From that article:

“Researchers in Australia, where patients can legally import a three-month supply of treatment, studied the efficacy of imported generic antivirals in 419 patients with hepatitis C infection.

Their interim results show that the virus was undetectable in 98% of patients at the end of treatment, and in 96% of patients four weeks after stopping treatment”.

Sounds like 402 soles are on their way to being cured. Gilead’s profits are only money; 400 hundred lives are priceless.

J.

Let’s not forget the medicos who underwent so much training in their profession on the way though, almost like some ‘rites of passage’ thing as Residents in hospitals, catching every disease known to man from patients coughing and wheezing along the way, seeing things we would not want to see, just to reach a ‘pinnacle’ of their chose speciality within their profession; And then having to prescribe that stuff – and watching it not work a lot of the time.

Hope the new DAA’s make it a distant memory for everyone that can be assigned to the dustbin ASAP.

Jeff

I have somewhat fond memories of using Interferon first time round. I was practice teaching at that time (change in career thing that never really went ahead long term). All very odd for me injecting this stuff into my self around my belly.

Main side effect was feeling like I had a hangover. Not a bad thing as I had well practiced this in my earlier youthful days anyway. The main problem was my appearance as being that of a man sweating like a pig in front of primary aged school kids. Continued this for a number of weeks until the medicos discovered it did not make any difference to the virus at all, so I quit.

The combination stuff was quite different to say the least. Side effects that much I very soon wondered if I could keep holding down a job! I DO NOT have fond memories of that stuff at all. Found I could not cope, and quit – for better or worse.

Mike, you being a teacher of things past, you may try to think this is combo stuff as (hopefully now was) probably the modern day chemical equivalent of medical practices during the American Civil War.

Yours

Jeff

P.S. They also tried me out on these Chinese herbal pills. They had a rather nice coating and were the size of a marble. The trick was to suck on them only just long enough to still have some coating to insulate your taste buds from the inner bits that both looked and tasted like dried dog shit. Taking them also turned my own shit into little pebbles as well. Eventually they found this made no difference and the medicos swiped what was left so I had to buy Mentos as a sugar hit replacement. I will be forever grateful to Hep C for giving me the opportunity to experience all this.

Hi Poodle,

my first posts were a stumbling way of asking for more information. I could not (read: am not smart enough) get too good an idea of ‘who was who’ among it all. For example how many were using ***, and of them how many those using *** did 12 vs 24 weeks, and who of them had a resection…., and how long ago….

And along the lines of what you say – this population compared to who? Maybe everyone else who previously had a HCC associated with the 4 hospitals (and who did not use DAAs) fared not too well either.

I expect that given the small numbers that would come out digging down that way, any results would not be really meaningful.

For me, it just raises alarm bells that are already well used anyway.

The way it is titled grabs some attention as well. I wonder what it might do to Gilead’s share price if someone in the the USA publishes these findings using a similar title?

Yours

Jeff

Hi Price and Gaj,

OOPS, my comments about Ribavirin may have more reflected my reaction to having to these findings raining on my parade then considered comment; though I do not have fond memories of Ribavirin at all…

On the issue of AFP’s, these were the straw that helped send me onto treatment. Mine were always up with the specialist saying it was normal with chronic infection, but also noting that one time it also found a HCC. On treatment they went down for what it is worth.

One positive is that when they cry wolf again it may mean something and I can be worried then, rather then having maybes always in the back of my mind. Hearing your AFP’s are down is good news Gaj.

Having Hep C and getting treatment for it feels like being on the pointy end of something – probably a needle when having bloods taken don’t you think?

Yours

Jeff

Yep,

some of us live between a rock and a hard place.

My understanding is that major (not all) risk factors of HCC recurrence were (still are) chronic HCV infection, fatty liver, and the amount of scaring. Hence the idea of being virus free.

I started to lose weight some 11 months before the DAA’s with a belief that the liver’s ‘fattiness’ may in some ways reflect the rest of the body’s ‘fatty’ state. Feeling shit with chronic HCV and the attendant lethargy of course does not help with trying to exercise; so black mark against HCV.

Can’t change the amount of scaring – but not having HCV may change the situation to where it isn’t getting worse.

Chronic HCV – well along came the DAA’s.

Of course now there is more than one rock and one hard place: DAA’s and possible HCC recurrence vs HCV leading to uncompensated cirrhosis and liver failure (and maybe HCC recurrence).

I don’t think there are right and wrong answers for all this, and one thing I know is that for different people there will be different answers, and for just one person like me there will be different answers as well.

Moral for those finding out they are HCV positive early in the piece, consider doing something early – though this may be proved to be wrong in the future.

Maybe titrating the DAA’s up and done starting and ending treatment??

Yours

Jeff

Hi,

decided to revive this thread now I am EOT.

Milk Thistle was my favourite placebo before DAA’s but I went off them to be every thing free (barring B12 and Vitamin D + a bot of folic acid).

Now at EOT, how long before I can start having Milk Thistle again, and any new views as to whether it is worth it?

Jeff

Hi Dr Freeman,

saw your post in another thread about checking AFP’s monthly and having scans if any concerns – and thanks for this.

Did notice in the Journal of Hepatology (2016), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2016.04.008 article, that Ribavirin ran a mention in the text as well as the following table of baseline details. The text bit relates to Meissner talking about Ribavirin having some affect on immune cancer control. I also note that in the baseline characteristics, use of Ribavirin was 82%, and the treatment duration was 76% in favour of 12 weeks vs 24.

Of course, seeing my profile and treatment it is easy to see why I would be thinking this way, but aside from this my mind goes back to an ex-partner warding me off the combination Interferon and Ribavirin so many years ago – likened to giving a dog arsenic to treat heart worm was what she said. The first time round with Interferon was not so bad.

I do remember the distinct change in feelings and energy in the first weeks of starting Sof/Dac and then EOT. My question is whether the presenter gave any indication that trying to beat the virus up too quick (12 weeks with Ribavirin) may be asking too much of the old liver?

Otherwise, off to have bloods done and nothing about Hep C surprises me any more.

Yours

Jeff