Hi.

Just a quick update. I had my blood test for end of treatment viral load about 4 weeks ago but testing for covid 19 has been the priority for labs recently. Unsure as to how long it will take for the results but Ill post them when they appear.

Hope everyone is well and happy.

Take care

g

Rather than abandoning the idea, perhaps you should have a consultation with Dr. James with the most recent information you have.

I don't know this for sure, but Dr. James might have some insights with regard to testing.

No one should have right to deny you testing or treatment for a life threatening infection. Hep C kills. It kills us slowly, taking our lives and wellness from us bit by bit, day by day until we find ourselves at the precipice unable to live in denial, and unwilling to live with further physical, emotional, and mental decline.

I've been there, and I don't think I'm out of bounds in surmising that is exactly where you are today.

Unless you are resigned to dying from this disease, I wouldn't turn my back on treatment so quickly.

Don't give up!

Hello Dr James. I decided that before I spoke to you I would arrange for the various tests to be conducted first so that I would have all of the information needed. You may know that here in the U.K we have a two tier health service, the NHS and a number of private health providers. Because I am adamant that I will not have any involvement from the NHS in pursuit of treatment via this site I approached a number of private healthcare providers looking to happily pay for all of the tests required. I have found,to my dismay that this is not possible as every organisation I approached insisted that in order for me to give them money for their services I have to produce a letter from either my G.P or my current specialist. I know without asking that my specialist will not supply such a letter ( he refuses to see or talk to me following an exchange between the two of us), and my G.P. has formally refused to do so as I am, in his own words, actively upsetting the applecart. So no letter means no tests in the U.K.
I am of course aware that it would be impossible/impractical to embark on any course of treatment in these circumstances so I have no option but to abandon the idea.
I will take this opportunity to thank you for your involvement in my case and wish you well.

Thanks for the kind words, dointime

As for your PM's treatment, that's just my theory. Could well be wrong.

I also suspect the US President, Vice President, and not a few of the cabinet are on prophylactic HCQ, and maybe other things. But once again, that's just conjecture on my part.

Anything besides Remdesivir( with which our media in the US is currently infatuated - because Pharma $$$), is being hyper politicized. A shame, really.

I'm grateful we have Dr. James in our corner, the opportunity to learn about promising new treatments, and to carry on a frank and productive discussion here . What a wonderful thing!

Be well my friend!

Hi KarenB,

That is wonderful news and thanks so much for sharing. Our personal stories can sometimes help others who may be nervous and unsure to consider treatment. Wishing you your best Hep C free life.

Coral

Sorry to hear things are so rough in the UK. Here, they're actually getting pretty good results with HCQ.

And yes the political media WAS reporting that, and all manner of other nonsense, all the time, but that's long debunked as it turns out one of the blind funds he's invested in owns a $1,000 share of a company that produces the stuff.

Meanwhile Gilead is running commercials non-stop on the same outlets that 'broke' the now debunked story, so use your imagination as to the motivation for the dangerously flawed reporting.

We are also getting real news from a Stanford University study which found the actual rate of infection is between 50 to 85 times the numbers being reported. Because many don't show symptoms, have no idea they've had the virus and widespread serological antibody testing is only now being rolled out, there is discussion that once all is said and done the actual mortality rate will prove to be much LOWER that current models predict, by orders of magnitude.

Common sense tells me that at the truly unprecedented rate this spreads, it's already washed through large segments of the population, and while the mortality rates are no less alarming, they represent only a tiny fraction of those already exposed, infected, who are or were asymptomatic, and are now (or soon to be) immune.

If I'm right, we're already closing in on a level of 'herd immunity'. If not, it'll be a rough ride for some time to come.

Either way, finding effective treatments for those who do get sick is imperative, and I'm really relieved Dr. James is leading the way on this.

Probably a good idea to take a look at the papers Dr. James posted with regard to Indomethacin, as well. As the drug is used for arthritis (with which I have a history thanks to Hep C - hip replacements, spinal stenosis), obtaining a prescription though an online physician wasn't a problem.

Not taking it currently, but now have a supply available for myself and my wife "just in case".

From Dr. James letter it looks like Sof/Dac rather than Daclatasvir alone was used by the Iranians to cure SARS-CoV2 (Covid 19).

Have no idea what the going price is, but if I came down with Covid 19 symptoms again, having already tolerated generic DAA's well during my Hep C treatment in 2016, I would most likely not hesitate to do so again.

Hi folks. I wanted to share that I just received today my 6 months after end of treatment HCV RNA results (took 3 months generic harvoni treatment from fixhepc) and they are..... NEGATIVE!
My ast/alt numbers stayed nice and low since week 4 of treatment till now. I did a fibroscan which is showing what seems to be a very healthy liver (i was always 0-1 in the fibroscan tests, but the value was improving in the last few years, with the last one done now, 6 months after treatment, being the lowest number ever, showing no liver damage at all)

I hope that this means to have the hcv chapter closed but, of course, never forgoten. I learned so much through this battle. Want to appreciate this site and the people that work here, and wish best of luck and health to all forum users.

I didn't come up with this, but I wish I had.

From "H2" an otherwise anonymous poster in Yahoo comments:
The Rules:

1. Basically, you can't leave the house for any reason, but if you have to, then you can.

2. Masks are useless, but maybe you have to wear one, it can save you, it is useless, but maybe it is mandatory as well.

3. Stores are closed, except those that are open.

4. You should not go to hospitals unless you have to go there. Same applies to doctors, you should only go there in case of emergency, provided you are not too sick.

5. This virus is deadly but still not too scary, except that sometimes it actually leads to a global disaster.

6. Gloves won't help, but they can still help.

7. Everyone needs to stay HOME, but it's important to GO OUT.

8. There is no shortage of groceries in the supermarket, but there are many things missing when you go there in the evening, but not in the morning. Sometimes.

9. The virus has no effect on children except those it affects.

10. Animals are not affected, but there is still a cat that tested positive in Belgium in February when no one had been tested, plus a few tigers here and there…

11. You will have many symptoms when you are sick, but you can also get sick without symptoms, have symptoms without being sick, or be contagious without having symptoms. Oh, my..

12. In order not to get sick, you have to eat well and exercise, but eat whatever you have on hand and it's better not to go out, well, but no…

13. It's better to get some fresh air, but you get looked at very wrong when you get some fresh air, and most importantly, you don't go to parks or walk. But don’t sit down, except that you can do that now if you are old, but not for too long or if you are pregnant (but not too old).

14. You can't go to retirement homes, but you have to take care of the elderly and bring food and medication.

15. If you are sick, you can't go out, but you can go to the pharmacy.

16. You can get restaurant food delivered to the house, which may have been prepared by people who didn't wear masks or gloves. But you have to have your groceries decontaminated outside for 3 hours. Pizza too?

17. Every disturbing article or disturbing interview starts with " I don't want to trigger panic, but…"

18. You can't see your older mother or grandmother, but you can take a taxi and meet an older taxi driver.

19. You can walk around with a friend but not with your family if they don't live under the same roof.

20. You are safe if you maintain the appropriate social distance, but you can’t go out with friends or strangers at the safe social distance.

21. The virus remains active on different surfaces for two hours, no, four, no, six, no, we didn't say hours, maybe days? But it takes a damp environment. Oh no, not necessarily.

22. The virus stays in the air - well no, or yes, maybe, especially in a closed room, in one hour a sick person can infect ten, so if it falls, all our children were already infected at school before it was closed. But remember, if you stay at the recommended social distance, however in certain circumstances you should maintain a greater distance, which, studies show, the virus can travel further, maybe.

23. We count the number of deaths but we don't know how many people are infected as we have only tested so far those who were "almost dead" to find out if that's what they will die of…

24. We have no treatment, except that there may be one that apparently is not dangerous unless you take too much (which is the case with all medications).

25. We should stay locked up until the virus disappears, but it will only disappear if we achieve collective immunity, so when it circulates… but we must no longer be locked up for that?

Thank you Dr. James. It has been a long time

I rather suspected you might be out at the tip of the spear with regard to research.

Had not heard anything about Indomethacin as a treatment for Covid 19, so this is very exciting.

Was down with Covid 19 symptoms about 5 weeks ago after a pre-Mardi Gras trip to New Orleans.
Here they were only testing if symptoms were severe enough to warrant hospitalization. My symptoms weren't pleasant, but fortunately resolved on their own. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for anyone else, but I dealt with the symptoms with 800 mg of Ibuprofen every 4 -6 hours to deal the severe body aches, general inflammation, and fever. I also used an Ventolin HFA inhaler (left over from a bout with pneumonia a couple of years ago) when it felt like I wasn't getting quite enough air.

About 10 days in, I sought out and found Cinchona tablets, and some rather powerful low sugar high quinine tonic water, and perhaps it was placebo effect, but I began to feel better within a very short time after starting the Cinchona and tonic combination.

Thanks once again for the fantastic information, and for taking the time to respond at length. I'll print out the papers and make sure my GP gets them!

Thanks also for saving my life. You're one of a kind, and the world is lucky to have you!

Warm regards,

Fitz

Just wondering if anyone is looking at Chlorcyclizine as a possible treatment for Covid 19.

I have been Hep C free now for over 5 years thanks to Mr Jefferys. His advice to purchase Ledipasvir $1050 + Sofosbuvir $1250 from a compounding chemist and it did the trick. Unfortunately a few months later it was placed on the PBS and i could of received treatment for free....eh.
The Hep C may be gone but the cirrhosis is still there with constant abdo pains and now im retaining water in my legs. If that wasn't bad enough i now have peripheral neuropathy effecting my feet and slowly moving to my fingers. The experts have ruled out my heart and kidneys being the cause leaving my cirrhotic liver the remaining probable cause.
So the Hep C maybe gone but its effects remain.

Trust in the statistics Cherr1985. Chances are it's just onward and upward for you now.

Best wishes

James

There are quite a number of options, and to a degree they are all "suck it and see" in that some work great for some patients and not so great for others.

The full list is here: www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/p...eatment/drc-20354081

We would usually start with methotrexate but that might not be the best idea in you. As you can see there are stacks of options and it's really something best managed by a rheumatologist. Not only do they have expert skills in this area they are also allowed to use stuff GPs are not.

Hi Joy2world, you can be 97% certain that the medication is doing its job, that's the cure rate for Mavyret. In your case since you don't have severe liver damage, that certainty is almost 100%. The tests done during treatment are not essential, the only important test is done 12 weeks after finishing treatment. Of course it would be nice to learn that you're responding well to the medication during treatment, but if that's not possible due to the current circumstances, don't sweat it.