30 weeks and still 2470

[rupert128]

I am 56 yr old caucasian male (they say causcasians have a higher success rate than asian or african american), I don't know. I had a 6 million, 700 thousand VL and started combination interferon aboout 30 wks ago. My VL has gone down to 2470 but the Dr says if VL is not at 0 between 28 & 30 weeks it is not going to reach 0, even with 48 wks of therapy. But Dr said if my insurance will pay for the 48 weeks I should stay on it. But the treatment has been difficult and if there is no chance I will reach 0 then I don't see the reason to continue. Does anyone know of anyone that reached a 0 VL after 30 weeks instead of before. O yes, I have genotype 1 hepatitis. Someone answer, please.

[copyman]

Sorry that you have not responded to treatment. i see no reason to stay on treatment unless you have severe liver damage. If you had a biopsy and have stage 3 or less then you should wait about a year for the new drugs.
best of luck

[Diamond_Lil]

Rupert,

To be perfectly honest it is very unlikely you will achieve a sustained virological response with 48 weeks of treatment even if you do become undetectable by 30 weeks.

Most doctors will stop treatment after 24 weeks if the patient is not undetectable by then.   Many doctors will extend treatment for slow responders to 72 weeks but in most cases the patient will have been undetectable between weeks 12 and 24.  At this point and in my opinion, I do not think it would be worthwhile to extend treatment to 72 weeks.

I'm sorry it has been so difficult for you.  Try to stay positive, better drugs are coming soon.

Diamond_Lil