hepper2:
I just found out my Hep C is back after 3 years of being NED!!??!! My hepatologist said he's had a few other patients coming back in with the same story. I told him they might want to contact all patients who took the INF / RIBA / VICTRELLIS combo & have them get retested!! After multiple repeat viral load tests "just to be sure it's really back" he has now put me on Epclusa. Here is my journey with the dragon if you're interested ... Genotpye 1a 1977 contracted via blood transfusion 1991 diagnosed 1996 Intron A failed 2012 stage 2 fibrosis 2012-2013 PegIntron / Riba / Victrellis CLEARED VIRUS (dr said I am cured ... but wait ...) 2016 VIRUS IS BACK (but the viral load was so low dr said it was a false positive & ran another viral load and it was negative so he said no need to worry ... but wait) 2019 VIRUS IS "REALLY" BACK NOW (with high viral load) 2019 Just started Epclusa :(
lporterrn:
That is one heckuva journey, especially after Victrelis. Epclusa will be a walk in the park compared to Victrelis. (For those who aren't familiar with the older days of treatment, people who endured Victrelis had horrendous side effects. However, they had a good shot at a cure. Quite a blow when it didn't work.)
We are here cheering you on - this should take care of it. Sounds like you have a conscientious doc!
hepper2:
Thanks Lucinda! Yes the Victrelis / Riba / INF combo was very very hard on me!! I'm just a bit leery now that this Epclusa will be the magic bullet. The dragon is very slippery!! But time will tell ;D
Lynn K:
Hey so sorry to hear this.
If it helps at all I treated 3 times with interferon based treatments and was a null responder to all. Shortly before Victrellis was approved I was diagnosed with cirrhosis in Jan 2008. So when it was approved because of my prior treatment history and cirrhosis my odds of success were about 14% I was told so they wouldn’t let me even attempt treatment.
When the new DAA’s were first getting approved I treated with Sovaldi and Olysio for 12 weeks. I was not detectable at EOT but when tested 12 weeks later I was found to have relapsed. Then Harvoni was approved the next month in October 2014 and I started a 24 week treatment of Harvoni and later adding ribavirin for 15 of those weeks for an extra punch. I was finally cured EOT May 2015 and remain cured today. So there is hope for you.
From what I hear Epclusa is an even more effective medicine so you very likely will win the fight this time.
Best of luck, kick the dragons butt!
hepper2:
Thanks Lynn!! I'm glad to hear you fought and won!! I have no doubt this Epclusa will do the trick ... I just hope it stays gone this time 8)