what's the new drug called and what stage trial is it in?
Alico
5x I feel for you. Have you had the ILB28 gene test.? CC CT TT that could give you an indicator as why after 5x you haven't cleared. Just a thought.
Good luck on your treatment
Don't stress to much. A new drug coming out in about 2 years with no interferon. So far in studies there is a great response. I don't know how many times you have treated before but a lot of us have treated many times. This is my 5th time...just keep on keepin on :)
I believe that you are currently on peg interferon and ribavirin only. If that is the case then you do not need to worry about retreatment. These 2 drugs do not cause drug resistance or mutations. Only the DAA's do that. So if you fail this time you won't have trouble retreating with the new DAA's when they are approved.
dointime
The sweats are very comon on treatment, waking up just absolutely soaked and having sweat pour down your body. I started sleeping on beach towels because it was such a hassle to change the sheets all the time.
psi7977 sounds good, but i wonder what happens on retreatment people.
i am afraid once fail first treatment with peg interferon etc, virus becomes harder to treat and drug resistant.
after the 12th week i have had lots of hot sweats and i am scared its a viral breakthough, and that the virus may have mutated and now become much harder to treat. would alt levels help to pin point a viral breakthough or not?
87% probability if you test CC
67% " " " " CT
29% " " " " TT
http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(10)00841-3/abstract
IL28B gene testing can give you an idea of how probable an SVR is for geno 3 not UND at week 4.
I have cyber friends in the UK and Australia who were week 12 before they got a good SVR. Don't let the numbers discourage you.
Alico,
I don't have the answer to your question but just want to let you know that there are good treatment options coming soon for geno 3's if you don't SVR this time.
dointime
http://hcvadvocate.blogspot.com/
"-- 24 out of 24 subjects with HCV genotype 2 or 3 achieved an SVR after 12 weeks of treatment with PSI-7977 400mg QD and pegylated interferon and ribavirin"
"Pharmasset, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRUS) announced today the final sustained virologic response (SVR) results from its phase 2b PROTON study with PSI-7977 dosed once daily in combination with peginterferon alfa 2a and ribavirin (Peg-IFN/RBV) in subjects with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2 or 3 who have not been treated previously. Twenty four out of twenty four subjects (100%) who completed treatment achieved an SVR, defined as HCV RNA below the limit of detection (<15 IU/ml) 24 weeks after the completion of treatment. No subject exhibited breakthrough on treatment or relapse after treatment."