Anemia-Can I be treated again if I am prone to it?

[B-bunch]

I was dropped from a clinical trial in July for low blood count - 8.2.
I started the treatment in January 2006 - blood count -14, started the Procrit (40,000 iu) by February (blood count 11) and by July (blood count 8.2) I was dropped. The Procrit helped some but my blood count didn't get back up past 9.4 by the end of July so Shering-Plough dumped me.

I am seeing a Hepatologoist this Friday, I'm bringing ALL my records from the clinical trial and I'm hoping he will treat me.

I'm a little spooked because I was dropped from the trial, so I guess I'm just a little gun shy this time.

Do they have alternatives like longer treatment 72 weeks, or Procrit doubled or tripled from the start, or lowered riba to say, 800mg?

Anyone else have this problem?

[HCA]

How low was your hgb when they offered transfusion?
Did they reduce your riba?
By how much?
Thanks.

[sunspot]

I suffered anemia on my tx. I even went to maximum dose of Procrit to no avail. My Hemo doc was ready to transfuse me but I was only 3 weeks away from my 48 week EOT so she held off.
I didn

[B-bunch]

I am geno type 1a. 2 million PCR, I've had HepC for 26 years, I got it in San Francisco...back in the day when AIDS was called "Gay Cancer" and HepC was called "non-A non-B".

I am stage 2 but I feel more like at least stage 3. I've got all the signs. Red Palms, some Spider Nevi, URQ pain, fatigue,head aches, cold sweating etc....today it is 7 outside, and I am sweating!! Good thing I have a Syberian Huskey who likes it cold, she sleeps in my room in a tight little ball, which is like a dark cold cave. My Clinical trial doctor told me I need to treat. So not treating is out of the question. Plus I budgeted for this and put everything in storage and moved in with my mother so I could treat without having to work.

My normal HGB is 14. So my HGB started dropping down right from the start.

Maybe I wasn't eating right? It seemed like all I wanted to eat were these Oatmeal Bars I concocted. Oatmeal,Banana,Raisins,Applesauce,Whole Wheat flour,2 eggs,organic brown sugar (small amount),baking soda,cinnamon,vanilla,organic canned pumpkin and soy protein powder,1 stick butter. That is totally created by me and that is all I wanted. That and oh right...Strawberry Kefir. I couldn't stomach ANYTHING else. Not turkey or scrambled eggs or salads or anything I normally like. I just wanted cold foods...nothing hot. Maybe I should have been eating red meat and spinach? Ick...if I had to, I would but I'd have to force it down.

I also doubled up on Vitamin E and Vitamin C 1000mg.

[HCA]

Don't yet know if iron has helped as have only just rec'd it.
I meant that if you are sensitive to ribavirin a small dose can do the job of a big dose.
It's not how much you take it's the build up in your system that counts.Anemia is a good indicator of how efficiently you are absorbing it.

[B-bunch]

Hi HCA,
I thought iron was a no-no? Did it help you?

What does "riba may be very bio-availible in your system" mean?

Thanks,
Sharon

[HCA]

I have similar problem.
My Hgb dropped from 14.5 to 8.0 in spite of half dosing riba and max dosing epo (procrit)
I have just returned from the hospital where I have rec'd an IV infusion of iron.
Not surprised they dumped you from the trial-that's only realistic.
Longer treatment is not necessarily the answer.
There may be a silver lining insofsr as the riba may be very bio-availible in your sytem and you get full theraputic value from a smaller dose.

[nygirl7]

We had a fellow in here who had Thalessemia (not sure of spelling) and so had anemia before he started. He went through hell but was a genotype 2 but did complete treatment. Unfortunately (and it broke our hearts and his) after the nightmare he suffered thru (hemo of 6 was common even with procrit) he relapsed.

I don't know if a doctor would prescribe procrit in advance - however it does a great job for most of us, it's a miracle drug. Without it I could NOT have completed treatment. NO way.

Taking "less" of a medication like ribavirin that is indicated for your weight is sort of like setting yourself up to fail. If you are a geno 1 your chances of getting the "cure" are only 50/50 at best anyway. We need to do all of the meds all of the time.

What genotype are you? Have you had a biopsy to determine if you have that much liver damage that you really DO need to treat? As you know, in most cases this is a very slowly progressing disease. I have had it over 25 years and didn't even know it. I had to treat though because I am stage 3.

I guess you could always start out doing treatment - nobody knows for SURE if your hemo really will go down that much or not even though it seems likely it is caused by something other than what gives you the problem to begin with and perhaps it won't affect it.

You could always take the start and see what happens approach.

Best of luck.