New person on the block not sure how it all works

[jenzen]

This coming thursday I see the GI Dr. I know they will want treatment my viral load has tripled in less that 6mo. I feel crapppy and really never read up on all this even though been infected atleast 10yrs. I guess i wanted to kinda of  out of  site out of mind. I did do treatment for at most 2weeks.TOOO sick to work  or take care of my only child who was very little. Notsure if I can afford to do this. I am so symptamatic I knew something was up. Any one know if there is a temporary disability for this? How or does anyone manage to work through this nightmere?  Also I thank God for everyone who participates in support. May all of you feel well and God bless!

[IMstacie]

Hi and welcome.

Regarding working.  Not easy for me, of course, I'm a wimp and hate to be sick.  The first 12 wks were miserable and I missed a lot of work during this period.  After 12 wks it became more tolerable.   On the other hand, my brother never missed a day throughout his entire tx and really only complained about possible emotional feelings once in a while.  

I believe the folks on this forum helped me through the worst period and kept me going.  It would be nice if you could get some help with your child even for just a few months.

Also, some folks do take a disability depending on your type of employment.

[Bill1954]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum. Somehow, we all manage to get through this somehow; even though sometimes it doesn’t work out like we wish it would.

As HCA mentioned, your viral load probably isn’t a significant reason by itself to treat; that decision is generally determined by biopsy, which tells you the amount of damage (fibrosis) sustained.

If you tried treatment previously, but only for two weeks; it might get better as time goes on. Many of us get quite a kick from the first one or two injections; after that, things quiet down for a bit.

Questions for your upcoming appointment can include:

HCV genotype?

Degree of existing fibrosis/inflammation?

Discuss the new protease inhibitor class drugs in trial; would it be worth waiting or them?

How are blood problems managed by the doctor? For instance, anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia?

Duration of treatment?

Others will hopefully chime in with more thoughts; these are a few to digest for now. If you haven’t already, take a look at the following site:

http://janis7hepc.com/

You might begin by opening ‘newly diagnose’ at the top of the page, or by clicking on ‘other HCV information’, in the right-hand margin. This site can give you an excellent overview of basic information about this disease. Another page to review is the HCV acronym page here in Medhelp; it’ll help you understand some of the abbreviations used here:

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Hepatitis/Common-Hepatitis-C-Acronyms/show/3?cid=64

That should be a good start; and continue to ask questions here as well as elsewhere; nothing like information to help you through this.

Best of luck to you—

[HCA]

The fact that you are symptomatic is a good reason for doing the treatment.
The increase in the viral load does not,by itself, mean anything.
Take the treatment one day at a time-dont look at forty eight weeks or whatever,just get yourself through to bed time,cos that's all anyone can do.
Good luck!