Cryoglobulinemia

       Hi Dr.
             I have HEP C . And now My dr. tells me that i have cryoglobulinemia. He wants me on interferon treatments for the rest of my lfe. I am at last stage cirrhosis caused by hepc.I am 47 years of age. Ive had hep c for a long time.  But he says that this is to treat the cryoglobulinemia not the hep c.He says that my viral load isnt that bad with the hep c. He is very concerned about this croyoglobulinemia. I was looking for reference on this suject. and i found it under leukemia.My question is!! Is cryoglobulinemia the same as haveing leukemia ??Thank you dr. for any info on this.
                                   CARMEN

[missruby]

hi carmen,
i had cryoglobulinemia it was caused by hepc i took the tx and got cured.i also had vasculitits and rhuematoid artheritis. i was told if i didnt cear the hepc then i would be on interferon for the rest of my life. i am now one year clear of hepc and no symptoms of cryo or any of the other illness's i has because of the hepc. im 57 years old and had geno type 3.
you have to keep your self warm if you have cryo and changes in the weather can also affect you.cryo means frozen. so keep warm.if you get to cold your blood or some protein in the blood turns into a gel and it stops your blood from flowing its a very debilitating illness and rare, however when i started the tx for the hepc i had almost immediate relief.i felt a new strength flow through my whole body. i was so happy as i had been very scared to take the tx. may i ask what genotype you are? please keep me posted. and i hope things improve with the interferon which im very sure they will. the strange thing was my viral load was very low and yet i was so very ill.missrubyx

[hopeful435]

I too have hepc and cryoglobulininema.  I have had it for a few years now.  I am waiting to get on the new Phase 111 trial. including the protease inhibitor.  For now my Rhumatologist has started me on Embrel.  She says she has 5 other people on it and they have done well.  Third shot for me with very little improvement.  She wants to keep me on it for 3 months to see if it helps.  You give me hope that once I finish  the tx for Hep C I may be clear of both.  I was on Tx for Hep C in 2003 but only made it for 7 months.  Too sick to continue.  I am Geno 1A.  I didn't know about the cold making the vasculis worse.  Here I've been putting ice packs on my feet and ankels to relief the pain.  I would love to be abble to keep in touch by e-mail if possible.  I would gladly give you my e-mail add, but I don't know if here would be the best place to give it to you.

Thank you,
Hopeful435

[ladywhy]

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