Hello - new member

Hi Matt,

Sounds like good news that the new treatment is working!  I'm all for following dosage directions though...but I've never been in your shoes.  I'm sure one of the knowledgeable Hep C'ers will be on shortly to help out with your questions.

Welcome to HealingWell,

Jemish,

I can certainly see how you'd be torn...undetectable = good. So, who needs it any more.

But if you read the literature or these pages with some regularity, you will realize Hep C is a killer. The final stages of the disease are horrible and no one wants to go through that. If there was a chance to stave off liver failure it should be a no brainer.

Even if you did need a transplant, those who have succcessfully attained SVR live much longer after transplant with their new liver!

My partner, Mike, had his transplant in 2011. He did not clear before transplant and likely needs to do that now. He hates the thought of the side effects but he has convinced himself to give it a good try.

Let us know how your thinking unfolds. I'd hate to think the Hep C fog and side effects were pushing you to make a decision you would never make if you were feeling GOOD.

Best, Carol

hey matt, your post could have been me 3 months ago.i am also on 3 drug tx with incivek. i have been undetectable since week 3.   i also started to lose my diligence after 6 mos. i took my shot a day late also. i missed a couple doses here and there. then my alt spiked up to 93. my alt was always 22- 25.  i asked my doc for a viral load bloodtest.   while waiting for v/l to comeback, i kept kicking myself for screwing up 9 months of treatment(torture). while writing this i got a email from dr.      after 35 weeks (9 mos), i am still undetectable.  i thought i didnt care either.  waiting for that v/l to come back had me making deals with the man upstairs.         barry

Thank you for the comments! I am on 48 weeks treatment because of the cirrhosis. I did 12 weeks of the Telapravir. In all honesty, I really doubt that I would quit. I think mostly I need, and hopefully have found, a place with people like me. There are no convenient support groups where I live. The people I am able to talk to and whatnot have never felt what it's like to "have the flu" every single day, so to speak. I suppose I would rather have people who have felt like me, and even worse, give encouragement to not stop.

Thanks again!

Jemish (Matt) ... glad to know you aren't quitting!! I've been on treatment (different kinds) 4 times through the years, with no success and was unable to function because of side effects each time, except one (that was a drug study trial of Interleukin and they halted it because they found it could cause Lou Gherig's disease! Dang it - that's the one I felt GOOD on). :)

I spent most my days of treatment in bed and it was AWFUL. The last try was in 2006 but they halted treatment because my blood count went too low. My specialist has recently gone from saying I could try the triple drug therapy to now referring me for transplant evaluation because of decompensation of the liver (esophageal bleed and hepatic encephalopathy) I hovered between compensated cirrhosis and decompensated cirrhosis for a few years, waiting for these new drug therapies.

Achieving undetectable status is a HUGE milestone ... FANTASTIC!! It wasn't as common on the old drug therapies. CONGRATULATIONS. It took me about a year to fully recover from treatment each time. I went from not being able to walk a few yards without throwing up or having to rest, to walking my dog daily with no troubles, and gardening on good days. Right now I'm worse but that's an up and down thing because of the decompensation.

SO GLAD TO KNOW YOU'LL HANG IN THERE ... I do remember the last few weeks hardly being able to give myself the shot. You just get feeling a bit better and your head clears and it's time to do it all again. Hard to go willingly ... but do it! We're all behind you 1000% - you'll find some extremely good support here.


Deb from Canada