Dear Hazel hi,
thanks for the welcome and the words of comfort. Your path is also inspirational, wish to be over it myself too, I've lived with the worry of this for so long that it's like a dream, like something impossible, at this point...

I have a slight headache today which might be or might not be linked with the first pill. Or it simply may be out of the fear and excitement surrounding "the start of treatment"
I've agreed with my doc to do monthly blood tests to see how the iron and the liver enzymes will stand. She told me to do the HCV RNA just 12 weeks after treatment not before, but I'm not sure if I will resist the curiosity to check it before....

Lets see, I'll be taking it easy for the moment....
All the best to you too, I will be around here these days, any advice or word of experience from you guys who have been through this, means a lot. Thank you!

Hi KarenB, welcome

Big day when you take the first pill! Geno 1b has great cure rates. Drinking plenty of water and sticking to a routine is the main advice. I had to take iron supplements a couple of times a week as well as iron rich foods, with vit C for a long time, including on treatment.

all the best, let us know how it is going

Hello guys,
after few months of active reading of the forum, I got my generic Harvoni pills through fixhepc and just started pill Number 1 this morning, like 1 hour ago I’ve read so many different things about side-effects or no-side-effects that have probably scared me enough and are creating some placebo at the moment But I try to rely on my doctor’s opinion who told me that no adverse effects are expected

Short background: I’m 40 year old female, probably have this for about 20 years, Gen 1b, no fibrosis, no symptoms, enzymes were in normal ranges all throughout the years, started for the first time to be slightly elevated in the last 6 months, which raised the flag to stop the waiting and look for a solution, which eventually led me to discover this site and the road to the generic pills. I’m utterly happy and thankful for this group, it was bringing comfort, knowledge and reassurance even before I decided to treat.

I have 2 questions at the start of the treatment. I might probably have more along the way
I did a blood count test this week, and apart of slightly elevated enzymes, I have quiet low iron level. My doctor told me that it’s not alarming, to still start Harvoni and try to address the iron with food, not supplements, which is what I aim to do.

My question is: is it known that Harvoni can have any further impact to iron levels or not? I’m just a bit worried, not to have them drop even more. And the other question is: is it OK with the Harvoni pills if I put myself on foods that would be high with iron: lots of greens, juicing in the morning, liver, meats, eggs, etc? What about iron supplements- if it becomes absolutely necessary?

That's for now. Hoping this to go smoothly....
83 more days to go
Best luck and good health to all of you guys!

That's just great Austincr - we'll be looking out for your 12 week SVR. Best of luck with the rest of your treatments.

Congratulations on being undetected Austincr, that's a really excellent sign that you're on your way of reaching cure . Hopefully you'll get Hep A/B under control soon as well

I received my test results the other day the Virus is not detected, I start Hep-A / B tomorrow. Thank you for your support. I have not felt better in 5 to 10 years. Again Thanks

Hi Christoffer, welcome to the forum, and congratulations on starting treatment with Epclusa, it's a really great drug . Regarding the use of Kratom with Epclusa, a previous answer in this thread by Dr James Freeman, FixHepC's founder, states that Kratom should be avoided when treated with Daclatasvir medication, and that "it should be ok, but..." (so maybe best avoided) when treated with Epclusa medication. He also said "I do tell my patients you can’t get problems from drugs you are not taking...". So it's probably wise to avoid it during treatment to eliminate any doubt. It's also worth noting that the patient in this thread also said "I felt so much better after finishing Epclusa I never bothered with kratom again".

I don't know a lot about golf MikeMike ( mostly restricted to a few social games with rum at the 9th hole) but I do know what it's like to finally get the Hep C monkey off my back so I feel your joy and love your enthusiasm.

A few of us hang around to try to encourage others so it's great to have you on board to spread the word. Good luck with the rest of the treatment and we look forward to hearing about the results.

I just started epclusa 3 weeks ago and I started taking kratom a week ago. Has anyone taken kratom during their treatment? Should I stop taking it? Are there anything I should be worried about if I don't stop? Will it decrease the chances of curing it? Any general information would be appreciated, thank you.

Dr. Freeman I am so grateful that if anybody out there has any doubt about the treatment and how easy it is to get it via FIXHEPC please send me a message with any doubts you have and I will answer any questions since I have been through this process as a patient. Also one pointer that was good for me since I am in Dominican Republic and the Postal Service here is terrible I asked you guys to please send it via DHL which you did and that is why it got here so soon cause I could tract the package, if it would have been through our postal service I couldn't have tracked it and also it would have taken a month to get it. So if anybody has any questions I was there where you were andI am very willing to help as a patient.

Now Dr. Freeman now about golf jajajajaj. Now they are saying that for putting you can leave the flagstick in if you want but since I am playing golf since I was 5 years old and habits are very difficult to let go I feel very weird and feel like I am cheating by leaving the flagstick in. So I was with a group that left the flag in but wasn't very comfortable with that. If you are ever in the Dominican Republic please let me know so we can play together we have amazing golf courses. Again thanks for everything and will keep on posting on my journey to SVR.

Thanks Mike for your very nice words, I'm glad that you're on your way to get rid of this dark cloud after 40 long years, that's a very long time. As Dr James mentioned, it's sad that some people still struggle to believe that it's possible to get hold of the treatment and rid themselves of Hep C as well. Really looking forward to hearing news of your cure in a few months. Keep golfing, and would be nice if you give Dr James some pointers

Hello MikeMike,

Thanks for the kind words and congratulations on getting your undetected result after 4 weeks of the treatment. It's great to hear the fatigue has gone and you're playing a bit of golf. Now, speaking of golf...

So should you leave the flag in or take it out when you putt?

The results are in and the science says:

mygolfspy.com/flagstick-in-flagstick-out-2019-new-golf-rules/

Although my brother wrote back:

Yes, the “science” is in and it definitely should help, my problem is in my head, when I leave the flag stick in for short putts I think try to hit between the flag and edge of the hole!

Please keep us posted with updates about how you're getting on. Despite the ~4000 people who've posted over 25,000 messages here a lot of people still struggle to believe it's possible to get hold of the treatment.

Hi Lorraine,

While no medication is 100% safe taking Hep C treatment is much safer than leaving the disease to run its course.

Diabetes and blood pressure treatment is not a contraindication to using Maviret although it is possible that the diabetes or blood pressure tablets he is currently on could interact with the Mavyret.

Drug interactions can be checked here:

www.hep-druginteractions.org/checker

The surgeries don't impact on the treatment.

The best way to ensure your husband continues to have a normal active life through his 60s and 70s is to treat the Hep C. There was a big study looking at 33808 patients in 3 US Health Systems treated with these medications published in the Journal of the American Medical Association just a week or two ago:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen..._lVkf7KAM0WeQhN94aBY

Key Points

Question Are patients with hepatitis C who receive direct-acting antivirals at increased risk for adverse events compared with those who do not receive these agents?

Findings In this cohort study of 33 808 patients in 3 health systems, direct-acting antiviral exposure was associated with lower odds of experiencing the following adverse events: death, multiple organ failure, hepatic decompensation, acute-on-chronic liver event, and arrhythmia.

Meaning Concerns about safety risks based on analyses of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Events Reporting System did not appear to be confirmed, suggesting that dispensed direct-acting antivirals may be safe for patients with hepatitis C

JUst received my 4th week test result with Epclusa treatment for HCV Genotype 1a and I am UNDETECTED!!!!!!!!!!! Had only one symptom which was fatigue and of course a little of brain fog but nothing mayor. The fatigue lasted for about 2 weeks and then I am in week 5 and no fatigue have done exercise and even played some golf yesterday.

This Epclusa is a real life savor and just wanted to write this post to give an amazing shout out to Dr, Freedmanand his team which made this process super easy which a couple of years ago when Generic HCV treatment came out it looked impossible but I just ordered it and it arrive to my country in the Caribbean in less than a week. Also the chat online which no matter at what time I had question they are there 24/7 to help out and always sending articles of facts to support any question I had. You guys are saving lives and I am forever grateful to Dr. Freedman and his team cause I have had HCV for 40 years and now I can not worry all the time about this. I know I still need to be UND after 6 month of end of treatment to achieve SVR but I am sooooooooooo positive about this outcome that just wanted to say thank you to all of you. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THank Youuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, my husband was diagnosed with hep C about a year ago and he is thinking about trying a treatment with Mavyret but he is afraid of possible bad side effects. He is diabetic and has high blood pressure. He will turn 60 this year.

My question is, could Mavyret treatment pose a fatal risk for someone that is diabetic with high blood pressure? As a note, he went under pelvis surgery in 2015 due to a devastating accident, he has screws and plates in it. Also, due to this accident, he had hip replacement last year, on April 2018. He is doing good from both surgeries doing a normal active life but I thought I needed to mention this. Thanks a lot.