Relapse???

Hi everyone!

I was dx in Aug 2006 and found this site - it was a life saver to me!  I see a lot of new names but recognize some from back then as well.

I am geno 3 and completed treatment in Nov. 2007 - SVR.  I was still undetectable as of a year ago.  I am having some symptoms like I had before I was dx - mostly fatigue and low grade fever.  I thought it was a sinus infection but I am on my second round of antibiotics and nothing has changed.  I guess it's time to have my viral load checked again - but I am really anxious.  Has anyone else relapsed after this much time or have you heard of anyone.  If it is, will I be able to go through tx again.?

[annieCinMD]

Unfortunately, yes, I have 2 people now that have reported this. One of them treated with non-Pegylated interferon (shot every 3 days), and the other treated once with non-Pegylated and had to stop. She tried again in the early days of Peg, and cleared. She told me she was still detectable at 6 months, which we now know is no good. She did go on to clear and enjoyed about 8 years of remission, but just found out a couple weeks ago that she was detectable again. I am supposed to talk with her on the phone over the weekend. I'm hoping she has been to see her liver doctor and has some direction. I will say this, it bought her some time. She was really sick from the hep C and had to treat. This is also a rare phenomenon, and both of these people treated 8 or more years ago. I think it's about less than 1 %. I think it should continue to be checked when you have a physical, just to be on the safe side. I think that's how my friend found out it came back. If you are one of the unfortunate people that did have a relapse, you can probably treat with the new drugs when they come out in probably 2011, for the first ones. These are showing a lot of promise in the early data coming out of the trials. I'm in one and cleared after 2 weeks of introducing the study drug. Unfortunately, I had done 16 weeks of SOC and was still detectable. I was starting to fall apart from the Peg and the Riba, and adding two more drugs to the cocktail threw me over the edge, and the study doctors pulled me off all medication until I have more bloodwork drawn early next week. Good luck and hope your feeling better (and that your viral load comes back UND).

[Trish77]

I'd like to know more details about this person because it doesn't match up at all with statistical evidence.  Was she tested and found still UND 6 months after treatment ended?  In both cases?  

[newleaf09]

Low grade fever and fatigue go together for infection.  Poor response to antibiotics may just mean that they aren't using the right antibiotic for you.  Different ones are recommended for different bacteria and the next step is probably to do a culture of discharge and get a more fine-tuned antibiotic recommendation.  They don't like to bring out the big-gun, broad-spectrum antibiotics, to avoid building resistance to those in case you ever get a really dangerous infection and need them.

A culture will also specifically identify the organism (could even be a fungus instead of a bacteria, the target for antibiotics) causing the infection and reassure you that you're not getting ill again with Hep C.  

[Trish77]

If it's any consolation to you, I developed a UTI just BEFORE my six month EOT PCR.  It took three rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it, each one a different one than the other.  It was looking as if the third round wasn't going to work either and then right near the end, it just finally went away.  Sometimes, as Newleaf said, they don't get the right match of antibiotic for the specific organism that needs to be targeted for your specific instance of infection.  Was bloody painful by the time I got to the third round but now it's gone.  And btw...that PCR came back SVR, regardless of the infection issues.  Hope that gives you, well, hope.