More info reguarding 72wk tx after relasped

[aquarius121]

First off Thank You for responding to my question. I am new to this forum and can see that there is a lot of support out there. So here goes the stats that I have been able to find in answer to your questions.
Liver Bi 1/08/2007 was stage 3 fibrosis and the  inflamation severe.
I was tested weekley for the first month then every 2 weeks then once @ month till I completedTX.
I weighed 140 when I started and lost 10 pds and stayed at 130 through tx, My dosage was 2 ribavirin mornig 3 at nite 200mg my shot I dialed to .4 once a wk.
I never was reduced during tx.  I take  thyroid meds no other medical issues.

I did take milk thistle through tx never was told not to, I wonder if that hurt my tx.

I worked 5-6 days @wk and felt I handled tx well. I expericened low red platelets a couple of times but they came back on their own. I completed tx 9/2008 with  HCV results (IU) H<615 & HCV (LOG) < 2.79 test was performed by Bayer Versant DNA version 3.0 My Hep showed back up in 11/2008 I cant find test results will call nurse to get those. I will re-test in May and my CT scan( #3.)  My lasy scan in 9/2009 showed normal appearance, no ascites , spleen not enlarged as seen in prior , smaller porta hepatis and portacavl lymph nodes. No evidence of hepstocellular carcinoma. My Doc recommends being scaned every 6mos. WOW that was a lot. I hope to hear back form any listeners. Thanks Agin

[aquarius121]

I clear between 6-8 wk as far as the test I just learned that it is not as sensitive as it should be. I will be checking with Doc on that.

[aquarius121]

I am new to forum that was my 2nd post. I am going to talk to nurse and Doc about the testing thats something I wasnt aware of. Did you suceed in clearing the virus? What do you think about wating for new drug thearpy? I guess I'll know more when they do my labs in May. I;m just sacared to wait possibley 2 years and have more damage to my liver. The other thought is if I do the 72wk tx and am unable to clear virus then I will have to go another round with new drug thearpy. Thanks for listening

[GreatBird]

At what point in treatment did you clear the virus and what was the sensitivity of the test?

[nygirl7]

Unfortunately geno3 can sometimes be as hard as geno1 to get rid of.  The only thing I can't figure out is why they didn't give you the full .5 dosage - which I was given and I weighed a bit less than you when I started.

I did the 72 because i wasn't clear until between 12 - 24 (don't know when exactly I got UND because he wouldn't do another test in between).  I was a geno 1A and 1B both and a stage 3. I asked for an increase in riba to 1,000 (but I actually double dosed it because I was a bit crazy about it thinking I had two geno's but it really didn't matter).

If you decide to treat again I would ask for the same regimen (1,000 riba and .5 inf) at least and I would definitely go for the 72 (being tested at week 4, 12, 24).  There are plenty of geno 3s that have retreated and succeeded.

I am sure they will come in to talk to you - but I do think that pretending that you are a geno 1 isn't a bad idea at all........if you should decide to retreat.

Also this test "IU) H<615" is no where near sensitive enough. You must make sure that they give you better tests than that for your early tests........the more sensitive the better. If that is the only test they were using there is a chance that you never "really" got to undetectible at all - (well obviously but I mean it probably would have shown up) and if you had known that, like me...you didn't get to und until later you could have extended the first time and perhaps skipped this agony that you are going through right now.

Did you used to post on here because I either remember your name or we had another Aquarius.  I was just wondering if you were the same person!

Either way I wish you ALL the best!