TOPIC:

Go Get Em !

zhuk wrote: Thought after reading so many inspiring stories of other's journeys here, I would kick off with my own. I haven't shared much detail about my background before, so sorry for the essay in advance lol

After a fairly excruciating wait of a month since receiving my meds, an auspiscious New Year's day start! Really wanted to get onto the Redemption-2 trial - I can never repay the generosity of those here and the Buyer's Club who made this possible, but hopefully throwing in my contribution to help Dr James might go some small way towards it

A bit of preliminary info on my pre-tx condition. GT1a, 27 years infected, diagnosed 1990 (which would have been the year it was isolated from merely 'non-A/non-B' status) Years I forgot about it/repressed to a certain extent, and had a fairly fatalistic POV. Kind of like the bullet that's out there with your name on it - or not!

During those decades somehow I managed to keep to a F0 score (no idea how heh) but in recent years I've come to suspect that a lot of symptoms might not be caused by other conditions as I'd thought. The sometimes crushing fatigue (hey my 92-yr old mother has more energy a lot of the time lol), joint/muscle pain which might not be completely chronic pain after all, weird abdominal issues with no apparent cause, those irritating & unnerving stinging/congested liver sensations, the grasping for words you're sure you knew once...all those familar symptoms.

Last pre-tx stats:

Ended up with a relatively small VL - 262,000 (no idea what it was until a month ago, so that was a surprise)
ALT - 40 (used to be in the high 50s-60s until I started milk thistle a few years back)
AST - 26
GGT - 13
Bilirubin - 5
Platelets - 411

Prescribed Mesochem sof/dac 12 weeks by Dr J, and its all go from here. Not expecting any issues, although I'm open to the possibility of extra sx purely due to my lower than average weight of 52kg, giving a higher gram per kg effect particularly with the dac, as the doc informed me could be the case. Planning to try and stick it out without any dosage decrease, maybe the bit extra will give a kind of added "insurance"!


So, I'm locked, loaded and ready as I'll ever be for the battle. I reckon the odds are very definitely on my side

I relate to so much you have written and Thankyou for saying it the pains and brain stuff etc
The collective spirit here is really appreciated ty for sharing your personal stuff it's quite similar to mine in many ways and I am sure others so relate too
Onwards and upwards for us now yew!

Wow, thanks everyone for such wonderful words of encouragement and support! I'm really blown away by your replies


Hey I'm with you Enkel - no idea how I lasted this long with the stats I have either...sheer luck of the draw I guess! Particularly years of high stress due to PTSD and other issues which you would think might knock your immune system for six. I never touched alcohol until about 2009 but I'm sure others have also been abstinent and not as lucky...I just count my blessings on that score.

But yeah I'm definitely ready to lay waste to this rotten virus, before it gets a chance to build any head of steam up in the future. Can feel "something" going on in my liver (those movements/twitches I've had before) so obviously things are kicking in. Thanks GAJ re the bilirubin, the reference range (at least according to Hanly Moir heh) is 3-15 so its well in there.

Looking forward to seeing those numbers fall in the coming weeks too! I'm heartened by all your responses guys, and awesome videos cheers 2b and Paul - much appreciated


Edit: Just amended my original post to show the most recent fibroscan score - always been around 3-3.5

HI Zhuk I was wondering whether or not you had begun treatment, what a way to kick off the new year! All the best and happy slaying to you.

Go Zhuk!!!

I wish you a easy and side effect free journey…embrace the ride!!

Cheers for the well wishes Tina & Joan

Hey Zhuk

Well done - Great post, keep on keeping on, we're right behind you

Wishing you the best possible results, bloods look pretty good for an easy ride for you, fingers crossed.

Hey thanks LG

Really appreciate it! Definitely fingers crossed; all I've experienced today is a bit of liver pain and sleepy at times - but not the kind of sleepy as in the fatigue we are used to. Probably my system is just getting a workout atm lol


It will be great to hear how you go on the trial too, awesome that the ball is rolling for you finally (and may this be the turning point for you guys in the UK getting proper access to assistance)

Zhuk,

The twitching in liver area are more with meds?

E

Don't think the twitching is any more than usual enkel, but a bit more of the stinging pain I think. From what I've read here its all par for the course.

Day 3 Zhuk so you should be starting to Rock and Roll on the meds ?

Yes Paul, things are definitely happening - clearly a lot going on in there heh. Getting a bit more liver pain/pressure (as you've said in your posts this seems common to many) and a generalised 'buzzing' sensation in my legs, bit of stomach pain too (but then I had that pre-tx so can't put it down to the meds). Minimal if any headaches as yet (could be due to massive fluid intake lol) but I'm pretty sure my head feels clearer already - which is pretty impressive for only the 3rd day.

Definitely a battle raging I reckon!

Yep there is a Battle going on and your body is the battlefield , it's weird but without the symptoms I wouldn't have thought anything was happening. The sx seem to level out for most people once the initial slaughter ceases

Great descriptions - thanks Zhuk - Keep 'em coming

Will do LG!

Overall there is really very little to speak of yet - just waiting for it to build up in my bloodstream for a better picture. And us both being lightweights, we will get a larger dosage...like I said on another thread, extra "insurance" heh

Ha, you are spot-on there Paul! If we weren't looking for minutiae then you'd probably not notice much. The slight feeling that something has "lifted" in my head isn't my imagination though I'm sure