one month in of the inteferon and ribavirin

[HELLOWORLD217]

i want to first start off by saying thank you for all the information that are posted on these forums. i am a 31 year old female and have been on treatment for hep c for a month, with the combination therapy. i am geno type 1 and before i started the treatment my viral load was 950,238.........i just yesterday recieved my viral load count after one month on the meds and it was 84.............thats it just 84..... i was told that when it reaches in the 40's it will be considered undetectable. anyone who is just starting the meds please do yourself a favor and stay off of youtube and any other site that shows people going through the treatment.....im sure the meds affect people different but my expierience has been tolerable. i have two small kids and as far as side effects it has been very high fatigue and muscle aches, but when you get good results its all worth it........it has not been all that bad, i still do all the things that need to be done....stay positive.

[tbd1046]

Actually HCV does not disqualify one from registering to be an organ donor.  HCV patients can be transplanted with an HCV infected organ. If your interested in registering to be an organ donor please go to www.donatelife.net.

helloworld217, congrats on the evr

[newleaf09]

Most people consider all caps to be yelling.  Try the e.e.cummings all smalls.  With a Sustained Viral Response you are no longer contagious; you're cured but unfortunately the antibodies to the disease will still be there and prevent you from donating blood or donating an organ to anyone other than another hepatitis suffferer.

[HELLOWORLD217]

SORRY ABOUT THE CAP LOCK............BUT I ALWAYS WRITE IN CAPS, IT STANDS OUT.......I LOVE THE LIST YOU PROVIDED.....NOW I KNOW WHAT THOSE ABBREVIATIONS MEAN

[DD9th]

Thank you for posting that list.  I didn't realize there were so many that I had not yet picked up.

[orleans]

Hey, might want to drop the cap lock. This list is from someone we've not heard from in a while--You out there CS?
by CockSparrow, Oct 23, 2007 08:26AM
I have posted my list before and its been reposted a few times, but here it is again with some updates.

Hepatitis means Imflamation of the Liver. from ancient Greek hepar or hepato- meaning 'liver' and suffix -itis denoting 'inflammation'
Acute Hepatitis:   is when it lasts less than 6 months
Chronic Hepatitis: is when it persists longer than 6 months

HCV Acronyms
HCV Hepatitis C Virus
AHC Acute Hepatitis C
CHC Chronic Hepatitis C
G or GT Genotype
RNA RiboNucleic Acid
DNA DeoxyriboNucleic Acid
Tx Treatment, Therapy (can also mean Transplant)
Bx Biopsy
Dx Diagnosis
Sx Symptoms, Side Effects
Rx Prescription
Hx History
SOC Standard of Care
ITT Intent to Treat
RVR Rapid Virological Response (4 Week PCR - UND
EVR Early Virological Response (12 Week PCR - >2 Log Drop)
EVC Early Virological Clearance (Aviremic - HCV RNA Negative at Week 12)
PVR Partial Virological Response (Viremic Response – >2 Log Drop still HCV+ at Week 12
EOT End of Treatment
SVR Sustained Virological Response (UND 6 Months post EOT)
VR Virological Response
PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction
RT-PCR Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction.
TMA Transcription Mediated Amplification
VL Viral Load
HVL High Viral Load (≥400,000 IU) (≥600,000 IU) (≥800,000 IU)
LVL Low Viral Load (<400,000 IU)
UND Undetectable Viral Load
IU International Unit 1 IU = 2.5 VL Copies apx
BMI Body Mass Index
WHR Waist to Hip Ratio

Drug Acronyms
IFN Interferon (Alpha 2a / Alpha 2b)
NPIA Non-Pegylated Interferon Alpha
PegIFN Pegylated Interferon (Alpha 2a / Alpha 2b)
CIFN Consensus Interferon (Infergen/alphacon)
RBV Ribavirin
RVN Ribavirin
Riba Ribavirin
WBR Weight Based Ribavirin
WBD Weight Based Dose
FDR Fixed Dose Ribavirin
LDR Low Dose Ribavirin (Same as FDR)
EPO Erythropoietin Epoetin alfa (Epogen/Procrit), Darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp)
Neup Neupogen
TIW Three Injections Weekly (Tri Weekly, Three Times a Week, Thrice Weekly)
SC Subcutaneous (Beneath or Under the skin)
QW Once a Week (from Latin quaque

Blood Test Acronyms
LFT Liver Function Test
ALT Alanine Aminotransferase
AST Aspartate Aminotransferase
SGPT ALT was called Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase.
SGOT AST was called Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase.
ALP Alkaline Phosphatase (Alk Phos)
AFP Alpha-FetoProtein
GGT Gamma Glutamyl Transpeptidase
LDH Lactate Dehydrogenase
FBC Full Blood Count
CBC Complete Blood Count (almost the same as FBC)
RCC Red Cell Count
HGB Hemoglobin
WCC White Cell Count
MCV Mean Corpuscular Volume
TSH Thyroid stimulating hormone (Also called: Thyrotropin)
ULN Upper Limit of Normal
LLN Lower Limit of Normal

Cholesterol
VLDL Very Low Density Lipoproteins
LDL Low Density Lipoproteins
HDL High Density Lipoproteins

CS

[HELLOWORLD217]

THANK YOU GUYS..........WHEN I FIRST FOUND OUT I WAS HEP C POSITIVE I THOUGHT MY LIFE WAS OVER I THINK I WOKE UP AND WENT TO BED CRYING AND TRYING TO HIDE THAT FROM TWO KIDS IS SO HARD.......I HAVE DEVELOPED ANEMIA ITS AT 11........SO MY DOC SAID I MIGHT HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER MEDICATION TO HELP WITH THAT...UGHHHH.......ONE THING I DONT UNDERSTAND IS WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SVR...OR TO GET AN UNDECTABLE RESULT......WOULD I STILL BE INFECTED......IM A LITTLE CONFUSED.......AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE.

[newleaf09]

God, you are wonderfully close to being RVR (clear within 1 month).  If I were you I would probably want to consider that I actually was RVR.  It's a very, very positive sign for a potential SVR. Congratulations.  You're 'responsive' to Interferon.

There are youtubes of miserable people on TX?  That's awful.  It's hard enough without having to suffer from someone else's 'take' on treatment.  I did watch one of a liver biopsy on youtube and that one was great; calmed me right down to see it go so quick and easy with nothing more than local anesthesia.

[nygirl7]

Sorry my boss came up behind me.......

The more sensitive the better.  I started with a low VL of only 568k but I couldn't get rid of all of the little suckers and had to extend to week 72.  If I hadnt had such a sensitive test I would not have known and then I probably wouldn't be cured today.

The tests go down to 2 - that is about as good as they get.  In the old days the tests only went down to like 615........so as you see it would appear you are really undetectible now but you really wouldn't have been.  The closer you get to UND to week 4 the better the news.

You do have good news as the meds are working.;  Just beat the rest of the little suckers and then let the Inteferon do it's job training your immune system for the rest of the weeks.......that way in case some of them are floating around your body will get them and kill them off for you. This is why we do much more time than just getting to undetectible and why a low starting VL really means sqaut - it's your bodies ability to kill them that is the most important thing, not just the interferon.

Good luck.

[nygirl7]

Ditto what WID said!!!!!!!!!!!

[WriteItDown]

That is terrific news, Congratulations!!!  You are well on your way to SVR!

One thing though: under 40 isn't *exactly* undetectable... it just means that's how sensitive the test is. If you could get your doctor to give you a more sensitive test, like the Quest Heptimax, in another new weeks, maybe, that would be good.  It's helpful to know if you have even a few of those virons running around.  I don't know how much input you have into your own tx, but it would be worth a shot, in my opinion.

In the meantime, enjoy the sweet taste of the treatment working!