time to start treament

[dochollow]

several years ago i donated blood, soon after i got a letter that i tested pos for hep c. after going to my doc, he told me to stop drinking and started treating me with anti depresants , then sent me to a spec, { 100 miles away]. lost days wages to be told they woudnot do anything untill my deppression was controld.4 months later i was still only geting treatment for depression spec wouldnt see me ? {did stop drinking for 7 months]. ok this cant be that importent, so stopped going to these docs! 2 years later got a check up hep c again, must see a spec? saw spec 5 times, no treatment in 6 months just draws blood and normal bs. after 9 months of no booze she says it will be a while be fore we start treatment. this just smells like a ripoff  of the insurance co. & me! now new doc wants to start the process all over again. if they actually treat the disease but just going back & forth and missing a days work for nothing is not feasible. i dont know what to do?
?

[sunqueen]

Sometimes a history of depression can also be a chink in the armor. The medications are extremely harsh and exact their toll on people with no history of depression or mental health issues. It just might well be better to waiting until you have prolonged sobriety, a chance to really have the depression well-controlled and go for the better meds that are coming soon ...

Welcome and good luck!

[Bill1954]

It’s not uncommon at all for doctors to require a minimum of six months sobriety from drugs or alcohol prior to initiating interferon therapy. Additionally, interferon treatment has been associated with the potential for exacerbating depression; in fact, there have been reports of suicide while treating.

And lastly, as ‘copyman’ mentioned, there are promising new drugs on the horizon for HCV. These have been shown in clinical trial to increase the efficacy of treatment. Depending on your current liver damage, it might be prudent to investigate this avenue. Have you discussed a biopsy with your doctor yet? This could help decide how urgent it is to undergo treatment; if little to no damage, you could potentially postpone in favor of better options in the future.

Welcome to the discussion group, by the way!

Best to you,

Bill

[copyman]

maybe the doctor is doing you a favor by waiting to treat. There are new drugs coming out in about 2 years. perhaps your labs look good so they are in the watch & wait mode?

you should get a biopsy to see how much , if any liver damage you have. then make a decison from there.
Good luck