4 week results

[shash0123]

I have been taking sofosbuvir for 4 weeks my viral count went from 160000 to 647. I am a type 3. My doctor says that he was expected the load to be 0. Can I still hope to clear the virus after the end of my 24 week treatment?

[heart_in_the_keyes]

First let me clear up the food issue....again...on sovaldi / riba .  Riba DOES NOT have to be eaten with high fat or carbohydrates...they suggest yogurt or cottage cheese if you need to take the pills and have missed a meal just so your stomach is coated.  

People are getting this confused with the triple combo where you did have to have carbohydrates/fats of 20 grams with each dosage. Not so with sovaldi / riba.  The only suggestion they have for sovaldi / riba is to avoid grapefruit but other citrus is okay...no food restrictions.

My frig is loaded with fruit, yogurt, cheese all the time or I'll just warm up a can of soup or whip up some oatmeal real quick.  I can stop at a gas station or fast food place and grab something.  I just make sure I eat.  

This information was is in the literature I received....plus I have contacted the 24/7 nurse hot line for the drugs and checked with my nurse and doctor.  

I take 6 riba tablets a day...200 mg each...I take 3 after lunch and 3 after dinner.  I will be on this combo for 6 months.  I am on the pre-transplant list.

I take riba after lunch and dinner.  Because I take the sovaldi at breakfast.  Why...because the sovaldi rep gave me the following visual.

Imagine a picture of grouped strand of cells (you may have seen in a commercial or ad).  Or imagine a  string of pearls and each pearl is a HCV cell.

The sovaldi comes into your body and clips the strings holding the cells (or pearls) together but it can't destroy them.  All the sovaldi does is clip the strings and sets the cells to float around freely. Their string or connection to their home base has been severed,  

Now without the riba they would find their way home, or unite in a new strand and be reattached.  BUT with the introduction of riba into our system we are unleashing a little army of HCV killers and they go after the free floating HCV cells destroying them. That is their job...to destroy the free floating HCV cells...if the HCV cells were still attached all together they would just bounce off of the strand like an army hitting a wall...

So it made sense to me to let the sovaldi go in first to do it's job first then send in the army of Riba later.  

I went to zero at 4 weeks but know I am just UND.  I know I must completed the next 20 weeks to reach a solid SVR even if I reach SVR before then.  I know nothing is a guarantee and that I will have to take further blood work to check my status.  Right now I have blood work every week.  

There are days when I have felt that I just did not want to eat at all.  But I force myself to eat something so I won't get sick from the riba.  You might have those days depending on where your liver is at. You might not. But for me  I figure I've got a war going on in side my stomach so some minor nausea every now and then is reasonable.  

Please be patient with yourself.  If there are a 1000 people on here taking the same combo it really doesn't apply to you....or me.  Oh the basics will help but remember,we are individuals and each individual has their own specific health concerns, monocular structure and will processes drugs differently.  

Read and get as much information as you can on your status and to the drug websites ...this is a good website because they give you connections but sometimes all of that is too much info and I really don't know what does and does apply to me....also and read up on the drugs...each has a website....and call the 24/7 nurse hot line...they are very knowledgeable and can answer or will get you an answer.  

Good Luck.  

[candyce1953]

I am 1b not 2 or 3 so no RIBA, but from what I understand you need food with fat to better absorb the RIBA if you are not doing so already
Good luck
Xoxo
CH

[can-do-man]

I see myself and Nan kind of cross posted. Your doctor seems to have you on weight based Riba instead of just the standard dose which is good. Maybe a six or and eight week PCR would help at least for peace of mind. All is not lost so try not to worry.

Best

[shash0123]

I also  take 1200mg a day of ribavirin... thanks for your input.

[can-do-man]

Sadly genotype 3 has become the hardest to cure and yes one is expected or hoped to be und at week 4. That said since they started treating type 3 for 24 weeks the odd have been much better. I do wonder though I take it your on Ribavirin also? Maybe your dose on that is to low, something to maybe ask your doctor about.

Can you still  Make it to SVR? Sure, like I said 24 weeks has proven much better numbers. I would ask for another PCR soon. Hang in there, wishing you the best.

[nan535]

How much ribavirin have you been taking daily? Geno 3 is a little harder to treat so they double the length of time to 24 weeks.
I think you will be undetected by your next test. Make sure you are strictly compliant with treatment.

Good luck.  Things should turn out okay. See this article
http://www.aidsmap.com/Sofosbuvirribavirin-for-24-weeks-cures-most-genotype-3-hepatitis-C-patients-adding-interferon-may-help-difficult-to-treat/page/2803799/.

Nan