help

[joshua9913]

I found out today that I am genotype 2b, so I should only treat 6 months,but can anyone tell me, is there any help with the costs? I am the only provider in my home, I make 18 dollars an hour,( which is pretty good,) but I cant fathom how I could even begin to pay 20% of 10,000 $ A MONTH!!!

[Dannyboi7]

  You can only select best answer on threads you started yourself.

[simmons9913]

   I just want to thank you all, I'm not sure how to select a best answer, it is so reassuring that you all spoke up, I only hope to be able to help someone else when I can.

[can-do-man]

Yes good luck to you guy, heres something to keep in mind, maybe talk to your doctor about if things get to tough. If you become RVR heres some results on shorter tx,

In the pilot trial, all patients with RVR were treated for 14 weeks, while in the larger trial participants with RVR were randomized to receive therapy for either 14 or 24 weeks.
In an analysis of all RVR patients treated per protocol, 91% of those who received 14 weeks of therapy achieved SVR, compared with 95% of those treated for 24 weeks. The difference of 4% fell well within the pre-determined 10% margin needed to show inferiority, allowing the researchers to conclude that 14 week treatment was non-inferior to 24 weeks.
The relapse rate was highest among participants older than 40 years, those with genotype 3, and those with a high baseline viral load. However, prolonging treatment from 14 to 24 weeks did not reduce the relapse rate substantially for any of these groups.

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2010/1026_2010_a.html

[Dannyboi7]

Best of  luck to you.As far as your job,you will see while on treatment if your are able to handle it ,all depending on how intense the side effects are for you.Many people can still work while on treatment.

[joshua9913]

   Well, I have found out that the first thing that the insurance company is going to do is say NO. Any time something is expensive they will say deny at first, untill we or our docter jumps through hoops, although I still haven't been approved, I have hope that within a week I can get them.
    I have decided to go ahead and treat, even though I am healthy enough to wait, I think the overall treatment, side effects and recovery is better, when done earlier. I will hit it hard and strong with determination and a positive attitude, and hope and pray that I can cope with my job, as I am a superviser on an oilfield mechanics line, always have to be 100%. I am concerned, though I will try. In the words of ol' trainwreck." every thing is FINE, untill it AINT!"

[Dannyboi7]

   There are many things to take in consideration,a few things have been mentioned.The price of the combo treatment as RK mentioned is around 1800 a month,you could propably could get financial support  for that.Then if during treatment you happened to need the rescue drugs such as procrit that would jack up your prices.If you have a job that is physically demanding or operate heavy machinery you might not be able to work during treatment.As others have said if your liver damage is not significant then you can wait for new drugs that are coming along that have less side effects and a shorter duration of treatment.

All the best to you and your family


Dannyboi7

[Doofus_jones]

Josh'

I'm 63 years old. Geno 2 fibrosis F3.

I'm on week 10 of treatment with rib and peg. If you see my posts it has been no picnic. But side effects appear to be a crap game. I live in HONG KONG where meds are VERY expensive.

Had I not been fibrosis F3 I think I would have waited for the new drugs.

Why don't you search for a Gilead trial? I know they are running some in UK especially for geno 2

Best wishes. Let me know how you get along

Doofus

[joshua9913]

    I  just want to thank you all for your advice and help. you guys are more knowledgeable and therefor more helpful than any company, or doctor. I hope soon I can help someone as such.

[Idyllic]

Wow this is all happening really fast with you just being genotyped a few days ago. Lots of us want to treat as soon as we can after being diagnosed. I admire you desire to investigate the cost of treatment and grab the bull by the horns as they say but there are other things (as previously mentioned) you could do prior to leaping directly into treatment ~ especially if it turns out that your insurance is not a generous as you would like. It can take a while on the Internet and on the phone but there are assistance programs out there. Some are based on income and many or not.

I am not certain what you have done so far but knowing the state of fibrosis you have is truly is helpful in making treatment decisions. I am not sure what all your insurance covers but there are other ways to assess fibrosis than a biopsy. I encourage you to discuss this with your doctor since there will soon be less harsh medications available in a few years. A trial might be the way to go since you are young, treatment-naive with an easy Genotype to treat with a high success rate.

Granted it is a little leg work but taking the time to educate yourself about Hepatitis C, the current health of your liver and alternative financial assistance if you do not qualify for a trial might save you lots of resources and stress in the long run. Sometimes the doctor's office can refer you elsewhere or provide info on a trial. Having a doctor that is interested in what is overall best for you in the long run rather than discussing the treatment process and all your options given your circumstance is important. Few of us are treating with the very first doctor we ever saw.

I know this must seem overwhelming right now but there may be a way for this to work the more you learn and 'network' so to speak.

Best of luck

[Advocate1955]

My husband's first treatment for G1 was Interferon and Ribavirin in 2007.  I think I recall the pharmacist telling us that the cost of the two meds would be about $1,800 per month without insurance.  If I recall correctly, our co-pays for the two meds were about $80/mo.  I think he had Premera at the time.
His second treatment in 2010 was the same two meds, but the Interferon was daily.  I think the co-pays were the same though.  His WBC and RBC both dropped, so his doctor prescribed other medications, both of which were covered under his insurance, but we had additional co-pays (similar amounts about $40 each) for those two.
His third treatment in 2012 was triple tx, so there were three meds.  I won't cite the co-pays on those, since you wouldn't be doing the triple tx, being G2.
However, keep in mind that there are other prescriptions sometimes needed to manage side effects of tx, and you may have co-pays associated with those as well.
It's expensive, but you do what you have to do when your health is at stake.  You're luck to be G2, since the success rate for SVR is higher and the current SOC is only two meds.
Advocate1955
Advocate1955

[orphanedhawk]

What you need to know is the health of your liver before you decide to plunge into treatment.

Although the current standard of treatment for genotype 2 is 24 weeks of interferon ribavirin, there are new meds in clinical trails that are proving very successful without the difficult side effects of interferon treatment.

You might want to consider a trial, where all your meds are paid for.
If your liver is undamaged, or you have minimal fibrosis, you might want to wait for the new treatment to become available.

The important thing is to educate yourself about the virus and find out about the health of your liver.

Good luck

[can-do-man]

Nothing more to add to what hrsepwrguy has said, I agree both of them drug sites have programs and are fairly liberal on what one can make... Good luck.

[hrsepwrguy]

Current treatment for genotype 2 is peg-interferon and ribavirin for 24 wks, the link I posted above are for those meds, as far as cost or copay I'm not sure as I treated with triple for geno 1 in a trial

[rk2761]

Whoa! That is a lot. Are you sure about the costs?

If you are 2b, I think you will be on Interferon and Ribavirin - instead of the triple therapy. That's not as expensive as the triple therapy.

Can someone out there with more experience speak to the treatment of 2b?

On the subject of costs, what are the cost of drugs? Where I am, the cost of INF and Riba was $1850 CDN for a four week supply (it didn't matter how much Riba you were on). That was the full price. People's health insurance covered a percentage of that.


rk

[hrsepwrguy]

The med co's have assistance programs follow the links

For pegintron (merck)

http://www.merckresponsibility.com/focus-areas/access-to-health/community-investment/patient-assistance-program/home.html

For pegasys (genetech)

http://www.pegasys.com/patient/for-patients/access-solutions/index.html