relapse and estrogen

Hi all,
Having relapsed, just wonderfing if anything I did could have contributed to this.
After I finished tx, I started taking estrogen/progesterone in a lozenge form as my gyno, discovered I was in menopause which I was not 1 year ago.
Hot flashes, etc at the eot were horrible.  
Does anyone know if estrogen has an effect on  the virus?  I do know the tx can throw ones hormones off, just wondering if that may have contributed to the relapse.

Thanks again to everyone!  You are all amazing and have been so supportive and helpful.  It is so comforting to know you are all out there.

[sunshines76]

You might find this study interesting, although it looks like it focuses on genotype 1 results.

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/2010_conference/aasld/docs/1210_2010_b.html

I would ask this question to your doc, definitely.

[sunshines76]

Just a note - remember all those articles about possibility of grapefruit flavonoids to reduce replication of HCV? The above mentioned study is interesting in this regards, as grapefruit is known to affect your estrogen levels too... Go figure...

[Susan_1a_CC]

I know that I saw some studies relating to relapse and menapause.  Try googling and see what you come up with.

[fashion345]

Sunshine and Susan... thank you.  Love to hear feedback from other women who have researched.  Read a few articles on this and do wonder if the menopause could have attributed to the relapse.  My dr. wanted me to go a few months longer, and I chose to stop at 48.  Wish I had listened to him...ugh.  Sounds like extending tx in the menopause category would be a wise one for all women at this stage.

[carol411]

This is seriously depressing news.  Especially since many of us have had this condition for decades and yet did not find out about it till middle age.  If we'd known earlier this would not have been an issue.  I'm in the post tx wait to see if the tx worked.  I'm pinning my hopes on the fact that I had a glass of soy milk every morning with the riba.  Soy mimics estrogen so maybe I'll get lucky.  I fit every one of the indications for relapse except genotype.     Carol

[carol411]

It doesn't do to read while upset.  I never reduced interferon.    Carol

[GreatBird]

I was in a Boceprevir study and they let me continue my HRT through it, so my estrogen level was constant. I did SVR.

I have always wondered if the reason I didn't have mood swings and depression was because I my estrogen was consistent. If I *had* been producing my own, it would have still been affected by the heavy meds whereas the patch was not.

[fashion345]

I wish you well.  I may have to try the soy milk.  Right now my gyno gave me Apothecary estrogen/prog lozenges that I just started taking a month ago.
Due to my liver stage, I cannot use anything that will absorb too much.
I believe we finished tx around the same time.  Have you had a recent blood test?
I only fit the menopause and liver stage indication.  Could always loose 10 lbs!! Its so easy to overthink this and the reality is that we are all going to respond differently.  Go figure!
Thanks for your feedback.

[fashion345]

Very interesting.  Does the patch absorb and affect the liver?  Just wondering if I should try that.  Do you have any liver dmg?

[GreatBird]

Honestly, I don't know. I don't think the patch is metabolized by the liver because the drugs go through the skin, but I'm not sure.

Liver dmg=liver damage? I am/was stage 1 grade 3 after many long years of infection, so not so much. Genotype was 1b.

[GSDgirl]

I honestly don't know the answer to your question but I had a hysterectomy in 1999 at the ripe old age of 38.  

My doc put me on the patches because my liver enzymes were high, wasn't diagnosed yet.  The patches gave me giant boils where I had them on my hip / butt area.  I ended up using a gel that a metered pump went on the arms, switched every other day.  

I haven't used anything for years and I am SVR.  Good Luck in what ever you decide

Denise.............P.S. The progesterone made the hairs on my chin multiply and grow like crazy  

[fashion345]

GSD,, happy that you are SVR.  
We women just can't win!  Hope I don't get the hair on my chin to add to the pot of issues!!

[Susan_1a_CC]

The patch - transdermal - is only the delivery system of the drug.  It'll still be processed by the liver.

[GSDgirl]

My doctor specifically wanted me on the patch and then the gel because of elevated liver enzymes.  It was so long ago that I can't remember exactly how he explained it.  Bottom line was, it was easier on the liver.

http://www.project-aware.org/Managing/Hrt/estrogen.shtml
Transdermal estrogen does not raise HDL and usually does not lower LDL cholesterol as much as oral estrogen, and it does not affect triglycerides, so it may be a better choice in women with elevated triglyceride levels. Avoiding the first pass through the liver also may prevent the increased risk of blood clots and gallbladder problems associated with oral estrogens.

I googled it and there was a lot of info, above is just one part of a page that I found but most had somewhat the same opinion.

[Diane12855]

It seems to me that if estrogen played much of a role in tx and SVR, all men would be up a creek because they have very little of it in their body.

As for the depression that some of us get during tx, that is caused by an imbalance in neurotransmitters in our brain, not a hormone imbalance.

Fashion... were you UND by week 12?

Diane

[fashion345]

Yes, I was UND by wk 7-9.

[Susan_1a_CC]

I took a look at the sight you posted and saw the reference of your post.  After reading it I still didn't see a definitive statement that transdermal estrogen never went through the liver - only that it "avoided the first pass" that oral estrogen makes.  I do not know precisely what they mean by this so I am guessing that it's entering the blood stream at a later point then oral is.  Still, blood goes through the liver with whatever is in it? yes?  In any event, it's nice that those who take it this way have a lower risk of blood clots.

[meakea]

Very interesting stuff.  I remember that prior to starting treatment in Sept 09, I read somewhere that being post menopause would be a negative strike against me but I still opted to NOT take estrogen.  I have been in surgical menopause since 1996, I took estrogen for 10 years and then quit because of the increased chance of breast cancer after taking estrogen so many years.  I finished treatment (without taking estrogen since 2006) and I achieved SVR.  There is so much that's confusing about HCV and all the suggested factors.