed and more healthy. The night sweats have also gotten better the last couple of weeks. I'm counting down to receiving the results from my end of treatment labs that are due next Monday. Will keep you guys posted.