no drop in VL

[chiara104]

Hi Dr. D, I found out today that at 4 weeks (I am now in week 9) my VL had actually gone up (even though not a huge amount). Is that an indication of non-response at week 12 or do I still have a chance at dropping 2 logs by week 12? I would appreciate your input!

Chiara

[Caroline369]

Hi,
I just wanted to tell you my vl didn't go negative for 20 weeks and then I finished treatment after 55 more weeks and am still virus free after 1 year post treatment.
Of course I had aggressive treatment since my first round failed at 13 weeks. One of the reasons was my first doctor really didn't know much about HCV nor weight based dosing. (I took 4 mil of SP Peg Interferon and 4 pills of Ribavirin a day.)
I knew this was not going to do it. So I started with induction Infergen daily and 5 Riba pills along with 3 Amantadine pills everyday until I couldn't handle it anymore 16 weeks, I then switched over to Pegasys 5mil with 5 Riba Pills and 3 Amantadine for the remainder of treatment.
In my 4th or 5th week I needed 40 milligrams of Procrit once a week.
It was a tough road and an even harder time after stopping treatment with all the side effects, near 9 months post treatment I was myself again and felt 100% better.
I say go the 24 weeks if you are having 2 log drops at your checkups, then make the decision.
If I had not persued I would not be clear after all this time.