chronic active hepatitis c

[donna m. davis]

i am 37yo and was diagnosed in 1996 with hcv after an acute bout of hep.B or D- the doctors said non-AorB.  I went to a GI doctor in central NJ and went on interferon after a biopsy that said i had mild inflammation and un-bridged fibrosis, also mild.  8mos. later the treatment was stopped because i did not respond.  my enzymes either went up or stayed the same.  i was so very ill and to add to that i also have bi-polar disorder,fibromyalgia,rheumatoid arthritis,chronic gastritis,gerd,esophageal spasms (occasionally)so i have a low tolerance to interferon and the SEVERE adverse reactions.  i didn't give up and went to UMDNJ in newark,nj to the liver center to see Dr.C. Leevy who did more blood work and another biopsy which is now Advanced Liver disease-46.6% of my liver is infected.  i went on Rebetron and became very ill, both physically and more importantly mentally. i stopped and started 3 times, but still had no response anyway.  i am now just hanging in there, praying and searching for hope.  by trial and error, i had a psychotic episode after i started a new med. and the doctors said i suffered from hepatic encelopathy; my eyes turned yellow and along with my other meds i was unable to walk and fell about 30  times, went into a blackout for 2 days