Welcome to the discussion Lisa KT.You are indeed a hardened warrior.As someone who is treatment naive I cant even
start to imagine the hell some of you guys have gone through.Hope it works this time.Would it be appropriate to ask
where,or by whom your tx regime was suggested?
DT
It would seem logical if one were to make a change to go for a sof simeprevir regime where you are changing to a NS3A/4A Inhibitor.However,I don’t know of any sources of generic simeprevir.It would be interesting to know if they exist.It is actually on the PBS in australia,but only for use in a combination with peg inf.My specialist told me he had a heap of inmates on the local prison on this combo,because none of them had any money to afford generics.
I actually discussed with my specialist at the start of tx a combination of Sof led sim in order to eliminate riba,which at the time I had a great fear of after reading just too many reports on various forums..He said he had one wealthy patient on this combo who had very advanced cirrhosis.But the patient had accessed the sof led as generics and paid $25000 himself for the 12wk course of simeprevir.
His advice to me was to take sof dac riba for 12wks and if I couldn’t handle the riba just to drop it and go buy an extra 12wks of sof dac,
As it has turned out the reports on riba in my case were totally exagerated.I wouldn’t describe it as a party drug,but the side effects have proved to be very minimal.I still manage a circuit of the local mountain bike track every morning and my times are much the same.

Here is an interesting excerpt from the factsheet put out by Hepatitis Queensland
that may be of interest for those waiting for hep cures to be on the PBS.

“How long until these new
medications are free in Australia?
Based on current information, it is unlikely that the
government will fund these new medications before
February 2016. Some news sources have reported
that this could be pushed back to mid-2016”

Get your meds now and live!

Thanks for the support emelio.I think there are quite a number on this forum wks into various tx;s who will be in a quandary when the 12wks runs out.It’s like you are dragging around a ball and chain for 12 wks and at the end a guy hands you a revolver with 20 chambers and shows the key to the ball and chain.He waves the key and tells you that only one chamber has a bullet in it.Put that to your head and pull the trigger,You have a 95% chance of surviving.If you survive you get the key.You are just about to pull the trigger,and he says” wait a minute”.”Wear that ball and chain for another 12wks and I can almost guarentee that the gun won’t be loaded.
What do you do?I’d go for the extra 12 wks coward that I am,.but I’d really like to know the best way to do it,based on the best known evidence..I’ve just paid a vet $2400 to fix my cats broken leg.Friends think I am crazy,but my cat is my 2nd best friend,.sometimes even my 1st best friend.Whats an extra $2000 to save my life.If only I could be sure.But we have such a great opportunity with these generics at affordable prices,that others who are confronted with the full prices don’t have.

Thx crazy 8.This interesting summary is what I have always been led to believe.It does not,however,explain Hamiltons tx regime..
a.Why. if he is taking sof led for 24 wks he needs to take any riba at all.
b,Why if he takes sof led riba for 12wks he needs to continue any tx.Given of course he achieves svr.
In the Graham Foster you-tube video “which DAA regime needs to add riba” he proposes that if any cirrhosis
is suspected riba should be added.However,I have presumed he talking about a 12wk tx regime.

The thing I am curious about in Hamiltons tx is this.Normally with his profile he would have the option of 12wks sof led riba or 24wks sof led.
The first option would be the one he would normally be steered to because the discomfort he might experience on 12 wks el cheepo riba is considered less than the discomfort of someone parting out an extra $100,000 for him to go on a 24 wk sof led regime without the riba.The question I have is that after 12wks sof led riba,is there an advantage in continuing with another 12wks sof led on its own without the riba .If any kind of resistance has appeared would the extra 12wks of sof led on its own make any difference.However,in this case he is presumably paying for his own tx so costs don’t enter into the equation.I can’t find any answers to this in the literature available.Maybe there just isn’t the data out there at the moment to answer this question.Maybe we could invite Dr Freeman to venture an opinion,although etiquette may prevent him commenting on another medicos advice.

dointime

” I think that UK people have to travel to OZ to pick up their meds via the buyers club these days?”

Why would you have to come all the way to Oz to get your meds?.I mean we would love to have you here spending your money,but some very cheap fares London-Delhi,London-Chennai,London-mumbai and other variations are often available.30 day visa on arrival is now available at major airports,India is full of very highly qualified hepatologists often with a string of English degrees.See the Taj,ride a camel in Rajasthan,,visit the Dalai Lama in Mcleod Gange and go back with your meds at a fraction of the cost of travelling to Australia.

Sorry London Girl,I made a typo,I’m actually only 5’9″

I am 1b,treatment naive,vl off the scale,enzymes not far above top of normal range,positive for, as far as I can quess ,38yrs ,fibroscan 14.1.fibrosis unknown but assumed to be f3/f4.no sign of cirrohsis when ultrasound done 3yrs ago . when I was told to wait,but probably there now.3 wks into tx with no side effects worth mentioning,and feeling better than I have for donks.I can really feel this stuff killing off the virus day by day.Cant wait to see what the 4wk test results produce.