Sovaldi, Interferon, & Riba...Now Harvoni

Great dog, Good call on the milk thistle. Old school dragon slaying, milk thistle, was a no no.

My hepa stressed diet and exercise, she wants my immune system strong as possible. Kudos to you, for starting at the beginning of treatment. You've given your self, the best chance for SVR and liver repair
Barry

One more thing, I appreciate your responses and support. Every single one.
Dog

I obey the transplant dietician as to what's all right. My hepatologist(s) say that there is no proof that milk thistle is beneficial for your liver. And no proof that it's bad for your liver.

I stick to less sodium and sugar, along with mostly fish, poultry and green leafy vegs.

Dog, Could you pop into mitzi's thread and comment on the guidelines your doctor gave you regarding water intake with Harvoni? I appreciate this.I have not heard of any increased water with Harvoni, as there was with ribavirin. We learn from each other. Keep us posted. Hope your day is a good one! Big Hugs

themiz,
Apologies...
I must have missed your diet question from a week ago. For 4 years prior to transplant, I cut out salt, ate vegetarian about half the time and mostly stuck to fish and chicken for protein. To get by no salt, I went with spices, mostly hot ones and a lot of citrus, such as lemon and lime for flavor. I used to vacation in the Yucatan back in the 70s and potatoes were served with limons (sort of a lemon/lime fruit) squeezed over them. Really a tasty way to go. Even today, I have lemon and limes in the fridge.

Post transplant: At first I was very careful, but after 6 months I was complaining to my surgeon about having to be careful. He said, "You have a new liver, eat whatever you like." I was still careful for a while, but as with many things (trying to be germ free), once you start to feel normal, much of that goes out the window. I eat a little more healthy than before I was sick, but not by much. My diet has some salt, but I don't shy away from cheeseburgers, fries and occasionally, red meat. Pasta is a favorite of mine. I didn't go through this to live like a monk. So far, my health has been very good. I work setting tile, hard physical labor and have always been skinny, so keeping my weight up allows me to eat like a pig most of the time. Fruit, like apples, oranges and melons are for between/after meal snacks. I don't drink coffee, or any soda. Three quarts of water is my goal every day. I am allowed and do drink a non alcoholic beer with dinner a few times each week.

Hi guys. I hope you are all well and enjoying the cold snap across the eastern coast.
I have failed treatment twice, so I am proactive about anything that can boost my chances of success on my current treatment. I will change my tooth brush and razors on a regular basis and disinfect my nail clippers.
Anything to increase odds of success.
I have been investigating the latest treatments and it appears that Harvoni alone for six months is the best chance of success for a person with cirrhosis.
Clinical trials show that Harvoni and riba for three months has about the same success as six months of Harvoni alone.
I have debated shorter treatment time and side effects vs. longer treatment time and virtually no side effects.
I was on the fence for a while and conclude that I choose Harvoni alone.
For those of you who treat with ribavirin...the side effects of ribavirin with Harvoni or Sovaldi is nothing compared to adding Interferon to those treatments.
The ribavirin just causes one to feel tired and a little depressed. Adding Interferon causes intermittent flu-like symptoms. Anyway, that's what it did to me.
Just my observations. I hope they help.
We're supposed to get snow, then sleet, and end it with rain tomorrow. I hope we get a melt with the rain as I'm pretty much tired of looking at the dirty snow.

thanks for the welcome !!

Barry,

Welcome to the Hep forum. Glad you found us. I almost missed your post. Please start a new post of your own so other's can welcome you and get to know you. Simply click on the "Post New Topic" button and introduce yourself.

Harvoni is new, many are just completing treatment. We do have several folks here that are treating with Harvoni with few side effects. I would love to hear more of your story, how long you have been transplanted and how your life is going since.

I am themiz and my husband, themister, is waiting on the transplant list here in AZ. The hepatologist he last saw at Mayo Clinic told him Harvoni has a high 90 percentile cure rate. I think it is the treatment for you! Themister did interferon/riba twice, GT3a, failed the first treatment, and did obtain SVR the 2nd time.

Please check back in as you go forward with Harvoni, and let us know your experience. I think this is the cure you have waited for. Again, Welcome. Big Hugs

Good luck Barry! I did interferon/ribivirin and have been undetectably for almost 3 years. If only they had the new treatments back then.

"It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It's how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."
- Rocky Balboa

I'm chugging along just starting my third bottle of Harvoni.
Exercising and eating good. Just a little salt and sugar.
For now, I drink two of these a day:
In a blender:
five whole strawberries, two handfuls of blueberries, two cups spinach/kale/arugula/broccoli (single or mixed green ingredient), sixteen ounces almond milk, three tbsp walnut pieces, whole apple or two cups papaya
Start the blender and create smoothie:
add three tbsp flax seed oil, banana, three scoops vanilla protein powder (60 grams protein), three tsp cinnamon, three tsp turmeric
Makes three 14-16 ounce servings
Almost a daily dose of all vitamins and minerals.
I drink two a day. My wife drinks the third for breakfast.
No matter what you put in, it will taste mostly of cinnamon with a hint of heat from the turmeric. Chomp each gulp between your teeth before swallowing for better digestion. Enjoy.
I'm going for a physical next week and will ask my doc for a viral load test along with liver functions.
Have a great weekend everyone. It's spitting a few snowflakes here on the east coast today, so I'm chilling inside instead of outside. Lol

I noticed that I have been here for a year now this month.
I've been through treatment failure and now treating again with Harvoni.
I hope my posts have helped. Yours have certainly helped me.
My liver doc has me on autopilot. No tests until the end of Harvoni treatment and then a viral load six months later.
So I went to my GP last Thursday for a physical. He didn't know what Harvoni was when I mentioned it. Lol.
I gave him a run down of my treatment status and afterwards Labcorp pulled seven vials of blood, so I'm going to have a bunch of info on what's happening inside. And a three to five hundred dollar lab bill. :(
I hope you guys are enjoying spring. I'm heading out to pressure wash then stain the deck.

GC

I had 3 extra does of RIBA at the end. I started taking only 2 per day at the beginning, and forgot a does one night.
MY NP just said keep taking them 3 per does until gone.. Easy enough.

I am sure things will get better soon