interfuron treatments worth the pain?

[caiti87]

I was recently diagnosed with hep c, weird thing is that for months now my blood work had been showing really high liver enzymes and my doc screened me for hep a,b,and c three times and they ALL came back negative. Finally I was feeling soo sick and in so much pain that they admitted me to the hospital, and did an ultra sound and more blood work, when they got the results they decided to fly me to another hospital in a city two hours away, I was too sick to even be scared. after being there for a day the docs came in and told me that i had hep c and it was in the chronic phase, which is also odd to me since i've read that people have hep c their whole lives and dont suffer any symptoms. Why is mine so aggressive soo early? The doctors advised me to start interfuron and rivabbaren (sp?) as soon as im able, that if I dont I will almost certainly need a transplant or develop caner down the road. I've been reading  and trying to educate myself on this disease as much as possible, but everything I'm reading states that most people dont have many issues with it, not like mine anyway. also i've read that the treatments have terrible side effects, a nurse even compared it to chemo, which i found a little excessive but still sounds awful. So my question is, are starting the treatments immediately really that necessary and important enough that it will save me from having to get a liver transplant an or possibly cancer?? And is it worth the horrible side effects? i cant imagine going through those for up to a year, but if it means saving my life, I'll do it.  

[crigger]

They use a large punch needle and take a small piece of liver to look at.   No cutting involved... no scar... discomfort but not real painful..... they have to watch you for a while after just in case it bleeds ... rare occurance...  not that bad. Overall

[desrt]

Needle biopsy is generally a quick, simple procedure. They numb a spot between your ribs, take the sample, have you lie on your side for a couple hours to reduce the risk of bleeding, and you're out of the hospital the same day. An ultrasound guided procedure is usually SOC these days. Sometimes they'll give you a little Versed to help you lay still for the couple hours.

[caiti87]

interesting, and free is always a good thing!! I will definitely look into it. I'm very curious to know about the biopsy results as well..... I dont mean to be such a big baby, but I have to ask, how do they go about getting a biopsy? obviously they must cut me to access my liver right? is it very painful?

[orphanedhawk]

Forgive me for repeating myself but knowing more about your situation I'd like to say that because you are young, you may be in a good position to wait for the new interferon free oral treatments which are currently looking good in clinical trials. They could be available within the next 5 years.
They will most likely be of shorter duration with less side effects. How they might interact with your other meds, isn't something I am qualified to address.

I'd like to encourage you to go back to the heptalogist and get a biopsy.
Then you will know the condition of your liver. This will have a lot to do with whether you need to do treatment soon or can wait.

[caiti87]

yes you are quite right... Its not going to get any easier from here on out, but that doesnt mean i need to give up. Thank you for reminding me....

[rockymoe]

I have a friend who has had 3 back surgeries, she is in chronic pain. All the Drs do is prescribe. Her dr in Boston is sending her to a specialist doc in Boston, to see if she is a canidate for a nerve stimulater, She told her pain specialist and he kinda of Poo Pooed the idea. She asked him isn't the goal to get of all the meds.
I worked with another girl that was 23 and had back sugery and she was on Methadone. They told her they really don't know how to handle people so young with degenertive disc issues.
I think the pain specialist don't do anything but write scripts.
If you do have HCV yes it is worth treating. No one says it is going to be easy. My husband says that to me when I am having a bad day.