Yesterday I had my appointment which was not with the doctor but with the PA who is in charge of the HepC program and their HepC clinical trials. She is very good and scheduled a bunch of blood work including a HCV viral load test. She also scheduled a Fibroscan or my liver which she says is in some ways better than a needle biopsy. So in about a month I have another appointment, this time with the head doctor.
She says they no longer use Victrelis or Telaaprevir to threat HepC but have moved on to the newer drugs. Next visit I should know their program for me. She doesn't seem too concerned about my kidneys at the present.
I can only offer you an opinion as I'm in a similar boat. By that I mean, I appear to have very little liver damage or inflammation but the disease appears to be damaging other systems in my body. I've had this disease for 40+ years. At a routine blood test last year, my a1c test came in at 5.7, making me "pre-diabetic". I didn't see that coming! My hormone, cholesterol, and hemoglobin levels were all abnormal. The doctor that I am seeing now believes there's a connection between all of these results and my HCV. My new belief is that something's got to give -- if not your liver than some other system.
Please let us know how it goes with your doctor.
Cheers, V.
Thanks for your reply, You don't hear much said about HepC and kidney disease but I know that there is some association, I have had doctors say as much but none of them have anything definite to say about it. I was wondering what might be the treatment history of others with reduced kidney function. Did TX make the kidney problems worse and if so did they improve at the end of TX?
I will surely ask my doctor, who has had very extensive extensive experience treating HepC what he thinks about it when I go for my appointment tomorrow and will report back here what he says.
People on this forum aren't doctors. You have an appointment scheduled this week to go over your concerns. It's your doctor who is going to know if your kidney condition will be an issue with treatment. It sounds like you have talked to a doctor who says that your kidneys can handle the treatment. It sounds like your Hepatitis C is in a place where you can wait for better treatment. This would be what I would be discussing with your doctor this week.
Best to you