Starting Sovaldi - Prior relapser

[48weeks]

Just got a call from my hepatologist's office to start the process of getting me started on Sovaldi.  I am a gt 1a, twice non-responder to Int+Rib and I relapsed after 48 weeks of triple therapy with Incivek. Anyone know what the cure rate for this treatment is for a relapser?

[somuchmore2]

It appears I am in the same boat as you:

IL28 TT
Geno 1A
Twice treated int/rib
Success with clearly via Trelapivr but relapsed shortly after stopping at 48 weeks

Looking forward to knowing success.

Thanks

[48weeks]

Trust me, if my biopsy says I can wait, I am going to wait, and the Gilead all-oral Sofosbuvir + Ledipasvir sounds like what I need. I determined this weeks ago. Abbvie's latest trial sounds encouraging as well, but hopefully the Sofusbuvir + Ledipasvir will be available withing a few months. And hopefully our insurance system isn't so screwed up by the time these new meds come out that none of us gets a chance to go on them.

[nan535]

I have to agree with hepcat.  in your original question, you wrote:
"I am a gt 1a, twice non-responder to Int+Rib and I relapsed after 48 weeks of triple therapy with Incivek."  You tried and failed to clear the virus 3 times with an interferon based treatment.  Not sure why you would go that route again when there are other options either available or soon to be available with high success rates even for previous null-responders. such as yourself.

This is what hepcat posted:
"I'm 1a and also failed triple (first tx attempt) in November of 2011 (Incivek/Riba/Interferon) after 12 painful weeks.  However, in 2013 I got on a 12 week Gilead all-oral Sofosbuvir + Ledipasvir study and was UND in 14 days and I achieved SVR24 in July 2013.  Unlike triple, it was quick, effective, so easy and no sides!  In my case I took one pill/day but if you're doing it off-label, you'd be taking 2 pills/day."

If my husband, who is post-transplant with recurrent Hep C, had the opportunity to go with this course of treatment, we would jump at it.

I hope you will give this a lot of thought before making a decision.
The advice you are getting here are from people who actually took the meds and are letting you know their experience.  For me, this is priceless information.

Best of luck
Nan

[hepcat1954]

Even if the side effects on interferon were minimal (which they aren't) YOUR BODY DOES NOT RESPOND WELL TO INTERFERON.

3 failures and TT IL28B's.  Q.E.D.

[48weeks]

Well like I said, hopefully I get the biopsy and I find that I AM in a position to either wait a while or talk my Hepatologist into going off label for something more surefire, although I could do interferon again if I had to, last time it didn't get to me too bad.

[hepcat1954]

48weeks:  "I am a gt 1a, twice non-responder to Int+Rib and I relapsed after 48 weeks of triple therapy with Incivek"

You didn't clear any of the 3 times you tried.  Why you'd consider taking interferon again is baffling.  Why a doctor would give it to you again is equally baffling.  

DAA's are like sniper bullet meds: they specifically target the HCV virus and kill only it.  Riba and interferon are like a shotgun approach: they kill everything and if you respond well to interferon, it will kill the HCV too.  They're considered the "backup" meds in case the sniper DAA's miss some of the HCV virus cells, they're supposed to wipe out the rest.

The 2 DAA's in conjunction eliminate the need for the interferon shotgun.

I took interferon for 12 weeks and NEVER again.  Very nasty stuff.

But to each his own.  Good luck to you.

HC