other's opinions please

[DSCVG]

I have Hep C. Geno type 1, stage 3 w fatty liver. Never overweight.
How long can stage 3 hold?
My impression is this is not that bad - correct?
Past treatment w 3 meds (over last 2-3 years).
Interferon w copegus
Albuferon w copegus
Infergin w copegus
I was told I was a "non responder" each time (but my viral loads DID respond some, to each)
Anyone similar & any info?
Thanks - not a "worrier" but Do want to know realism.

[jmjm530]

Thanks for nice words. Yes, my increased doses of ribavirin (only very early in treatment) were approved by my liver specialist, as was my initial double-dosing, and the extension from 48 to 54 weeks. These are very powerful drugs and important your doctor is always onboard. Don't really have an answer to your first question, but my concern had more to do with the fact that interferon-only based treatment had failed DSCVG three times previously.

All the best,

-- Jim

[mikesimon]

First I want to thank you for pointing out that we should thank Jim and mremeet. That was very instructive. Thank you burned. Mike

[burned74]

First, I think we all need to thank jmjm and mrmeet for all the time they have spent on this forum helping other human beings with hepc. I think that their disagreement and  spirited but civil discussion itself was enlightening.
Back to the original question. Since DSCVG has treated 3 times already with an interferon based product, would treating again with an interferon based product reduce the chances of clearing in the future. In other words, would the virus in his body build up still more resistance to interfereon so that when another drug , (maybe teleprevir alinia or something else) becomes available and he treats with that drug plus interfereon, he will have used his interfereon opportunity already.
Any studies about how long would it take for the virus to revert to its wild form after interferon treatment?

Lastly a question for jmjm. I see where you cleared your own virus by increased doses of riba. Was this treatment approved by your hep doctor? Are the top hepdocs able to give their patiemts something more than the SOC?

[PSP-n-Me]

yawn

[merryBe]

wanted to address your horror story, so sorry to hear, and many similars. the thing I wonder is did you ever stop to consider that maybe the hep was destroying nerves cia the route of your bodies own interferon before tx, and then that neuropathy is a side of diebetes.
I'm convinced no one should even be on tx without monitoring that, but also, something has been causing my brain to go all white spots, and peripheral damage even before discovery or tx of the hep C. Just saying, it can all be cumulative, and yes, I've been bedridden for 5 yrs, so not a fun time.
not saying any of it lightly. But it's kinda hard to know that the virus in it's 30-40th year would not have caused all of that on it's own...because due to one dumber than dirt GP I had to take educated guesses for years to get to diagnosis with no grey cells working on her end...and by the time I did, spleen was also very enlerged cause the body fights to live....just saying....it may be that in early stages one bounces back, but for most we the age where that's not so easy and more damage than we realize has already been done.
Are you hopefully controling blood sugars and reading up on neuropathy, the sudden onset makes me wonder why and if you've had brain scans regarding it all.

[merryBe]

4CGD-  of course I did start the whole idea.......grin...thanks for the comp. though, luvu2
still, it coulda been dorothy's slippers I was referrenceing.......grin...
oh to heck with it....who doesn't say "sig heil" when their life depends on it...and this coming from a jew.......well now pilgrim...how does ya spell dilemnas?



on a more serious note: this is the first time in 10 years any forum has ever shocked me.
with all due respect to PSP.....is that what you are taking dude????? elephant tranquilizer ah hence the handle?

how do any in here help the many while not jeopardizing the infomationally challenged anyway!?!
or, now to disagree with you is to be a puppet.....get real....it's almost like,
I can't imagine any one piece of advice, doctor or otherwise, being the sole source of anyone's treatment choices.
Not in a day and age when a plethora of opinions is at the fingertips.

i've only been in here for a short time, read endlessly, never saw much of anything that wasn't well thought out, never saw but one Lamo still hugging his bottle, and it was't Jim.

still we do live in an age where some will spend more time deciding which latte to buy than what chemo therapy is best. rolleyes....Maybe that's not you, maybe when the verdict was still out on the efficacy your stage and circumstances made you want to wait. Or maybe you just freaked, it's been known to happen!!!

I think fear is a very compelling emotion, and it's one every person that ever came in here and tried to face this disease has had to deal with. we go away, we cry, we come back and we learn more.
that's what it means to face life head on....to not let fear paralyize us.
Sometimes, we don't win those battles, sometimes we run for cover....we saw another guy shot and bleeding...that's what war's do, and like it or not we are in one.
but that doesn't mean the war is over, you still have your own gun, your own mind, and because someone else took some metal doesn't mean you will.

So again, with all due respect cause it's never easy for any of us, but I just can't imagine that anyone can blame one persons examples for their own decison, or fear, or lack of voracity to search out a subject.
Besides which no mitigating circumstances of other life challenged were divulged in the accusayion, like family/finance/etc all of which play in whether we acknowledge that outloud or not.... and where was your actual medical advice????

it almost sounds like "anything wrong in my life is now the fault of one else".
that may not be tthe way you ment it, but as you can see by reactions a lot of people thought you were going there. I hope for your sake we're wrong about this.