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Please Help Me Determine Best Tx Plan.
Hello old friends and new. I haven't been on here in awhile. I have Hep C, 1a. I could not afford health insurance and the affordable health care act ended the compassionate care programs from the drug companies. Now my financial situation has improved due to an inheritance. The insurance exchange is supposed to reopen next month. I will purchase one of the premium plans that is approving the new drugs. My Drs. office recommends Blue Care Network. My Dr. calls me a prior "partial responder" since my viral load went to barely detectable but rebounded after 24 weeks of Ribavirin/PegInterferon/Victrellis. Now comes the part that I need help with. My Dr. wants to treat me with 24 weeks of Sovaldi/PegInterferon/Ribavirin. He says that Olysio is worthless. I thought that Olysio/Sovaldi would be the best drug combination for me. What combo is working best? What would be best for me? Should I find a new doctor. Please, I need to move on this as fast as possible and lose this virus. Also, what insurance companies are approving the new drugs. Thank you so much in advance.
I just obtained the absolute best insurance through healthcare.gov. Premium Blue Cross that will hopefully approve me for 24 weeks of Harvoni! Glad to see others here getting good early results.
As many others have stated here, your current doctor is wrong to dismiss S/O treatment. I too was cured (SVR24) on that combo after having relapsed on interferon/riba based treatments multiple times in the past.
Good luck with new insurance. The fact that the insurance is a "good" one might not help much, at least initially, with getting them to authorize one of the new all-oral treatments. Insurance companies use pharmacy-benefit managers, and together they come up with rules to decide who gets the newer expensive treatments. Having a GOOD experienced hepatologist and staff can help here, as they know how to apply for these drugs correctly, and how to manage appeals if they become necessary.
Mark
Good luck with new insurance. The fact that the insurance is a "good" one might not help much, at least initially, with getting them to authorize one of the new all-oral treatments. Insurance companies use pharmacy-benefit managers, and together they come up with rules to decide who gets the newer expensive treatments. Having a GOOD experienced hepatologist and staff can help here, as they know how to apply for these drugs correctly, and how to manage appeals if they become necessary.
Mark
As patra stated, you don't want to go back to interferon. Hepatitis central in the delphi forums http://forums.delphiforums.com/liverfailure/messages/?start=Start+Reading+%3E%3E
This is a very good informational forum with very knowledgable people who have been through everything you could think of. Check it out. Hector is a good persont to PM and he is very good about answering questions and sharing his experience. I just started the Olysio/Sovaldi treatment yesterday. I believe in my doctor and think it is a very good treatment. I am post liver transplant so will do what he recommends. Good luck to you. Hopefully you and I will both be cured soon.
This is a very good informational forum with very knowledgable people who have been through everything you could think of. Check it out. Hector is a good persont to PM and he is very good about answering questions and sharing his experience. I just started the Olysio/Sovaldi treatment yesterday. I believe in my doctor and think it is a very good treatment. I am post liver transplant so will do what he recommends. Good luck to you. Hopefully you and I will both be cured soon.
I will most likely be changing doctors. I am right now waiting for a call back from the doctors staff member who assists patients with insurance and tx info. I have the cash put away to purchase a premium health insurance plan as soon as the exchange goes back on-line. This doctor is very kind and generous but his knowledge on txing hep C is definitely lacking. I'm going to try to get more insurance companies to choose from and find out if this doctor might reconsider his tx plan. Thank you all so much. I will hopefully be able to treat soon and will be more active on this forum. The collective knowledge here is priceless, as is the support. Best wishes to all who are still infected in beating this virus. I love you all. :)
I am surprised that a medical doctor would make a statement that "Oylsio is worthless". That would cause me to look at him a little sideways.I took the Sovaldi/Olysio combination in Jan. 2014 and completed 12 weeks in April of the same year.I was 1a and had negative ultrasounds.I treated in 2002 with Peg,In,and Ribavarin...and had to stop because of the awful side effects.As of now,I am SVR...and this is my six month eot results...maybe you should find another doctor...or at least ask some more questions...
Great info! I think that 24 weeks of Harvoni is my best tx option. Maybe 12 weeks but I want to give myself the best chance of cure this time around. As far as insurance, I guess I will discuss it more with my present doctor's insurance specialists. Then a new doctor is in order. I appreciate this help so much.
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