hepc tx and osteoporosis

[mainer04256]

HI,

Is there anyone here that has osteoporosis and hepc.  Have you done treatment and did it cause your osteoporosis to become worse?  I have severe osteoporosis due to having had parathyroid disease.  I just had suregry to cure that and now I am told I have hepc.  

I will be having my biopsy in a few weeks and my doctor is wanting to treat if ppossible.  I am geno 1b and have a viral load of 400,000.  I am female.  My doctor say the viral load and being female gives me a better chance of remission.  I know geno type 1b only has about a 50% chance of "curing".  The thought of the side effects "I had read some horrible case here on this site" scare me but at 47 I am not about to give up without a fight.

Any thoughts.
Thanks

[itzallgood]

i cannot speak to the osteoporosis question, but just want to encourage you to take this day by day, alot of us are shocked when we first find out, and then with more testing we get a better picture of where we stand... and even if the boat seems to be rocking for you right now and you want to know what the future is, just hang out with the rest of us crazies and enjoy the boat rocking. :-)

You have really been through alot of stuff already so I can understand your concern about dealing with something else this serious.  Take good care of yourself, and get your health back up after surgery. is ice cream therapy a posssibility?  :-)

[Willy50]

My condolences for your predicament.  I believe you can find some informnation on the subject but that the jury may still be out on whether TX can cause osteoporosis but it could be a contributing factor in many cases.  Here are two links but you can surely find others.  Like many other issues concerning HCV you can end up with issues if you don't treat and also if you do.
  
http://www.liverdisease.com/womenhcv.html

http://www.natap.org/2002/DDWLiver/day7.htm

In your case the osteoporosis issue may trump your HCV issue.  That is, you may be better off treating the osteo even if it is at the expense of not treating the HCV currently.  It is also not a direct connection with HCV but osteoporosis is also a common issue for cancer patients who must undergo chemotherapy.  Whereas the two treatments are different in many ways it is not uncommon that many people who treat can end up with post treatment side effects which may be related to either the ribiviren or interferon.  In your case you may have little room for error if the current treatment were to exacerbate your osteoporosis.

New treatments may shorten the period of treatment required while at the same time increasing the "cure" rate 50-100%.  If treatment were to be injurious to your osteo problem a shortened treatment may be a better choice than deciding to treat with current therapy.  Keep in mind that if you fail this time the treatment may have to be done again at a later date and possibly even the duration of treatment time increased.  New improved treatments may still be several years off.

Sorry; no proof and a little spectulation.

I suggest that you do exactly what you are now doing; arming yourself with information so that you can make an informed decision.

best,
willy

[mainer04256]

Thanks for the words of encouragement.  I will check out the websites offered.  My gastro said he would check out the osteo thing but will look to treat wait is the most important issue at hand.  It's just a pain having to take both things into consideration when looking at what avenue to take.  I still think treating the HCV will be the ath to take.  They say God only gives us what we can handle, so as long as I am the only one to bear this disease and not my kids (they haven't been told yet) I will endure.

I am waiting until after the biopsy and going over the plan of action with the gastro before I tell my kids and my parents.  I wanted to be able to answer any questions they might have, not that I know much.

[pigeonca]

I had parathyroid tumors removed about 10 years ago - lost an inch of height and have bones of swiss cheese.  I take Fosamax and estradiol.  Finished treatment for hcv 4 months ago.  There seems to be no problem whatsoever with the osteo, although I haven't had a bone density test since beginning tx.  I hope you're doing lots of load bearing exercise, 'cause that helps a great deal.  I lift weights and walk outside or on a treadmill in bad weather, and sometimes do the stairclimbing machine and/or eliptical trainer at my gym. I think the exercise is the most important component of the equation, as boring as it may be.  

[mainer04256]

Your parathyroid results sound like mine.  I too lost an inch and have swiss cheese for bones.  I take the Fosamax w/D and am now on estradiol.  I was on evista but the sweats got to the point I was sleeping with towels wrapped around me to stop the streams of sweat running over me.

I do need to do the weight baring exercise though.  Need to get off my behind and get going.  I will take your advice to heart.

Thanks and best of luck to you

[Willy50]

and don't forget diet.  I suppose that you are both up to speed on the dietetic do's and don'ts?  I'm under the impression that there are many things you should be eating and drinking as well of a list of food and drink that you should stay clear of.  

Since you are both "double winners" you have to be very careful that that the drugs you take for either treatment is not counter-indicated for the other.  

Boards for those with osteo issues may also be as useful as this one is for heppers.

best,
willy