Post Prove 3 labs, out of study

[susan400]

Hi everybody.  I just came from my appt. w/my reg. gastro doc.  I had him order labs for me.  This was drawn back about 1 week post PROVE 3 drugs.  If you remember correctly, I was taken out of the study because I didn't have the required viral drop to continue past week 4.  I was told that I'd had viral load rebound.   Well, my post 1 week labs are not bad all things considered, which leads me to be extra curious as to just how much I ever did respond to the Telaprevir.   I know for a fact that I was getting the Telaprevir since I was in Group C (the only group w/o the Riba).  

Here's my numbers:

AST             -   90
ALT             -   80
GLUCOSE   -   93
SODIUM      -   135
CHLORIDE   -  100
CALCIUM    -    9.2
PROTEIN    -    7.4
BILIRUBIN   -   0.6
ALK PHOS  -   66

HCV RNA QUANT     1,180,000

This was done at Quest (not a Heptimax).    Dr. didn't feel that a Heptimax was necessary since we already knew that I didn't clear the virus.  

My LFT's are just about exactly where they were prior to the Prove 3 trial.  Not much difference there.  My viral load is very different though.  I started out on the Prove 3 trial with around 7 mill. viral load and this post 1 week has me down to a little over 1 mill.  So, I'm of this big ?? in my mind of did I clear the virus briefly, like for 2-3 days and then have breakthrough/rebound?  Or did it just drop down lower and stay lower for this short period?   I'll have no idea until the 24 week post trial results come in.   I do know that I took every dose of the Pegasys and Telaprevir w/o missing any doses or even delaying them and w/the Telaprevir this was not always easy w/the rigid every 8 hrs requirement.  I even took it when it was giving me hives.  Anyway,  I just thought that I'd come on here and say hi and post my lastest news.

Susan

[Amateur]

Thank you very much for the information.  I will check their website first.  

Good luck!!  I'll be around in a while....

[susan400]

I'm in the U.S.  I think that the Vertex Telaprevir is going to be a good treatment for most people to clear the virus in combination with the Interferon and Ribavirin and even possibly down the road also with a Polymerase Inhibitor.  But, for me, if I could get to have the Telaprevir in the future, I'd want to try treating it with an interferon other than the Pegasys as the Pegasys has never done anything in me.  It didn't work worth squat when I treated with it the first time around.  I had a better response with the Peg-Intron or the Infergen.  So, my suggestion to my Dr.'s was a combination of twice a week Peg-Intron, Ribavirin and Telaprevir, to give me a better chance in the future.  Somebody like me who has treated (8 times now) has a strong resistance to both the Interferon and the Ribavirin built up.  My regular doctor agrees that if I treat in the future that I would need something like the above mentioned regimen.  I have no idea when the Telaprevir will be available for regular sale.  I've heard that there will be another trial being run in the fall for treatment naive patients.  Maybe someone else on here will have more details about the pending approval of Telaprevir.  I really don't have any idea about the UK, sorry.   Maybe if you go online and check out the website for Vertex you can find out something.  So far, I haven't ever cleared the HCV, just had some response. My treatment course w/the VX-950 will be unblinded at week 26 then, I'll find out if I had viral clearance for possibly 1 week, or so, of the trial, before I had viral breakthrough.  I was on the treatment arm (Group C) that did not use the Ribavirin.  

Susan

[Amateur]

Hi Susan,

I have just started the odyssey for "C", newly dyagnosed and waiting for the results of the byopsy.
I have only started doing research on Telaprevir as something good to come for Genotype 1 (mine) in terms of reducing possibly to half the time of therapy.  Would you mind me asking were are you been treated?  Are the trials carried out in the UK, or it is only in The States?  Do you know any time scale to wait for the treatment to be public? How can I get information on it?
This can significantly change my short-medium time life, as when I have my results, the 12 of August, I will have to make the decision of starting treatment as soon as possible or maybe wait for the telaprevir to be available....

Thanks for any direction you can give me.  It sounds like it has been a success with you! I am looking forward to hear the rest.

The best of luck

[FullOfHope77]

Seems you would have cleared if you had the Riba.... my 2 cents