Relapses?

[Pinksmything]

I've been reading lots lately about folks who have relapsed. If someone relapses do they still get "some" benefit from tx? My husbands doctor said Hep C is slow however he has 5 to 8 years in his estimation if he does not respond.
Can treatment slow down the inevitable if it does not go UND?  

[FloridaMouse]

Yes.  There is a benefit to treatment if a person relapses.  You are giving the liver a break while you are on tx and if you respond to treatment  it is believed that there can actually be a slight reverasal in the amount of fibrosis.

Mouse

[hippygem]

The treatment can knock back fibrosis a stage or two for some people, I had fibrosis stage 3 before treatment and after it had dropped down to stage 2, which bides me a little bit more time to wait for a better treatment to come along.  I am a relapser, geno 3.
Eating a good diet, drinking lots of water, exercising, no alcohol, no tobacco will also contribute to maintaining the liver.

[Pinksmything]

Thank you.. this information gives me more hope.  
Moving from a stage 3 to a stage 2 is incredible!  My husband is a late stage 3.
:)  

[hippygem]

I know a guy who had stage 2 and after treatment it went back to 0 (zero), the hepatologist says that he knows of only 2 people that this has happened to.  This guy also used tried other things, here is a quote from an interview I did with him:

Quote:  it was after my monotherapy when I went to see a Chinese homeopath/naturopath and he was doing acupuncture for my liver, which would be around the ankle area with acupuncture needles and he also had an electrical machine that had an apparatus which looked like a light bulb and emitted weak sparks.  He used to rub that around my liver area and he would do that for about 10 to 15 minutes each visit, he said that it would help to stimulate my liver.  I believe that contributed to reversal in my liver, there was a marked improvement in my liver fibrosis (the fibrosis reversed from level 2 back to zero and I believe that,  and the acupuncture and his homeopathic medicines to be the thing that did that.

If you want to read the whole interview go to this link:
http://www.hepcaustralia.com.au/ahcs-articles/hepatitis-c-experience-2.html

[Pinksmything]

Thanks so much! I will look up the interview, sounds very interesting!  
:)