I have to agree with desrt. Best to you whatever way you go.
I tx'd for 48 weeks. It was awful but I have no lasting side effects. I sure wish I could of treated for 24 weeks and still be virus free.
The better treatments will still have IFN and Riba with the same or worse side effects.
I would do the following:
1. Start treatment with IFN and weight based riba.
2. Check PCR at 4 weeks. If UND, there is a good chance of getting rid of this beast right now.
3. If NOT UND at 4 wks, here is where the gray area starts.
One may want to stop, if the viral load dropped less than 1 log, or
may continue for another 4wks and see if you have >2 log drop at week 8.
4. The goal is to become UND at week 12 or earlier. If not, I would stop and wait for new treatments. There is a chance that you may be rapid responder (RVR), have SVR with current tx and get on with your life. I am not a doctor, but this is what I would do. Good luck to you. And get a good hepatologist, treating with milk thistle or supplements is just covering the symptoms.
"A short while ago, another doctor also very enthusiasticly recommended Combination Treatment (Interferon and Ribavirin) but after some checking on my own, i freaked out. The side effects are terrible.."
The side effects vary greatly and depend on a person, some have it quite easy. You won't know unless you try. In any case, they would be the same or worse with the new treatment and your liver may be in a worse state too.
I am a 5'00 ft. 46 yr. old woman weighs 106 lb. (whatever it is in kilos), and was contaminated with Hep c, 16 Yrs. ago, after a post-partum complication, anyway, because the patogen is 2 B, I was treated with a combo of Riba and interferon, Not a pic-nic, let me tell you that much, coming from someone that has a lot of endurance with pain, or so I've been told, went thru it, for some time, I thought that I was going to die, especially when i became so anemic, and that is when problems arrived, but guess what, I survived, it is bad, no **** about it, need a lot of patience and people around you to hug you a lot, but in my case it was SOOOOO WORTH IT, I became UND. at the 9 week of TX. and after 1 Yr. Thanks to God still going clean, I recuperated from the symptoms, took some time, but I was ok. again, back to my life, I think it is up to every person, it is challenge, for some of us it worked, for some it didn't, how to know? oh! it is a very expensive treatment, and for sure, need to stay home, depending on your health. This is my input into this.
Good luck
Get a biopsy and then decide on when to treat. If you can afford to wait 4-5 years, you may have a chance of treating for a shorter time with a greater chance of sustained response. Even though you've been infected a relatively short period of time, the fact that your ALT goes up when you stop the supplements makes me believe some kind of damage is going on. I would want a biopsy.
I would go for a liver biopsy to determine what stage of liver disease you have IF ANY. I would take it from there. Seek a reputable hepatologist. One step at a time.
When I was Acute years ago I couldnt go on treatment.....why? beacuse they didnt kow what hepatitits C was at that time. I was suffering from ACUTE SOMETHING?
Consider yourself somewhat lucky that now we know what it is and how to treat it if necessary.
Keep your chin up. Just make sure your in the good hands of a hepatologist..
GOOD LUCK-
Side effects of treatment range from mild to severe depending on the person. I agree with your first doctors opinion. You are lucky to find out you have hep c so soon after contact. With the new promising treatments coming around the corner, I would wait. A biopsy probably is not warrented if your ALT scores are normal. Others are sure to weigh in soon. Don't panic, you are in good shape.
it's too bad your doc didn't treat you when you were acute.