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Husband is considering stopping traetment - Week 17
I would love to hear about anyone that had to stop TX early. How did you do? My husband was in the hospital for a week with a fast heart rate/A-Fib, blood clot and mystery infection. It seems that dehydration may have also played a role. He has finished week 17 of 24 and is feeling done. I should also mention that the visus was undectable at week 4. Thanks!
My husband stopped treatment when we were in a study together. i think men and woman each deal w/ side effects differently and that they each expierence there own set of issues. He is still effected by post treatment disorder to this day...and this was about 6 years ago! I remeber when i did my first treatment back in 1999 there were even worse side effects than the ones now...the majority of people were stopping treatment. At the time I was an addict in recovery so the doctors thought for sure I would quit too...but i didnt. My virus came back partially due to the fact I have dual genotypes so i dont know if i will ever get rid of it. But I keep trying...and keep watching the new treatments come out. I did try a tri combo treament w/ limited results. i have heard of treament whihc involves blood trasfusion replacing the infected blood w/ fresh uninfected blood to help slow the virus progression. unfortunatly i cant seem to find where they are doing that here in the US.
Sorry he had to stop treatment but hopefully 18 weeks will be enough for him. Wishing him and you the very best. Please do let us know how he does.
Well, he made it to week 18 but ended up with more blood clots. the decision was ours, but supported by his doctor to stop tx. Now waiting for blood results. Will let you all know. Thank you for your support.
I'm geno 2, 9 weeks into treatment.
After 2 weeks of tx my heart rate was so fast with A Fib I ended up getting heart surgery. It turned out I had coronaries growing into heart muscle and had two stents put in. Recently I was sent back in to hospital for a blood transfusion as hemoglobin had crashed and I was very short of breath and weak. Right now my heart is OK when I take the peg and riba but my WBC and platelet count is crashing.
I'm 63, and was a fast responder to UND (4 weeks).
Still on peg and riba - would love to consider throwing in the towel at 12 weeks but will try to keep on till the end.
Please let us know what your husbands doc says.
Doofus
After 2 weeks of tx my heart rate was so fast with A Fib I ended up getting heart surgery. It turned out I had coronaries growing into heart muscle and had two stents put in. Recently I was sent back in to hospital for a blood transfusion as hemoglobin had crashed and I was very short of breath and weak. Right now my heart is OK when I take the peg and riba but my WBC and platelet count is crashing.
I'm 63, and was a fast responder to UND (4 weeks).
Still on peg and riba - would love to consider throwing in the towel at 12 weeks but will try to keep on till the end.
Please let us know what your husbands doc says.
Doofus
With no liver damage, genotype 2, EVR, and really bad side effects — if it was me, I'd quit now and hope for SVR, but my plan b would be to try again when the next batch of drugs hit the market. I think he needs to talk it all over with his doctor and from there it's whatever feels right to him! He probably has a decent chance of SVR. Best wishes!
That's a really tough decision to make. I was sick, but never sick enough to seriously consider quitting. Way too scared for that - and I'm only at stage 1 damage.
He is really so close to the end. Just a few weeks to week 20 and then just four more. You can really see the end at that point. It's like the home stretch.
Maybe you could do a week by week assessment about quitting. I mean, just get through one more week, and then decide. And one more week and decide. And when you get to week 20 - it's a slide into home base (well, ok, it's a long bloody long slide, but you can see the plate.)
Cause, there's always the "what if" factor if you don't make SVR. Will you always wonder what would have happened if you had stayed on the full 24 weeks.
Let us know what you decide to do.
rk
He is really so close to the end. Just a few weeks to week 20 and then just four more. You can really see the end at that point. It's like the home stretch.
Maybe you could do a week by week assessment about quitting. I mean, just get through one more week, and then decide. And one more week and decide. And when you get to week 20 - it's a slide into home base (well, ok, it's a long bloody long slide, but you can see the plate.)
Cause, there's always the "what if" factor if you don't make SVR. Will you always wonder what would have happened if you had stayed on the full 24 weeks.
Let us know what you decide to do.
rk
We've had members stop as early as 7 weeks and still remain und.
There were a number of trials a while back for genotype 2 doing 16 weeks instead of the 24 week regime of interferon tx.
If there is no damage at all to his liver, then if he were to stop and does relapse, he can always do tx with the new oral meds currently in trial, when they become available.
There were a number of trials a while back for genotype 2 doing 16 weeks instead of the 24 week regime of interferon tx.
If there is no damage at all to his liver, then if he were to stop and does relapse, he can always do tx with the new oral meds currently in trial, when they become available.
This is from a very well known and respected doctor in the field.
Patient Case: Treatment Duration in Genotype 2 Patient
The patient is a 61-year-old white female with genotype 2 HCV infection. She works on an assembly line. A liver biopsy in 2010 showed stage 2 fibrosis. The patient expresses interest in undergoing therapy for hepatitis C and wants to hear more about research she has read regarding the potential to truncate peginterferon/ribavirin therapy to as little as 12-16 weeks.
Would truncation of therapy be a potential option for this patient?
Analysis by Paul Y. Kwo, MD:
Truncation of therapy to 12-16 weeks should be considered only in patients who achieve rapid virologic response but experience tolerability issues. The AASLD guidelines note the standard of treatment for genotype 2 or 3 HCV infection is 24 weeks of peginterferon plus 800 mg/day of ribavirin.[19] Several studies have examined shortening of therapy in these patients. Most studies that have examined truncation of therapy to 12-16 weeks have used weight-based ribavirin ranging from 800-1200 mg, regardless of peginterferon choice. The largest randomized trial that compared 16 with 24 weeks of therapy used flat-dose ribavirin, and this study showed that 24 weeks was superior to 16 weeks.[19] Thus, the standard of care is 24 weeks of peginterferon with 800 mg/day of ribavirin. However, if the patient tolerates therapy poorly, therapy could be truncated at 12-16 weeks, provided the patient achieves a rapid virologic response at Week 4. Without a rapid virologic response, the patient should receive 24 weeks of therapy as there is a higher risk of relapse among those who truncate therapy, particularly among late responders.[
Patient Case: Treatment Duration in Genotype 2 Patient
The patient is a 61-year-old white female with genotype 2 HCV infection. She works on an assembly line. A liver biopsy in 2010 showed stage 2 fibrosis. The patient expresses interest in undergoing therapy for hepatitis C and wants to hear more about research she has read regarding the potential to truncate peginterferon/ribavirin therapy to as little as 12-16 weeks.
Would truncation of therapy be a potential option for this patient?
Analysis by Paul Y. Kwo, MD:
Truncation of therapy to 12-16 weeks should be considered only in patients who achieve rapid virologic response but experience tolerability issues. The AASLD guidelines note the standard of treatment for genotype 2 or 3 HCV infection is 24 weeks of peginterferon plus 800 mg/day of ribavirin.[19] Several studies have examined shortening of therapy in these patients. Most studies that have examined truncation of therapy to 12-16 weeks have used weight-based ribavirin ranging from 800-1200 mg, regardless of peginterferon choice. The largest randomized trial that compared 16 with 24 weeks of therapy used flat-dose ribavirin, and this study showed that 24 weeks was superior to 16 weeks.[19] Thus, the standard of care is 24 weeks of peginterferon with 800 mg/day of ribavirin. However, if the patient tolerates therapy poorly, therapy could be truncated at 12-16 weeks, provided the patient achieves a rapid virologic response at Week 4. Without a rapid virologic response, the patient should receive 24 weeks of therapy as there is a higher risk of relapse among those who truncate therapy, particularly among late responders.[
Hi, no cirrhosis, and no damage at all to his liver. He found out about HCV while getting routine bloodwork done. When he got sick with the ïnfection" he lost his appetite but forced himself to eat, mostly fruit. Still drank lots of water but he needed the salt that isn't in fruit, amazing the things you learn through this. He is genotype 2. His doctor told him that at this point his chances are at 82%. I'm not sure what to think, he isn't much better than when he was in the hospital but I don't know if it's heart trouble or SX. They have tested his heart every which way and say that no damage was done. We are going for more blood tests tomorrow and will hopefully know more by the end of the week. I appreciate the kind thoughts, I will update as I know more.
It sounds like he really had bad side effects from the drugs, and some of that may have even been a result of not drinking enough water while taking them. Most of us have been told to drink AT LEAST 4 liters of water per day while taking these meds, and anecdotal evidence here on the forum suggests that the side effects become much worse when we don't drink enough water.
The results of quitting early are not very predictable. Which set of drugs was he taking? Did he have cirrhosis? If his liver was not yet showing damage his chances would probably be somewhat better. What does his doctor say about quitting versus continuing? I will be hoping it works out well for him.
The results of quitting early are not very predictable. Which set of drugs was he taking? Did he have cirrhosis? If his liver was not yet showing damage his chances would probably be somewhat better. What does his doctor say about quitting versus continuing? I will be hoping it works out well for him.
I have seen it both ways here, some get lucky and some do not... Myself I would hate to think I might risk having such a good response. I didn't find treatment any fun so wouldn't want to think I was so close to the end and not finish....... The trials showed 24 weeks is the best when somebody is und at week four....... Of course this is up to him, good luck.
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