break for liver while UND

[rexx73]

hello there,

while iam UND @week4 i wonder if my liver is having a break while iam still on treatment?
or are the meds to much work for the liver?

[BigDaddy_59]

My hepa to me the same thing that orphanedhawk's did: my liver is getting a break.

And like Hector said, your liver needs to be in good enough condition to withstand them. I will be starting triple next month and my hepa sent me for pre-transplant tests just in case I decompensate from it. I KNOW this won't happen (positive thinking) but I humor her  :o)

I have had cirrhosis since being diagnosed 9 years ago and I think I am in better shape from the 3 previous Tx's I have done, and that is the reason I am still doing as well as I am!

Chris

[curiouslady1]

I think your liver appreciates you for making it possible for it to do its work without having to contend with these pesky little creatures bothering it.  Meantime it can start to heal itself a little bit :)

[orphanedhawk]

My respected hepatologist told me that even if I didn't cure, my liver would get a break, and my enzymes would improve during tx.

We've had people here who treated, and relapsed yet their livers were in better shape afterwords as shown on biopsies.

[HectorSF]

UND means that there is no detectable hepatitis C virus present to replicate in the liver. So the liver is no longer creating new fibrosis (growth of interconnecting tissue in the liver).

"liver is having a break"

The liver is still performing all of its normal functions (the liver is never "having a break"). If the liver took a break and stopped functioning so would the person in a short period of time. The treating patient would be hospitalized just as patients with failing livers are, do to the life-threatening complications of liver failure. No one can live without a functioning liver.

"are the meds to much work for the liver?"

The treatment medicines are not to be given to anyone whos liver can't handle the impact of the drugs. IE anyone with decompensated cirrhosis/End-Stage Liver Disease. Which is why once a person liver disease progresses to decompensated cirrhosis/End-Stage Liver Disease and hepatic function has been reduced beyond a certain point, a patient with chronic hepatitis C should not be give hepatitis C treatment. If you read the label that comes with all of the hepatitis C treatment drugs they all warn against their use in patients that have too much liver damage to handle the drugs ...
"CONTRAINDICATIONS
"Hepatic decompensation in patients with cirrhosis"

"Hepatic Impairment: Safety and efficacy have not been established in patients with Child-Pugh score greater than or equal to 7 (class B and C)"

Hector

[gene53]

Hi Rexx,

The way I look at it is that it is giving your liver a break at least being clean of the virus for a while and hopefully forever.
As in my first 2 attempts it came back after treatment was over but at least I like to think it was good for my liver to be clean of the virus temporarily. I guess I just hate to think I went through 2, 48wk treatments for nothing.

Hey, I remember when you were about 2wks into tx and ready to quit, so I say WAY TO GO & HANG IN THERE!!!!  UND for now is GREAT!!!!

Best of Luck with the rest of the tx
Gene