SAM-E

PLEASE TELL ME BENEFITS FROM TAKING THIS....
WILL IT HELP WITH MY FATIGUE??

[Tallblonde]

I've never read anything about SAM-e helping to alleviate fatigue.  It has worked wonders on my joint pain (gone completely) and it's also suppose to improve mood and liver function.

Susan

[Tony-z]

By alleviating Depression it could decrees fatigue..


            TonyZ

[cuteus]

I saw no significant difference in my aches or fatigue, if any.
It seemed to improve my mood, but I am not sure it was not a placebo effect from the testimonial of someone at work. I guess if it does act as a placebo, it is still benefitting.

[starfish30]

makes sense....thanks.

wonder if i should have bought it now.
29.99 a box of 20 is pretty expensive!

[GreatBird]

It has definitely helped with my non-HCV related tailbone pain. But I'm still as crabby as ever. ;)

[cuteus]

my fatigue has been greatly alleviated with the erradication of HCV after Tx.

check the puritan's pride supplements, they have a real good sale of buy two get three about twice a year, it should be coming up soon. in the meantime, if you go to their website, you might get other deals.

[Tallblonde]

I got excited about the prospect of "buy one/get one free," so I went to the Puritan's Pride site to check it out.  They're listing a 30-day supply of 400 mg. SAM-e for $60.99 (which means you get a 60-day supply for $60.99 with the sale).

I pay $21.95 for a 30-day supply of 400 mg. of SAM-e at Vitacost.com (so that would be about $44 for a 60-day supply) and that's their everyday price.  Sometimes a sale ain't much of a bargain.

Susan

[Tony-z]

When I took SAM-E,I found Walmart to be the cheapest. I believe a 30 day supply of the 400Mg is about $14.00 to $16.00.



              God Bless


               TonyZ

[cuteus]

IT IS pricey if the sale is not the buy one get two or buy two get three deal.  that way it comes out to about 20 bucks for 30 day supply.
Wal mart sounds good Tony, if that is the price nationwide, but I doubt it is that much in NY, where I am, too much overhead.

[Tallblonde]

My Wal-Mart sells the 400 mg. tablets for $36 (30-day supply). I've searched high and low for this stuff and Vitacost was by far the cheapest.  It's also important buy enteric-coated tablets in a blister-foil packet.  SAM-e is very unstable and its potency is compromised when it's packaged in a bottle.

Susan

[genedog]

ok did anyone have there alt in the 50s while on tx and still have a svr? i cant get lower then 56 alt 40 ast and 60 ggt wbc was 2.5 now 3.1

[LvdByGod!]

do you have any other reasons for high numbers...certain meds cause them, fatty liver??? i'm sure your not drinking...i have heard people say there numbers stay high on tx...not sure what the signifacance of that is...i wonder if those people go on to clear?...my alt/ast numbers stayed higher for the first 5 months of tx...then i had the viral breakthrough (viral numbers raised) and my alt and ast numbers went down,(you think theyd of gone up when the viral numbers increased, but the opposit happened) so i'm not sure you can tell anything by this...i would love to hear from someone who had this and finished tx to reply to you...

oh is your liver badly damaged? i'm under the understanding that liver damage itself can cause more liver damage sometimes (i could be wrong here)...maybe it takes awhile for the liver itself to respond to treatment...just a thought i have no idea if this is the case though.
hope you get some more answers here.

[snook_man]

Hope all is well with you my man.. Shot 31 for me friday, you?

Well, my ALT's at week 24 where 69. Still undetectable since week 12, but ALT's have not normalized. DR's contribute it to many factors.. Diet, exposure to chemicals, smoking, excercise, weight lose or muscle lose, the liver repairing itself, or just the meds themselves. I have been advised by numerous DR's that the undetectable status is more significant than the ALT's..
Many people do not stabilize until AFTER tx, and SVR is obtained..
Good luck my man, where getting closer!!

[snook_man]

By the way, at what point did you have the viral break through, and Did you ever obtain undetectable status? Very interested, as the statistics state that once undetectable the chance of break through is less than like 2%..

[Docsgold]

I finished 48 wks of tx 4/29.  Prior to tx my LFT's weren't too bad: AST/ALT  50/71.  Two weeks into tx they went down to 32/35, then began to rise when my thyroid began to burn out and the highest they went was 114/62, then back down (with thyroid under control) into the 40/30 ranges and a bit lower for the rest of tx.  A month post tx: ALT 12 and AST 19 !!  Will get my 3 mo post PCR mid July to see if I am still undetected.  Hope this helps.  

[LvdByGod!]

hey snook, i never had a 12 wk evr...meaning my dr wouldn't test me for evr at 12 weeks even though i begged him...i was an "HMO" at the time...

oh also i am geno 3a, so i was only suppose to be on for 6 months originally... but when i had the breakthrough i stayed on treatment until now and will continue until october 2005. (that will be a year since the first clear after the breakthrough). it has been 1 and a half years now for me since starting treatment full strenghth the whole time (i have accidently missed some riba here and there though unfortunately so this technically could be the cause of the breakthrough)...

all my pcrs have been clear since that breakthrough. isn't that strange? and i still miss an occasional dose accidently...but i've always remained well within the 80/80 rule (over 80% of the meds 80% of the time)...

*so here is the answer to your question; i got my first pcr durring treatment at at 5months into tx. it registered below the test marker...at <615 iu ml and was considered "undetectable". (perhaps i had 614 of those creepy virus' and never really "cleared"...who knows?

my next pcr was 3 months later and that one was the "breakthrough"... it registered at 2,110 iu ml on a heptimax that tested down to <5 iu ml.

snook what seems strange to me is that obviously i never really cleared on treatment cause the virus was obviously still there even though "undetectable"...so i don't understand the significance of the viral breakthrough...isn't it really just a NON RESPONDER STATUS...would love your thoughts on this...i also am overweight and have fatty liver which makes it hard for some to clear...

i'd love your thoughts on all this...if you have any to offer.

thanks, sandi

[Tony-z]

Could your breakthrough have been a incorrect blood test???


          Blessing my Sister.

                  TonyZ

[Tony-z]

Sandi,

Thank You for sharing your testimony. The lord uses suffering to get our attention. I am sorry you had to go through so much,  but as you stated it was GODs plan.
I agree that the Children's ministry is so exiting. My wife and I are teaching a Sunday School Class, the kids always amaze me.
We attend a non-denominational church. The scripture our are truth.


              God Bless

                You are great Vessel for the LORD.

                  TonyZ

[cuteus]

I would say you were a slow responder rather than a breakthrough.  Your vl was low to begin with?  I can't believe they are still using that 600IU test!
It could have been an error like Tony said. Too bad they did not  retest you.  It could have saved you some uneccessary torture.

[snook_man]

That is definately a unique situation.. I mean from what I have seen off the web is the chances of breakthrough are slim.. Maybe 2%.. Then to top it you are a genotype 3..Go figure? Suppose to be the easily treated geno, right?
I understand what your saying, but non responder or slow responder does not suit this situation.. Breakthrough means that the virus adapted to the meds, and mutated. It was able to replicate..By testing "undie" at the first PCR, you responded.. BY testing higher at the next, you had a breakthrough.. Now going undetectable again and staying undetectable, you are winning!! Guess you got lucky it was genotype 3, and even after mutation, the meds overpowered the virus.. I would think being undetectable now as long as you have, and your geno, odds are definately in your favor.

[LvdByGod!]

hey thanks for the good thought. i guess i have more or less got used to the thought that i will relaps after tx...wouldn't it be great if i didn't. i'm having a huge party if i don't!!! wanna come? i agree with you on the breakthrough antibodies being significant i just don't understand the whole thing that happens and why it happens...i think the 3a has something to do with it if i remember correctly. i think 3a is a weird genotype for some reasons...it acts a little differently than 1 or 2s. it does seem to cause more fatty liver and also has a higher relaps rate...so it's weird...here's part of an article on that...references included...

Development of anti-interferon antibodies and breakthrough hepatitis during treatment for HCV infection in haemophiliacs.

Hanley JP, Jarvis LM, Simmonds P, Ludlam CA.

Department of Haematology, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

The development of anti-interferon antibodies may lead to treatment failure during interferon therapy. We have studied the development of such antibodies in a group of 39 haemophiliacs receiving interferon-alpha 2a for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Anti-interferon antibodies developed in five (13%) patients and were associated with "breakthrough hepatitis' in three cases. There was an association between the development of anti-interferon antibodies and infection with HCV genotype 3a (P = 0.01). This study suggests that the development of anti-interferon antibodies may lead to treatment failure in a proportion of haemophiliacs with HCV infection. The association with genotype 3a has not previously been reported. Monitoring for the development of breakthrough hepatitis due to anti-interferon antibodies may provide the opportunity to develop strategies to overcome their effects.

did you see that? There was an association between the development of anti-interferon antibodies and infection with HCV genotype 3a...

there is a whole article on this but it costs 30$ from blackwell synergy...

hey snook have a good day...don't mind me i'm just mumbling over here.

[LvdByGod!]

the hepatologist says no that it definately was up...but my husband thought the same thing as you so we asked him straight out...although i'm not sure how he would know if the lab made a mistake? it was a heptimax and the first pcr was a Quest too but not a Heptimax...

how have you been tony? did you see my testamony on the "very concerned" thread below? i shared how i became a Christian...i was thinking you might be interested in reading it cause your a Christian too...God is soooo Good ya know?

i hope you're doing well, God's blessings to you always...

sandi

[LvdByGod!]

wow ina, no i must have missed that post of yours saying you were a viral breakthrough also...could you tell me which post to look under...thanks.

i am still on treatment and i have been on for one and a half years so far...my first clear pcr was at 5 months into treatment, my viral breakthrough was at 8 months, and my next pcr was 3 months later (on oct 04) and was clear again...so this was why i decided to go until this oct 05 and it will be a year of clear pcr's...do you think i need to go longer???...2 years after the oct 04 clear until oct 06???? or 2 years of tx all together including the time before the breakthrough?

i'm not sure what you mean by the Quasispecies and the Superbug theories...do you have any info on those???...i wonder what you think of the anti interferon antibody as stated in the article i referenced above. perhaps that's what you mean by superbug??? it says it happens more with type 3s...and my dr did think the test was legitamate and i did have a breakthrough but since they refused to retest right away i will never know if it was a bogus test or not...so the new dr must assume the worst. i have had 4 drs so far with this.

ina, i would love any info you may have on this breakthrough stuff...i have only found one good article on it...where did you hear 2 years for breakthrough patients?

thanks sweetie for your input...it's nice to know i'm not the only one that has had a viral breakthrough but i sure am sad it was you that had to go through this too...you're in my prayers!

your friend, sandi

[cuteus]

this was the post:

Does any one know about being late on a dose? - kpj49: 05/13/2005

[LvdByGod!]

hi ina, i have been away from the puter too. needed a break. thank you so much for your responses you are such a sweet person. i'll look up the info and post to you asap ok? it's night night time for me right now...zzzzzzzzzzz

[cuteus]

I think is video display terminal glasses, to diminish the harm from the monitor's  glare or light output.
my job offers them for those on the computer over 24 hrs a week.

[cuteus]

it sounds clear to me.
the eyes should get better after tx, my Rx after tx was the same as before tx, but during it, I was struggling.
take a rest, but come back. how about vdt glasses, for puter users.

[LvdByGod!]

hey ina, let's talk up above in another more recent post about this stuff. i read about your breakthrough and the story is so similar to mine. i'm so mad that these drs of ours refused to repeat our tests immediately...

but i suppose i never would have been comfortable with the new results even if they were negative even if i got a negative repeat test. so it is what it is i guess...

i need to do some more reading of the things you suggested. i hope i can do that soon. talk to you in an above post. sandi