Hep C and thyroid

Hello everyone. I have a problem with my hep c and need to ask you. Does Hep C affect thyroid ? Who is the best solution, to treat thyroid and after that the hep c, or to treat hep c and the treatment is valuable for both hep c and thyroid ? I don't know what to do because the doctors are not sure what to do.  

[banarep]

you can treat both.  have never heard of hep c affecting thyroid.  the meds for hep c can affect the thyroid and many have thyroid problems while on and then after tx.  you can treat both at the same time.

[Diane12855]

If your doctors aren't sure of what to do, you definitely need to find new doctors!

You need a hepatologist, but if you can't find one, you at least need a gastroenterologist that has treated a lot of people with hep c. You HAVE to have somebody who knows what to look for as far as side effects go, and who knows how to intervene so that you can stay on treatment. These are powerful drugs that we have to take, don't just settle for any doctor. We are talking "the rest of your life" here... it is important to get the best you can find.

Diane

[etno]

Thanks Diane. But I have a problem. I can't find any other doctor. I must do that treatment. I don't know what to do exactly.

[portann]

Hi there, Etno.

Treatment itself can create newly-emergent thyroid issues, either transient or permanent.  Several people here have had that experience and hopefully will step in to give their opinion.

Without knowing the details of your specific thyroid problem or your HCV genotype (or, for that matter, much about thyroid stuff), I would treat the thyroid now and wait for the new meds.

These will hopefully be added to the standard protocol within the next while. (Caveat, genotype three does not respond to the new protease inhibitors but does respond to polymerase inhibitors, which are not as far along in getting to market.)

Waiting, of course, depends on your degree of liver damage.

So what is the specific nature of your thyroid problem, what genotype are you and what does your liver biopsy say about stage? Also, what explanation did your doc give you for being uncertain? That's a bit unusual but if he's uncertain, I'd think he'd refer you to someone else for a second opinion. I'd personally insist on one.

Best,
Susan

[etno]

Hi portann. Thanks for your advised. I have Hep C, genotipe 2. But I haven't do a biopsy until now. I have had only some echos (abdominale, especially for the liver ) and all the echos tells the same thing: the liver is in good condition. Doctor said me that I need to do before the treatment a fibroscan and a fibrotest, but for me these two are expensive and I can't do these now. How do you think, have any problem if I start treatment now (without a biopsy or fibroscan) ? The problem of thyroid is another issue. The doctors are shared in two camps, some think that the treatment of Hep C could help the thyroid and others think that thyroid must treat before the Hep C (with peginterferon). I don't know what to do.  

[portann]

sorry, I can't talk now but geno-2 is relatively great news and geno-2's aren't typically given a biopsy because the response is so good. Only if I wanted to wait would I insist on one, just so I know what's up with the old liver.

You're going to have to tackle this thyroid issue somehow by getting better information for starters.

After that, if you can hack 24 weeks of treatment instead of maybe, MAYBE shorter treatment time with the new meds added, then I'd probably go for it now. Anyway, I'm not sure where you live and if new meds would be available.

Something to be said for resolving the thyroid dilemma one way or the other and then jumping into treatment without biopsy.

Hopefully, others will disagree, so that you have more opinions than just mine! Maybe the docs are split between two points of view because the answer is not obvious but I don't have a clue at this point.



TTYL

[etno]

thanks portann. If you have free time, give me a wide explanation about this. Bye

[nygirl7]

Please speak to an endocronlogist.  No one on this forum has a medical degree or understands your exact conditions.  I had no thyroid problem prior to treatment yet developed hyper thyroid which switched to hypo thyroid in just a few weeks and have been on Synthroid for years now.

Only your endo can take a look and know which condition is more grave in your particular case and as we alll know (or should) hyperthyroidism can be extremely dangerous. This is nothing to guess about.

Good luck.

[Trish77]

You don't say what your current thyroid issues are, if you are hyperthyroid or hypothyroid, newly diagnosed with thyroid issues or if you have serious thyroid concerns.  I would definitely consult with an endocrinologist if you can manage it for your thyroid    If you have thyroid issues that are being sorted out, I would do that first before introducing interferon to your system so you know exactly what your thyroid issues are without interferon causing confusion about them.  Interferon can throw your thyroid out of whack and not until you stop taking the interferon will you know how your thyroid will be functioning ongoing.  So if it were me, I would sort out the thyroid issues and then once you start interferon, monitor the thyroid issues carefully.  Having said that, it again depends on what exactly your thyroid issues are.  I'm another person who had no thyroid issues before treatment and went hyper then hypo while on treatment and will have to manage the thyroid issues permanently now also with synthroid, etc. and go for an ultrasound soon as the doctor keeps an eye on the growth on my thyroid to make sure it's not turning into something sinister.    I have never heard of interferon helping thyroid.

A number of people do treatment without a biopsy.  I would prefer to see people get a biopsy but there are those who go without it if they know they're going to do treatment.  Perhaps they can tell you how it turned out for them.  

Good luck.

Trish

[lolitriqui]

thyroid problems can develop on TX; mine went out around about week 20; my doc said that if your thyroid gets affected by TX, you would have gotten problems anyway and I will like;y have thyroid problems all my life. However, my thyroid went back to normal at about 6 month post TX.
Chris

[panthyra]

I know this might sound strange....but my vet told me about extra virgin coconut oil and how it can regulate the thyroid.  A tablespoon a day.....not just for dogs.  After that , it seemed that I would hear about this everywhere in dog land...lol.  Anyway, it apparently also can work for adults and can be bought at most grocery stores.  Some people cook with it, but I imagine as with most healthy oils, it shouldn't be pan seared or reach an extremely high temp...not sure though.  Maybe this could help us while undergoing treatment.. of course there's not a ton of info on this, but it's cheap and plentiful and I imagine harmless (unless you're allergic to coconuts).