doubting

[bruce2002]

Ive been diag. stage 3 5years ago, 2nd. biopsy shows the same. finally thinking of interferon treatment. going through last minute doubts.

[Bill1954]

Hi Bruce— welcome to the discussion group.

I’m over the hill from you in Placerville CA; I used to date a gal in Fallon, by the way. I was diagnosed with genotype 1 HCV in 2004; biopsy determined stage 3-4 fibrosis, transitional to cirrhosis.

I treated almost immediately with Pegasys/riba for 56 weeks, but had a slow response, and ultimately relapsed.

I treated again six months later; this time using Pegintron/riba. I also increased both dosage and duration; this time for 96 consecutive weeks. I completed the last therapy in July 2008, and have remained virus free ever since.

While treatment wasn’t particularly fun, I found it quite tolerable, and would do it again in a heartbeat if I required it for some reason. Hopefully not; my youthful indiscretions stopped in the seventies :o).

Keep an eye out for clinical trials; you can review them if you like by visiting clinicaltrials.gov if you like. Also, your GI doc or hepatologist can help you decide if any might be appropriate for you. Do you have a good doc over there? If not, I might have some ideas for you. Let me know.

If you have specific reservations about therapy, why not kick them around in here, and others will share their experiences with you as well. It’s kind of quiet in here tonight; check back tomorrow, and you might have more responses by then.

Take care, and welcome again—

Bill

[bruce2002]

tHANK-you for writing me. Yes I do have alot to consider. I abused drugs @ alcohol for many years. Im surprised im still alive.So Im excited about what you have said about clinical trials. Is it with that new drug called telaprivir? Please let me know. And yes ive lived and worked in reno for 20 years. Thats to bad about your mom what part of reno was she living?Im happy for you being were you are at a young age. I guess we have strong bodies hopefully in time. vThanx Bruce

[blondie717]

Hi bruce, I would not wait 4 the end before I seek treatment personally. You have alot to consider such as weather you might have other medical issues. I am not the one to advise you though. Other people on this forum, know much more than I do about hep C , and tx. I am 48 and I go screen 4 a clinical trial tomorrow. I want to attempt to knock this in the head before I get older. They have alot of folks on this forum announcing SVR. weekly. And that is better than it use to be. But sadly there also alot of people on this forum who were not as lucky, or have got to the point where they need liver transplants.  By the way I use to live in Reno. My mother died from the final stages of liver failure in Reno. What is your geno type? Have you thought about the clinical trials? Does your doctor think you can afford to wait for the new drugs? Good luck ginger