high viral load

[barb3840]

I was diagnosed with Hep C 10 years ago.  Biopsy at that time was ok.  Viral load 10 yrs ago was 20 million.  Now, my viral load is 83 million.  I am 56 and have probably had Hep for 30 years.  I want to find out what stage I am at.  I don't have insurance, I know I need a biospy.  Any input would be good.  PS...I have done nothing about this disease for the past 10 yrs...thinking smoking would get me first...I know, I am an idiot.  Thanks for your help.

[zazza]

I'll borrow a post written by Bill1954 to explain what logs is. Hope he does not mind.

"Log 10 is the use of logarithms to express viral load. If a number is expressed numerically, say, 1000,000, it can also be expressed logarithmically. The log 10 value of 1,000,000 = Log 6.0.

To figure a 1 log reduction, remove a zero from the right; to figure a 2 log 10 reduction, remove 2 zeros from the right;

1,000,000 = viral load

100,000 = 1 log reduction
10,000 = 2 log reduction
1,000 = 3 log reduction
100= 4 log reduction
Etc.

Good luck—
Bill"
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/733787?personal_page_id=5379&post_id=post_3868472

So if you have a decrease of viral load with 1 log during treatment, you have had a 90% decrease.
A 2 log decrease means a decrease of 99%.
A 3 log decrease means a decrease of 99.9%.
Etc.

You can use a scientific calculator to figure out what your viral load is in logs. You can find one on:
http://www.calculator.com/calcs/calc_sci.html
Just type in your viral load number and then press the key that says "log".

There is some variancy in the results of viral load tests. So half-a-log up or down really is no significant difference. The difference between your tests is a little more than that, 0.618 logs, but still not that much of a difference. My guess is that your actual viral load probably is somewhere between 20 million and 83 million.

It is not that hard to imagine that it is more important to know that one has gotten rid of 90% of the virus in one's body, rather than a number of international units per milliliter. That is why logs are more important than actual IU/ml.

Za

[barb3840]

Thank you for your feed back.  What do you mean by logs???

[Mary4now]

I believe you can negotiate prices for the biopsy.  Speak with the hospital.  My biopsy was close to 3K, my insurance paid 7 hundred I think, cuz of deductible, blah blah blah,  and the hospital negotiated another 7 hundred from me, so the cost was 1400.
They might even take payments.
Then get into a trial...

[zazza]

There isn't as much difference as you would think between a viral load of 83 million and one of 20 million. Expressed in log10 form 83 million is 7.919, and 20 million is 7.301. Not that big a difference really, and logs is what counts when it comes to hepatitis C.

[GreatBird]

My trial did not pay for my biopsy.

[copyman]

great bird is right some trials may not cover the secondary drugs but at least you get the treatment drugs which cost aprox $30,000. Also if a biopsy is required they pay for it.

[GreatBird]

Make sure that everything *is* covered on your trial. I wanted to get on one with USC and they would only take people with insurance because they were ONLY covering the the meds. They said any side-effects from the SOC drugs (peg + riba) had to be handled by insurance because they were FDA approved.

The trial I'm on now covers all the SOC drugs plus the trial drug plus the blood boosters (if I need them) but ADs are not covered and who knows what else.

Not to say that wouldn't be a really good way to go, just saying to be sure what they handle and what they don't so there aren't any nasty surprises later when it turns out they won't pay for an endocrinologist visit for thyroid or something like that.

BTW--a trial will require a recent (within the last few years) biopsy.

Good luck!

[Xenigma]

As copyman said, a trial would probably be your best bet.  Everything is covered.
Here is a link to search for trials in your area...
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/search
There are also sliding scale clinics in each state which you may want to research.
(You didn't mention which state you were in)
Good luck to you...
enigma

[copyman]

welcome. It is good you want to know how much, if any liver damage has occured over the last 10 years. For now you can get bloodwork for liver functions, platelets,phrotime. And there is a also a bloodtest for liver fibrosis called the Fibrosure. This test is accurate on the low(no fibrosis) & high(cirrhosis) but not that accurate for the middle stages. Still it is a lot less expensive. Eventually you want to consult with a hepatologist and get treated.
Another option would be to get into a trial for one of the new drugs. They pay for everything including all the meds (around $30,000), biopsy (around $2000), etc, etc.
Best of luck