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517294?1212081606
Douglas Dieterich, MD  
Male
New York - NY

Specialties: Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology

Interests: Hepatitis C, HIV-Related Liver Disease, Hepatitis, colonoscopy, endoscopy

The Mount Sinai Medical Center
877-241-4983
1190 5th Avenue
New York - NY
Help understanding Hep C treatment
Mar 10, 2009 06:42AM in the Hepatitis C Expert Forum
It sounds, as you can tell from the above responses that your Mom's reaction is not atypical of people taking interferon. It also sounds like she could benefit from an antidepressant that will help her sleep and give her more energy. We also use Provigil to perk people up for a few hours at a time so that they can concentrate. We encourage light exercise, lo...
Hep C & anabolic steroids
Mar 03, 2009 06:28AM in the Hepatitis C Expert Forum
It is generally safe to take injected steroids (if you need them) with chronic HCV. It may be much less safe during the acute event, which you are now experiencing. If your ALT is normal and the HCV RNA is < 600 at week 12 then it will probably be OK to take the injectables only, not the oral steroids. The reason is that the injectables do not go through t...
Hep c
Feb 23, 2009 06:16AM in the Hepatitis C Expert Forum
Ammonia is sometimes used as a sign of encephalopathy. If your husband is confused and disoriented and the ammonia is high and correlates with those symptoms, then it can be a useful guide. Other than in those situations, it does not really mean a great deal. If his mental state is OK then forget about the ammonia level, it is not pertinent. Good luck with hi...
hep c test
Feb 11, 2009 05:29AM in the Hepatitis C Expert Forum
You are out of the woods. I dont think you need to worry now about any other HCV testing. You should however make sure your hepatitis A and B antibodies are up to date and get a booster vaccine if they are not.Stay safe and well! DTD
Hep C w/cirrhosis
Feb 04, 2009 05:28AM in the Hepatitis C Expert Forum
It sounds like your brother by definition is already a Childs B if he has ascites and likely has varices if the doc is recommending a TIPSS. He needs to be at a transplant center before anything else is done at all. The advocate is correct about MELD score, but this is clearly decompensated cirrhosis and needs to be seen at a center where he can be evaluated ...
hepatotis testing and results
Feb 04, 2009 05:24AM in the Hepatitis C Expert Forum
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. You describe very low risk behavior so your risks of acquiring anything are very very low. It sounds like you have antibody to hepatitis A which you may have acquired in childhood and cleared so no you don't need to get vaccinated for hep A. If you don't have antibody to hep B, which it sounds like you don't then you ...