That’s wonderful news…….congratulations

There are many many many causes of rash. One that does have an association with HCV is cryoglobulinaemia

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/329255-overview

The rash can look like lots of things but here are lots of examples…

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=cryoglobulinemia+rash&source=lnms&tbm=isch

There will be a cause, we should find it, and if possible fix it.

Steroids for rashes can be like killing a spider with a shotgun – it may well work but it’s not the best tool for the job and there will be collateral damage.

Oops! Wrong category. Didn’t know whether to put it in EOT or VL anyway. Could a mod fix it please?

You’re right, we need a new category….

SVR, which for those that are interested is running at over 90%, in line with what’s expected for patients taking 2 DAAs.

I have no doctor to supervise the treatment, so I am looking for some help in this group.

We can do it online but what we do, when and why is listed on our doctor’s cheat sheet

It would be perfectly reasonable to just take the meds and do an SVR4/12. The suspense might well kill you, but the blood tests don’t impact on SVR.

Should I do a blood test before, during or after the treatment?

You appear to have enough baseline data (assuming you have a liver panel)

A rapid fall in ALT happens over the first week(s) and is quick and cheap.

Should I take the meds before or after meals?

Either is fine. With or without food, morning or night

I eat loads of fruit every day, will that affect treatment?

Almost certainly not, but if you are heading on for being a “fruitarian” you may well be deficient in some essential nutrients. A varied diet on treatment means if a particular food is causing an issue at least you’re not eating it tomorrow!

Hi All,

I’ve been at the ASHM HCV training course all day so have a good alibi!

It was all, as expected in the trash.

I have restored the thread.

That is awesome news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go you And I luv Grumpy Cat

I use it because a friend of mine recommended it. It is 95% ordinary salt contaminated with various bits, including iron oxide (rust) that make it pink.

The kids (girls) like it because…. you guessed it, it’s pink.

It should be fine to use on your food. Fine grinders are best because then you get the yummy salty taste without having to put heaps on (if the crystals don’t dissolve you don’t taste them).

As for headaches I’ve never heard of it, but seems like a harmless experiment to do on yourself.

I await your SHR4 – sustained headache response @ 4 hours post cessation of rocksalt medication

We discussed this privately but <30 mean old machine!

There is not an undetected or detected notation on this (which there is on most of the results)

Use a lab that does <15

The lower limit of detection is about <6 so anything in the range 0-5 will be undetected.

You need a real zero to clear but we can't measure that low, so we over treat by a working safe margin.

With GT1 for example SVR is typically 97% at 12 weeks (depends on your profile) but 99% at 24 weeks. To a government/insurance payer the extra 2% of not worth the extra 100% cost. If we just treated the 3% failures with 2 x the treatment length the cost only goes up 6% so it's a pretty logical decision to do 12 weeks and retreat failures for 106% when you weigh it up against spending 200% in the first instance to get there.

If you are privately paying you might reasonably decide that you would prefer 100:1 odds rather than 33:1 and opt for 24 weeks, but it is overkill for 97% and the last 12 weeks will be going into a body with no HCV.

Not an easy choice but you have to draw the line on treatment duration somewhere.