liver damage

[mpace6983]

hi everybody. im on week 29 fo treatment. week 24 bloodwork showed virus undetectable [good news] my question is,the biopsy shows fatty liver and stage 3 liver damage. if the svr continues, will my liver heal itself? does this stage of damage cause fatigue. i know the peg/copeg can cause fatigue im just wondering if  after i stop tx will my energy level improve? if anybodys got any 411 on this id sure like to know. thanx.

[jdwithhcv]

Neupogen will not help with low rbc and hgb.  For that you will need Procrit.  Neup is for low whites.  If your reds are low, ask your doctor about Procrit.  Good luck.

jd

[nygirl7]

They most likely won't give you procrit until it gets under 10.  11.9 isn't that bad.  Definitely ask him to check the hemoglobin number again though it can go south pretty quickly.

[mpace6983]

last hemogloben was 11.9 (normal  12.0-18.0)  RBC was a little worse 3.72 (normal 4.20-6.30)  GI usually on top of bloodwork but, I see him again next Fri. I'll be sure to put that ?  on my ?'s to ask DR. thanx

[BlueSkies]

Hello there,
I haven't been on this site for a few years, but just was browsing today.  When your hemoglobin/rbc bloodwork came back, was it really low?  THAT can cause extreme fatigue, from what I remember.  They gave me Neupogen to boost my low rbc and almost immediately, the fatigue went away.  Just a thought.  Like I said, I have been SVR for over 6 years, but I vividly remember this part!

[nygirl7]

So you were indeed UND at week 12? Then you don't have to extend treatment it's a whole different story.

The one side almost every person experiences is the fatigue.  When it gets really bad is when your hemoglobin crashes on top of it.  It's amplified about 100% worse if you can imagine so it is important for you to keep an eye on that.  Get copies of all of your test results faxed to you and learn how to read them by posting them in here if you have to and have people explain them.

Once you are cured and after SVR  I am sure you will feel like a new person. But for now the meds are going to keep you down so just don't let it get you out.

[Bill1954]

The side effects of treatment often mimic the fatigue one might experience from the disease alone. The only advice I can offer is that you will most likely feel better *after* SVR is achieved. Good luck with your eventual results,

Bill

[mpace6983]

I called my GI's office and spoke with the nurse. She looked in my chart and said that I had an undetectable viral load after week 12.and same on week 24. Im on week 29 now.But the terrible fatigue is just the same as it was when i went to my family MD and was diagnosed whith HCV on 08/08. I think thats one reason the tx. is going as well as it is,Im not feeling any better or worse (as far as the fatigue goes) than I was b4 I started tx. Thats why Im wondering how much my energy level will improve after tx if at all. I guess I shouldn't worry about all that right now. Im just thankful that the tx is working.

[Bill1954]

My observations from here as well as personally would suggest that you will feel less fatigue after you achieve SVR; you have not achieved that yet. SVR is defined as completing treatment with undetectable status, then going 6 months without medications while *remaining* undetectable for virus.

[mpace6983]

Hi Bill, fatigue was my chief complaint when I was diagnosed. What Im wondering is if  the SVR continues,after treatment, can the liver damage that has occured cause fatigue on its own? I also have COPD and that sort of lowers my energy level. Thanx

[Bill1954]

Additionally, many doctors will check viral load at 4, 8 and 12 weeks, and occasionally monthly after that. If you didn’t have a 12 week test, I’d certainly ask my physician why not; this is standard medicine.

Bill

[Bill1954]

Yes, that is very unusual. The 12 week test is part of the standard protocol; a patient that doesn’t achieve a two log-10 reduction in viral load at 12 weeks should not be allowed to continue treatment.

Fatigue is one of the hallmarks of HCV infection; particularly with significant fibrosis. It was the only clue I had that something was wrong, and led to my eventual diagnosis. This should improve considerably if SVR is achieved.

Bill

[mpace6983]

I went back over all my bloodwork (I keep copies of all my tests) My GI did a baseline viral load  bloodtest before I started tx. but he didnt check my viral count again until week 24.  he did bloodwork every 2 weeks for 2 months and after that once a month but he was just checking rbc/hemagloben/ast levels and stuff like that. Is that unusual to not check viral load until week24?

[nygirl7]

I was stage 3 like you so I figured I had to do everything possible before it was cirrhotic. I didn't get a biopsy after treatment to find out if/how much regeneration I had...I wish I had now but back then I just wanted to be done with it all!

So if you were not UND before week 24 with stage 3 fatty liver you really might want to consider the extension...not too much time left and you gotta win the battle on this first attempt as subsequent tx's are harder on your physically and harder to beat the virus.

[mpace6983]

when they did your biopsy did it show any liver damage? if it did do you remember what stage they said it was? thanx and glad your doing well.

[nygirl7]

Your liver can improve and I hope that it does.  Did you just get UND at week 24?  Are you going to extend to week 72? It's a long road but it works (I had to as I didn't get to UND until somewhere between week 12 and 24 myself) but I've been cured over two years.

Eventually your energy level will come back......it just takes a little time to start to get back to normal again.

Have you been monitoring your hemoglobin level to see if you are very anemic?