Newly diagnosed with hcv

[melissa216]

Well, I'm 23 years old, have two daughters and a boyfriend of 6 yrs. I went to donate blood and thats how I found out! Went straight to hospital, they did more blood work. Sent me to doc and all she said was pretty much I had it lol. Went to gastro doc aug. 15th my viral load was 610, he never seen one that low, he said thay couldnt even see what genotype it was b/c it was so low. So he took more blood to make more of the virus to tell me what genotype I have. Still dont know yet! He said its probably genotype 1 b/c that is more common. He said he wants to do the triple therapy for 24 weeks. He said he feels I will have no problem clearing it, hopefully he is right! My next appt. is nov. 20th. Dont know when I will start treatment. But im trying to stay positive. My kids have been tested, they are neg thank godness. My bf still needs to be tested. Just wanted to share my story and Get a lil advice and guidence. Dont really know what to expect. So any info would be great. Oh and one thing he also said was I had high antibodies to hep b, he said I had it. Anybody have that happen? Thanks everyone

[can-do-man]

Hello and welcome,first things first. If your viral load is really only 610 and you are a geno 1, which is the only way triple therapy could be used I would ask why not treat with just SOC without the third drug and if und at week 4 continue on that way until week 24... No need to add another drug if not needed. I would quess at your age there would be no liver damage so he might not be wanting a biopsy???

[willbb]

I remember you posted about the Viral load before so I copied that thread. Did you ever get confirmation on the load and have you had a PCR test since as VL changes by the hour

Best ..
Will

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/RNA-PCR-RESULT/show/1777661

[willbb]

Hey cando  :)

[Idyllic]

Greetings and welcome to the forum.
Wow this is all happening so fast. You are so young and way more focused and persistent than I was when I found out I was diagnosed. By Genotype your doctor might mean 1a or 1b - as they tend to be more common in the US. but you never know.

November 20 is long enough to learn more about Hepatitis C and the meds to treat it. Do you have copies of all your labs? The first thing you should do is call the guy back or his office and have them fax, email or you can drop by and pick them up. I was just wondering what your ALT and AST is.

I can imagine the urge to rid oneself of a blood borne infectious disease is overwhelming and you are young and resilient enough to fight this and (probably) be on your merry way. I am a little disturbed the GI did not mention future treatment options that are bound to be less harsh than the Peg, Riba and the Protease Inhibitors (Incivek & Victrelis). All oral HCV meds are actually quite a ways down the road but they will emerge and hopefully change the face of Hepatitis C drugs as we know them today. Plus (in some small way) it reveals just how knowledgeable your doctor really is. There is a thread on here that has a bunch of questions you ought to ask your doctor on your next visit. I will let someone else dig that up

I am on my way out the door and you are bound to receive lots of comments and support so be sure to hang around. I just feel like your doctor should have mentioned all treatment options, future treatment options and the option to not treat right now. It helps to know the stage of disease you are but lots of doctors reason that since are you are going to treat with highly efficacious drugs then a biopsy, ultrasound or fibrosure might not be all that necessary. Still, it is something you should be aware of.

All in all you have accomplished so much on your own in a short period. I have to say I am very impressed. I am double glad your children do not have the virus.

Not sure about the Antibodies to HBV. So I will let someone else comment on that. I think it mean you may have at one time been exposed to HBV. I don't know if that means you would benefit from the vaccination or not. I would get vaccinated for Hepatitis A and (IF need B) Hepatitis B. Like I said though, I will let someone else explain about HBV as I do not want to mislead you.

Take care and be well♫

[melissa216]

He said there was no need for a biopsy. My next appointment is November 20th, I guess when I go back there he'll let me know what genotype i have and i haven't got anymore results for vl since then. Not sure how this all works but just wanted to share my story. I will ask when I go back about not doing the triple treatment, I know if its so low why do treatment, or maybe I have a better chance of clearing it. Not sure. Thanks for the reply.

[can-do-man]

Back at ya will...:)

[Idyllic]

Will makes a good point about asking your doctor about treatment response on SOC compared to the Protease Inhibitors. There is a test you can take that helps gauge how well you might respond to  interferon-based therapy.

You might want to ask your doctor to test you to see what is your interleukin-28B (IL28B) polymorphism type. It sounds more exotic than it actually is but in short it is often referred to as simply IL28B. It is a pretreatment predictor of sustained virologic response (SVR). It is too late for me now but I would like to have had this done prior to treatment the first time♫

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2010/0827_2010_a.html

[BoceprevirGal]

  I am assuming your Doctor wants to try to rush in, and eradicate your virus, while your viral load is still nice and low, as sometimes, it is easier to wipe out when very low like that.
    That being said, the Interferon/Riba + the third med, either Victrelis or Incivek, tend to have side effects that would make taking care of two young children very difficult.
   In a few years, a much easier treatment is coming out, with less dangerous
side effects, so ask your Doctor about the GS-7977 Treatment.

[melissa216]

Gastro doc called back and said I have genotype 2!

[can-do-man]

Well thats the best type to have as success rates are high and no triple therapy just SOC for 24 weeks...... Have you decided if your going to treat?

Best to you.

[rivll]

Genotype 2 has a very high success rate with Gilead 7797 and ribavirin- that should be available next year, I think.
Much easier without the addition of interferon.
I am sure you will do well-good luck to you.

[BoceprevirGal]

  Hey...that is very good news!  That, and the fact that you found out
about this, while you are still young.  
   Many people have it for years, and never know,  that is the most dangerous scenario.
    Just make sure you avoid alcohol, that's what I did. And I drink green tea, and eat well.  

[melissa216]

Thanks everyone, I am going to treat I go see him in nov so from there we will figure everything out!