Aa
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
I'll get the bad and the ugly out of the way. It's baaaack after 76 weeks of tx. On my 1 month post tx heptamax, my VL is a low 987 and my ALT and AST are normal. I'm not sure of what to make of this. When I relapsed after the first round of tx, my VL, AST, and ALT doubled. I have another VL scheduled in 3 weeks. I'm hoping to pull off a NYGirl. :)
Please don't let this discourage anyone, because I have about all of the negative predictors for SVR. I have no regrets and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to treat. I had a very easy treatment except for anemia and no post sx. I feel absolutely great, except for when I received my heptimax fax. That sucked!
The good:
My labs are bouncing back nicely. My platelets due to cirrhosis are up to 110,000, they were 99,000 pre-tx. I was borderline diabetic before treatment. During treatment, I had to take oral meds to control my glucose. Within 1 month, I'm no longer on meds and my glucose is normal. On my labs, during treatment, I had 15 things out of range and 1 month post, I have 8, and every one has moved in the right direction. Even my bilirubin moved into the normal range.
ON TREATMENT 1 MONTH POST
Platelets 63,000 110,000
Nuetrophils 864 2,250
Hemoglobin 10.8 12.6
WBC 1.8 4.1
NYGirl, what were your numbers when you thought that you relapsed?
Would I treat again? Hell yeah, they say 3 times the charm. I wanted to restart now and my wife said she would divorce me. Now that's food for thought!
Please don't let this discourage anyone, because I have about all of the negative predictors for SVR. I have no regrets and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to treat. I had a very easy treatment except for anemia and no post sx. I feel absolutely great, except for when I received my heptimax fax. That sucked!
The good:
My labs are bouncing back nicely. My platelets due to cirrhosis are up to 110,000, they were 99,000 pre-tx. I was borderline diabetic before treatment. During treatment, I had to take oral meds to control my glucose. Within 1 month, I'm no longer on meds and my glucose is normal. On my labs, during treatment, I had 15 things out of range and 1 month post, I have 8, and every one has moved in the right direction. Even my bilirubin moved into the normal range.
ON TREATMENT 1 MONTH POST
Platelets 63,000 110,000
Nuetrophils 864 2,250
Hemoglobin 10.8 12.6
WBC 1.8 4.1
NYGirl, what were your numbers when you thought that you relapsed?
Would I treat again? Hell yeah, they say 3 times the charm. I wanted to restart now and my wife said she would divorce me. Now that's food for thought!
Just to clarify, I mean to add the test to the blood draw you already had taken -- not to any future blood draws.
Bill,
Just another thought.
If the lab still has enough viable blood which they often save for a period of time -- have your doctor add another test to the order. Specifically, Quest's "HCV RNA QUALITATIVE TMA". or sometimes written as " HCV RNA QUAL TMA". This particular test will probably be run in a different lab -- Nichols Institute in Curpertino California -- and is strictly a qualitative TMA with a sensitivity of 5 IU/ml. This is the test I have used post treatment and anecdotally have heard it may have fewer false positives. I wouldn't do this test instead of another Heptimax in 4 weeks, but in addition to.
I also would be curious what your doctor means by "subsequent measures", but I have a feeling he may not have meant "measures* but something more akin to post treatment dynamics. In any event, I still think little to lose by taking one or two doses (or half doses) of Peg, but easy for me to say because it ain't my belly it's going into to :)
All the best,
-- Jim
Just another thought.
If the lab still has enough viable blood which they often save for a period of time -- have your doctor add another test to the order. Specifically, Quest's "HCV RNA QUALITATIVE TMA". or sometimes written as " HCV RNA QUAL TMA". This particular test will probably be run in a different lab -- Nichols Institute in Curpertino California -- and is strictly a qualitative TMA with a sensitivity of 5 IU/ml. This is the test I have used post treatment and anecdotally have heard it may have fewer false positives. I wouldn't do this test instead of another Heptimax in 4 weeks, but in addition to.
I also would be curious what your doctor means by "subsequent measures", but I have a feeling he may not have meant "measures* but something more akin to post treatment dynamics. In any event, I still think little to lose by taking one or two doses (or half doses) of Peg, but easy for me to say because it ain't my belly it's going into to :)
All the best,
-- Jim
There is a ray of hope. This is my email to my doctor and his response:
I just got my 1 month post-tx heptimax results and the VL is 987. Is there any other explanation other than the dreaded relapse. The reason that I'm asking is that the last time that I relapsed, my VL tripled and my ALT and AST doubled. This time my AST and ALT went down. There is a person that did 72 weeks on a HCV website that had something similar to this. She was re-tested a few months later was UND. Is it possible that she had a false positive or her own immunity kicked in and eliminated the virus?
How would you interpret my Viral Load? Would it be worth while to hit the virus with a half dose of Peg before it gets another foothold?
Doctor's response:
I have seen several cases where a low viral load after stopping treatment goes away with subsequent measures. Probably the immune system kicking in. I think there is still room for hope here. I can't see how a bit more interferon will make a difference, quite honestly.
subsequent measures?
I just got my 1 month post-tx heptimax results and the VL is 987. Is there any other explanation other than the dreaded relapse. The reason that I'm asking is that the last time that I relapsed, my VL tripled and my ALT and AST doubled. This time my AST and ALT went down. There is a person that did 72 weeks on a HCV website that had something similar to this. She was re-tested a few months later was UND. Is it possible that she had a false positive or her own immunity kicked in and eliminated the virus?
How would you interpret my Viral Load? Would it be worth while to hit the virus with a half dose of Peg before it gets another foothold?
Doctor's response:
I have seen several cases where a low viral load after stopping treatment goes away with subsequent measures. Probably the immune system kicking in. I think there is still room for hope here. I can't see how a bit more interferon will make a difference, quite honestly.
subsequent measures?
Thanks everyone!
Jim, I did send my doc an email about adding some peg.
FLGuy, My glucose shot up to 500 soon after starting tx. To get it under control, I was taking 1000mg of glucafage in the morning and night and then they added 4mg of avandia. I'm pretty in tune with my body and can tell when glucose was low or high. I monitored it myself and the A1C confirmed it. I did 72 weeks at full dose and tapered off tx from 72 to 76. I can tell when the glucose was below 85, and that started about week 76. My doc had me drop 1000mg glucafage and avandia. By 3 weeks post, I was off everything. A1C is the average over 3 months. Crazy huh?
Lilla, every doctor has their own ways. If you want to know, tell your doc that you would like to know sooner. A lot of docs now believe that 3 months post is as good as 6 months. ALT and AST are not great indicators as you can see in my case, but they were the 1st. time that I relapsed.
Jim, I did send my doc an email about adding some peg.
FLGuy, My glucose shot up to 500 soon after starting tx. To get it under control, I was taking 1000mg of glucafage in the morning and night and then they added 4mg of avandia. I'm pretty in tune with my body and can tell when glucose was low or high. I monitored it myself and the A1C confirmed it. I did 72 weeks at full dose and tapered off tx from 72 to 76. I can tell when the glucose was below 85, and that started about week 76. My doc had me drop 1000mg glucafage and avandia. By 3 weeks post, I was off everything. A1C is the average over 3 months. Crazy huh?
Lilla, every doctor has their own ways. If you want to know, tell your doc that you would like to know sooner. A lot of docs now believe that 3 months post is as good as 6 months. ALT and AST are not great indicators as you can see in my case, but they were the 1st. time that I relapsed.
so sorry to hear of this, but you do sound like a person who likes to focus on the positive, and I'm sure that'll get you through till you find some better answers for yourself...it does seem like you benefited from the drugs, so glad about that! be well!
Ive had HCV for a very long time. For aout 20 years my SGOT and SGPT startted off in the thousands then after years hundreds then double the normal. The past 3 years they have been normal
so go figure. My VL is 8 mil and Im 2/2.
I wonder why now they are normal too.
Regards
Just doesnt make sense.
so go figure. My VL is 8 mil and Im 2/2.
I wonder why now they are normal too.
Regards
Just doesnt make sense.
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