Should I treat?? Advice please

[miss moneypenny]

hello,

this is my first posting here + hope you don

[miss moneypenny]

hi,

it sounds as though you are pretty much the same as me stats wise, good to hear that you are coping ok with the tx, I would be really interested to hear how you go, so do keep posting, have you had a 4 week PCR?

I know exactly what you mean about worry over infecting the kids, it's just awful, all mine are negative - what a weight off that was - but I really stress about every scratch and scrape, even though at 9, 6 and 2 they have avoided it so far, I suspect it is not that easy to get infected, but it doesn't stop you worrying. I do sometimes wish I had never found out, but at the same time it does make you reassess and, for me, i think this has been a positive thing.

new-sojourn - you mentioned insurance - as I am in the UK the situation is a bit different, thanks to the good old (!) NHS, although, fortunately, I do have private insurance too, which is a great bonus and gives me a wider choice.

thanks again for all the input

love and luck x

[jmjm530]

Thanks.

[HepCinLA]

Hi,

I am only on week #4 so I can't speak to the long term side effects...

Anyway, I have two small children (under age 5).  I thought when I started treatment that I'd be bedridden for a whole year.  So far, I'm busier than I have been before starting treatment.  That may change as the weeks drag on but so far I've only had minor sides that are more annoying than anything else.  

I also have little damage (grade 1, stage 0) and a low viral low (<20,000).  I decided to treat b/c I am tired of being infectious.   My boys always have some sort of bump, scrap, or cut on them.  I hate the paranoid feeling of not giving them a bath that evening if I should also happen to cut my hand.  Or the dread I feel, when I see my two year old walking around with my toothbrush despite my efforts to hide it.

So far my kids (and husband) have tested negative and I want to keep it that way.

Good luck in your decision.

[Forseegood]

Call it women's intuition, (that's gotta count for something) ha ha! but I have a good hunch that you are going to clear...so hang in there buddy, for all the nasty sides youre having now. If they are passing out SVR's for people who "give back" you'll be near the beginning of the line anyway. I know this disease has made me a more compassionate, empathetic person, (I was kinda selfish in some respects before diagnosis, not that I don't have a ways to go now) and it obviously has for you too...there's got to be one upside to this dang disease!

[Forseegood]

aaaah...don't know for sure but I think I just might of been called an idiot, ha ha! No worries. For every person who says they know someone who progressed rapidly in stages within a small amount of time, there is another person who knows many who are in their late 50s and 60's with low liver damage. I know I do. Some have treated and not responded, some never have treated. That's just the name of the game with this disease, it's a l l over the map. We have to rely on these small studies for statistics to get any grasp of consequences, trends, variables, etc.

Believe me, if I were assured of having even and 80% chance of clearing, I'd jump on it like a monkey. Otherwise, there are many, many factors to weigh, I believe I went into it "ad nauseum" in my last post. And being a woman, my odds are better at lasting this out till the better meds come along. There is also some evidence that being a stage 1 at my age of 52 might mean that my immune system is doing a good job of keeping the virus in tow. I also take darn good care of my immune system, and I have for a very long time. That's gotta count for something, considering the new studies about anti-oxidant use and the immune system, I'll post the URLs later, it was on the AP yesterday.

Unfortunately, there is also some evidence that a person having it at birth was, by virtue of that fact, born with an immune system that was somewhat compromised by the virus. That may or maynot have some impact on the long term outcome.

This is not to say that I am not treating, depends on a few things. But like I said, I'm older than the person in question and I do have a few symptoms. Ultimately we are all masters of our own ship. My heart goes out to all who suffer with this disease, let's hope that soon we have more options available to us all, and that we all hold together as a community to help one another, we're not getting a lot of help from the outside, maybe you've noticed. Peace and love to you all.

[friole]

I will probably have my blood draw on the morning of the 7th - that will be exactly 12 wks peg & copeg.  The 4-week PCR took almost 2 weeks to get back (boo).  Hope I do as well as you.
Kathy