Aa
New to the site...Not sure exactly how this works!
I was diagnosed with Hep C in November of 2012. I was 16 weeks pregnant at the time. My VL was only 3,000 but jumped up to 80,000 at the end of my pregnancy. I just moved to a new state & am setting up an appointment with the infectious disease dr. here in town, next week. I am nervous to find out if my VL has gone way up... hopefully not by much. My liver enzymes were normal both times they were checked, however I know they can fluctuate, & being that I have only had this disease for about a year & 1/2, I'm guessing it hasn't had much of a chance to do much damage (yet). Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself to the forum, although I am not even sure where this post is going! LOL! Hopefully it will end up where it is supposed to be... I guess I will find out. I am hoping to start Tx within the next month or so & am pretty scared as I have a young baby ( 5.5 months) & am worried it will leave me debilitated. Any advice/info/input on getting through Tx would be greatly appreciated. I know it's different for everyone & I do know about the "common" Sx of it, but it's always nice to get some personal input. My name is Adrienne by the way! I look forward to getting to know you all & look forward to the support I will (hopefully) get from this forum!
hi and welcome to the site.Agree with above i would wait for new treatments to get approved you are young you got time on your side and as any mum will know having i 5.5mth old is pretty much daunting in its self. Best of luck for the future Jules
Generally speaking, I rarely suggest waiting to treat. However, in your case, having had HCV for only a year and a half and most likely having little or no liver damage, and caring for a new baby, I agree with Hector, that waiting for the new treatments which are projected to be out next year, is probably a good idea.
The current treatment can be daunting. It is true that some people have few side effects, but that is not the norm. You cannot count on no or few side effects. You won't know which side effects you will have until you get on treatment. Most people do have side effects and caring for a 5 month old baby while going through the current treatment may prove to be a challenge.
You don't say which Genotype you are.
If you have Genotype 2 or 3, you will be able to treat with the new drug Sofosbuvir in combination with the old drug Ribavirin.
If you have Genotype 1, and you are treatment naive (never treated before), you would treat with Interferon, Ribavirin, and Sofosbuvir, but for a shorter period of time than the current treatment.
In addition, there are some other new drugs in the pipeline which will eventually be available and there are Interferon free treatments which are also in the pipeline for the future.
As Hector mentioned, you should now get an appointment with a Gastroenterologist who is knowledgeable and experienced in the treatment of Hepatitis C and who is knowledgeable about the treatment options which will be available in 2014 and in the future.
Best of luck.
The current treatment can be daunting. It is true that some people have few side effects, but that is not the norm. You cannot count on no or few side effects. You won't know which side effects you will have until you get on treatment. Most people do have side effects and caring for a 5 month old baby while going through the current treatment may prove to be a challenge.
You don't say which Genotype you are.
If you have Genotype 2 or 3, you will be able to treat with the new drug Sofosbuvir in combination with the old drug Ribavirin.
If you have Genotype 1, and you are treatment naive (never treated before), you would treat with Interferon, Ribavirin, and Sofosbuvir, but for a shorter period of time than the current treatment.
In addition, there are some other new drugs in the pipeline which will eventually be available and there are Interferon free treatments which are also in the pipeline for the future.
As Hector mentioned, you should now get an appointment with a Gastroenterologist who is knowledgeable and experienced in the treatment of Hepatitis C and who is knowledgeable about the treatment options which will be available in 2014 and in the future.
Best of luck.
Adrienne -
If you only have been infected only for a year and a half with hep C you have no reason to retreat now. Hep C takes decades to destroy the liver and you are very young. New, better treatments will be available soon. There is no point repeating treatment you failed before.
Most people do not know how they got the hepatitis C virus.The most common way of being infected is by sharing blood with someone who is infected with the virus. Is this the case? The virus is not transmitted through common sexual practices if that is what you believe.
You don't say how long you treated for or how you responded to treatment.
If you treated with triple therapy you should treat with the newer treatments that will be coming out in the next year of two. They only require 12 weeks of treatment and the side effects are a lot less than current treatments.
You should get an appointment with a gastroenterologist who is experienced and knowledgeable in hepatitis C and its treatment who is aware of all of the treatment options that will be available to you in the next year or two.
There is no need to worry about viral load or liver enzymes. Viral load has nothing to do with how much damage your liver has and liver enzymes tell nothing about your hepatitis C infection. Many people infected with hep C have normal enzymes levels.
Good luck.
Hector
If you only have been infected only for a year and a half with hep C you have no reason to retreat now. Hep C takes decades to destroy the liver and you are very young. New, better treatments will be available soon. There is no point repeating treatment you failed before.
Most people do not know how they got the hepatitis C virus.The most common way of being infected is by sharing blood with someone who is infected with the virus. Is this the case? The virus is not transmitted through common sexual practices if that is what you believe.
You don't say how long you treated for or how you responded to treatment.
If you treated with triple therapy you should treat with the newer treatments that will be coming out in the next year of two. They only require 12 weeks of treatment and the side effects are a lot less than current treatments.
You should get an appointment with a gastroenterologist who is experienced and knowledgeable in hepatitis C and its treatment who is aware of all of the treatment options that will be available to you in the next year or two.
There is no need to worry about viral load or liver enzymes. Viral load has nothing to do with how much damage your liver has and liver enzymes tell nothing about your hepatitis C infection. Many people infected with hep C have normal enzymes levels.
Good luck.
Hector
Welcome to site , VL mean little at all regarding damage , tx don't worry about that some have little or no side effects , and really if do have some side effects there not to bad , basically you may feel like crap but just just look to positive side and that is , getting rid of this problem we have .
Good luck , this is great site with great people , very helpful ,
You have only had the disease for a year and half you have nothing to worry about relax you will be fine
Good luck , this is great site with great people , very helpful ,
You have only had the disease for a year and half you have nothing to worry about relax you will be fine
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