looking for advice on Hep C with Lupus

Hi necee,
I have MS, also a auto immune disease, as is lupus. I also had hep c.. I had both diseases since the 60s. I never had such a conflict, over which gets treated 1st. At times I was treated for both simultaneously..

Hep c is easily curable in as little as 3 months. Hep c also progresses very slowly, taking decades before it becomes serious,..And all hep c treatments are very expensive.. so insurance networks only treat the sickest 1st..

I know very little about lupus, but assume it is more aggressive initially and requires treatment sooner.

I would think your insurance network could be liable. They need to prioritize your treatments, and start soon.. Push the liability issue, and contact your dept of managed healthcare.. you do have special circumstances.

So sorry you have to deal with this. Let us know how things workout..

NECEE, what type of dr is attempting to treat your hepC?

this sounds very familiar..if you have at least stage 3 liver fibrosis, your dr needs to appeal the networks decision. it may take a few refusals, but you will get it done. we ran into this problem, many times, when the new hep c drugs came out.

I would also ask your GI to include in his appeal, your special circumstances.

When I was treating my hep c. my GI kept in touch with my neurologist. they were both aware of all maintenance meds I was RXed.

I did the interferon and riba treatment 3 times, for a year each time. It was hell. It never worked but it helped, as you said.. I had early cirrhosis when I was cured.. my liver regenerated enough to be normal again..

your 1 million number, I assume is your viral load.. its not that high.. I had 22 million viral load when I started my last treatment. I was undetectable in 3 weeks.. from 22 million to zero..