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Triple Therapy: Apparent Complete Failure
Hi everyone. I'm new to this board but I've followed it for the past few weeks.
I'm a 29 year-old male and I was diagnosed with Hep C (genotype 1a) in November 2010 after a routine blood test. I, for the life of me, have no idea how I got it. The most likely candidate is that I got it just after birth in 1981 (I was a blue baby and needed some blood transfusions).
Anyway, I got a biopsy done this past January and the results were good: Stage 1 Fibrosis, no red flags.
I started triple therapy with Incivek, Ribavirin, and Pegasys around mid-September. Other than the first night of my shot, I have had basically zero side-effects. I still lift heavily, row, go to work, travel almost weekly,etc... Weekly blood tests hardly registered any changes in my hemoglobin levels, platelet levels, etc... However, the 4-week results were surprising, to say the least.
My viral load count went from 840,000 before to 620,000 after 4-weeks of strict treatment. Obviously treatment has failed and I'm curious to see if anyone here has received similiar results. I know data is limited on this, but does anyone know (either through personal experience or anecdotally) how I could be such a significant non-responder? Are there any indicators that could explain this?
I'm very active and I have a large appetite so I've had no problem eating the gobs of fat necessary to consume Incivek and, to a degree, Ribavirin. My diet is pretty good. I avoid fast food, I don't eat out often, I eat organic when I can, and I consume plenty of protein and water (a gallon+ a day) given my active, gym-going lifesyle.
I'm going to see the doctor on Tuesday to get answers to my questions and map out a plan. But I just want to see what I could glean from this community. Thanks!
-J
I'm a 29 year-old male and I was diagnosed with Hep C (genotype 1a) in November 2010 after a routine blood test. I, for the life of me, have no idea how I got it. The most likely candidate is that I got it just after birth in 1981 (I was a blue baby and needed some blood transfusions).
Anyway, I got a biopsy done this past January and the results were good: Stage 1 Fibrosis, no red flags.
I started triple therapy with Incivek, Ribavirin, and Pegasys around mid-September. Other than the first night of my shot, I have had basically zero side-effects. I still lift heavily, row, go to work, travel almost weekly,etc... Weekly blood tests hardly registered any changes in my hemoglobin levels, platelet levels, etc... However, the 4-week results were surprising, to say the least.
My viral load count went from 840,000 before to 620,000 after 4-weeks of strict treatment. Obviously treatment has failed and I'm curious to see if anyone here has received similiar results. I know data is limited on this, but does anyone know (either through personal experience or anecdotally) how I could be such a significant non-responder? Are there any indicators that could explain this?
I'm very active and I have a large appetite so I've had no problem eating the gobs of fat necessary to consume Incivek and, to a degree, Ribavirin. My diet is pretty good. I avoid fast food, I don't eat out often, I eat organic when I can, and I consume plenty of protein and water (a gallon+ a day) given my active, gym-going lifesyle.
I'm going to see the doctor on Tuesday to get answers to my questions and map out a plan. But I just want to see what I could glean from this community. Thanks!
-J
"However, let's assume for a second that my Vitamin D levels were low. Would that explain my treatment response?"
I also had my vitamin D level tested around week 18 of trt and found that I was deficient. Since I was und at week 4 & 12, and possibly deficient during this time frame, I'd venture a guess it had little influence on the VL results.
I've read several recommendations to avoid iron while taking supplements and iron rich foods. I haven't seen any published references to confirm this, but it is repeated on this forum and by doctors. Again, probably not a reason for failure, but something to consider. I wish you the best.
I also had my vitamin D level tested around week 18 of trt and found that I was deficient. Since I was und at week 4 & 12, and possibly deficient during this time frame, I'd venture a guess it had little influence on the VL results.
I've read several recommendations to avoid iron while taking supplements and iron rich foods. I haven't seen any published references to confirm this, but it is repeated on this forum and by doctors. Again, probably not a reason for failure, but something to consider. I wish you the best.
No, I do not take any performance-enhancing drugs. I have one protein shake a day and I eat many grams of protein per day via ground turkey, chicken, lentils, beans, yogurt, cereal, etc....
When I first found out I had Hep C in November 2010 I was told my Vitamin D levels were low (I don't think it was unusually low as my doctor told me to just take a Vitamin D supplement with no specific dosage), so I took daily supplements religiously (1,000 I.U. most of the time and 400 I.U. the remainder) between then and the beginning of treatment.
I also took the Vitamin D supplements during treatment, but not as frequently. Between the 12 pills I had to take daily sometimes I simply forgot to include the Vitamin D pill.
However, let's assume for a second that my Vitamin D levels were low. Would that explain my treatment response? Again, I'll explore this with my doctor but any input is appreciated.
Yes, I did consume more than enough fat with my Incivek. If there's one thing I'm really good at it's consuming massive quantities of food!
Thank you for your input!
I also took the Vitamin D supplements during treatment, but not as frequently. Between the 12 pills I had to take daily sometimes I simply forgot to include the Vitamin D pill.
However, let's assume for a second that my Vitamin D levels were low. Would that explain my treatment response? Again, I'll explore this with my doctor but any input is appreciated.
Yes, I did consume more than enough fat with my Incivek. If there's one thing I'm really good at it's consuming massive quantities of food!
Thank you for your input!
There are still resistance issues after stopping Incivek even if it was only taken for 4 wks. Perhaps not to the degree if Ahnold taken it for 12 wks but he would not be a candidate for re-treatment with Incivek due to PI resistant variants that develop when the compound is stopped early.
Shoot, I weigh 125 and was taking 1200 Riba,
I was also told that resistance is not so much when you just stop taking the drug its when you take it improperly, skipping days, not taking as much, etc. but when you just stop completely it is not a problem with resistance.
I will check on this with the ppl from the study center, they have been an HIV study center for 12 years so I assume they know what they are talking about, they have a very good reputation. maybe i'm wrong.about the resistance I will check with them next visit
ANHOLD, so sorry about your response. good think you have little damage, things are changing rapidly and you can benefit from that down the road. there is lots to learn here.
I was also told that resistance is not so much when you just stop taking the drug its when you take it improperly, skipping days, not taking as much, etc. but when you just stop completely it is not a problem with resistance.
I will check on this with the ppl from the study center, they have been an HIV study center for 12 years so I assume they know what they are talking about, they have a very good reputation. maybe i'm wrong.about the resistance I will check with them next visit
ANHOLD, so sorry about your response. good think you have little damage, things are changing rapidly and you can benefit from that down the road. there is lots to learn here.
A thought occurred to me and I'm wondering if you were taking any type of steroid or performance enhancing drugs given your active weight lifting and gym lifestyle? Steroids and performance enhancing drugs can interfere with the efficacy of the treatment drugs.
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