he did not want to get in to it. I really beleive in him. Hejust wants all of the studies in. When I have finished this course of anti-fungal meds for my lung, eliminated the steroids and cut back on my anti rejection meds a bit, he plans to begin the Peg/riba. I figue that will be at in Jan. Will be doing frequent lft's and quants. If they go up more he will want bx but definitely want to start the treatment if I am stronger. Sorry for the long post but I had said I would keep people updated in case they wanted to know or could use any of this information. Thanks
I hope your will easily get back on an even keel soon. If Miami you mean UM, they are involved in the clinical vx trails and have some very knowledgeable coordinators for many hcv meds in trials. I'm sure your doc has access to those folks. vx-950 is also known as Telaprevir.
It sounds like he has a plan for you and that should be comforting. I really have trouble when I don't see a plan - I do not do well with too much uncertainty.
Sally, I'm posting a link to a recent article at medscape.com. You must be registered to view but it's free and simple to register and you can sign up for emails about subjects that interest you and they'll send out the stuff you sign up for. I recommend you check it out.
<A HREF="http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/547370?src=mp/">Emerging Issues in Hepatitis C Virus-Positive Liver and Kidney Transplant Recipients</A>
I think it's pretty well established that steroids do result in increased viral load but I took a lot of steroids when I was treated for acute rejection and yet I cleared and reached SVR. I would view your steroid treatment as a setback to your HCV therapy. It does not, in an of itself, preclude you from successful treatment for HCV. This is murky ground we transplants inhabit and we must sometimes work hard to remain hopeful if we are to prevail.
I wish you well Sally. Good luck and Happy Holidays. Mike
Great information. I am registered now on that site. Thank you. Lots to think about. Actually glad I read it now rather than before I became ill. Made the steroids go down easier since I really needed them. I received them in high doses IV in the hospital and left on 40mg/day. I am down to 10/day and will go to 5 next week. I see now why my transplant doc saw it as an urgent matter to get off of them asap. No glucose problems thankfully but will sure need to watch. We know the virus showed its ugly head again. Great news on the vx right? Gives hope anyway. It also gives me hope that you are SVR. I hope I read that correctly.
Yes I am still SVR insofar as I am serum undetectable per Heptimax <5 IU/ml. I have been undetectable since 2004 but when I had a biopsy June 2006 a small amount of HCV was detected 30 IU/ml in my liver and yet a Heptimax 2 weeks before my biopsy and another 1 week after my biopsy were both undetectable. According to some recent studies HCV has been found in a significant number of SVRs so apparently this can and does occur. Mike