Hi RHF,

I guess I was (still am) lucky living in Australia.

Treatment with generics was easy to get the first time round through Dr Freeman. The cost was significant but well affordable.

Later, second time round, the DAA’s were funded by our PBS where we make, at least for anyone on a reasonable wage, a small payment.

Again this situation of having the ‘real stuff’ funded was I think something that came out of an obtainable generic alternative making Gilead think twice about what they charged(?) and our government to see sense and list the DAA’s on our PBS and fund it anyway. I think by that time the rate generics were being prescribed may have convinced our politicians that HCV can be eradicated. Like we did with TB when I was a kid.

Funnily, when I was retreated my specialist re-interated the same thing about the generics being second rate – hence the 1st treatment failure. Don’t you just love to hear that! Our PBS system allows doctors to say most medicines can by substituted with generics anyway. Can’t think why HepC medicines should be any different, but then again I am just a pleb.

I was prescribed much the same thing again (with Riba added) with the belief that where generics failed, the proper pills would work.

It did work second time around…………….. But also because of other reasons I will not mention here. I will say though I am not entirely a dumb pleb.

My experience through all this has been Dr Freeman was on the button through both my treatments and to my mind generics work just as well as the ‘real stuff’.

I am also sure that having the first treatment gave my liver a much needed break and I would have had to wait nearly a year to start on the PBS funded stuff otherwise.

Stigma wise, I think I felt that many years ago and a lot of it wore off over time. I just hope that people reading this forum put aside the social aspects of this illness (and I and probably everyone here could write a small book about that) and just get treated.

And for those about that think having a negative view about other people because they have some illness is okay, then getting a rude shock can be as easy as opening a letter some weeks after trying to donate blood and finding out you have Hep C, D, E, F, G, ………down to Z or something else lurking round and not yet discovered.

Having said all this, I still get it about stigma as you can see with me travelling under the name of Sabrecat. Hope this perceived need will change someday soon.

Yours

Jeff

Hi Gaj,

been busy being cured and all and just come back on the forum for a look and noticed your signature:

SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND!!!

Could not have come across better news – cheers and well done!

Jeff

“Here’s another site using the “Fix Hep C” phrasing. This one is actually for a legitimate purpose, but you’d think they could come up with original wording.”

I googled “fix hep c in 3” and came up with:

1. REDEMPTION-3 – FixHepC
https://fixhepc.com/redemption-3.html
FixHepC REDEMTION eTrials for Hepatitis C patients. Get your subscription and start your treatment. Your results will help other Hepatitis C patients being …

2. Affordable treatment for Hepatitis C is now available for $1600
fixhepc.com/
FixHepC helps patients access affordable generic Hepatitis C treatment and find … who have been documenting their treatment in real time over the last 3 years.
Forum · Buyers Club · How To Do It · Imagine Life Free From …

3. Kunena: So what are the REDEMPTION eTrials? (1/3) – FixHepC
https://fixhepc.com/forum/redemption/203-so-what-are-the-redemption-trials.html
The REDEMPTION-2 and -3 and -4 trials will both feature REAL TIME REPORTING of … Thank-you Tim, Dr Debasis @ MonkMed & Dr Freeman @ Fix HepC.

and then:

4. Fix Hep C in 3 | Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League
http://www.aivl.org.au/fix-hep-c-in-3/

They may be doing people a favour courtesy of google in directing them to this site?

J.

SVR 24’s everywhere!

I am only SVR12 so I have some catching up to do.

Jeff

Re: “Yesterday the Guardian published and article called ‘Miracle’ hepatitis C drugs costing £30k per patient ‘may have no clinical effect”

I didn’t want to harp on too much about this article, but I decided to investigate the Lady Lottery luck theme instead and bought five $2 scratch lottery tickets after seeing the liver clinic today. From today’s efforts I have to report:

a) DAA’s do not appear to positively influence the outcome of lotteries.

The null hypotheses was that DAA’s had a negative affect – but then again, my luck with lotteries is pretty f..ked anyway.

I can also advise that while talking about my blood results with the specialist, it appears my old mate (Mr f….king HCV) has deserted me (is that what UND means?) after some 27 years. “no clinical effect” ??? Please explain??

Yours

Jeff

“But a study by B.C. researchers found the peak of the hepatitis C epidemic occurred about 1950, when many baby boomers were young children, and had plateaued by 1960 — well before the zenith of injection drug use at the end of that decade.”

Unless the Hep C has really fugged up my mind, my earliest memory of being vaccinated at primary school (1960 onwards), was being lined up and stuck with a huge needle that was sterilised over a candle and reused. When this finished we all walked back to class though some got to feeling sick and had to sit down.

I suspect kids that age were not big IV drug users so I don’t imply that Hep C could have been transmitted that way. Maybe those that think people with HCV all brought it on themselves because of some alleged ‘risky’ behaviours, should focus on the real issue – getting everyone cured.

J.

“Please note this: while most HCC expresses AFP and therefore can be detected by an AFP blood test it is possible to have HCC with a normal AFP. Rare but possible. High risk patients with cirrhosis should have 6 monthly screening with U/S (or CT or MRI)”

My AFP was 30 prior to treatment with DAA’s from Oct 2015. It had been up for a long time before that and my GP asked me to get an ultrasound in 2012 which found a golf ball size HCC keeping me quiet company. The HCC developed after 2008 as I had a scan then.

Since DAA’s, the AFP has been down; and since the HCC surgery I have been getting scans each 6 months – U/S and CT in turn.

In my case I think the AFP was a good marker for the HCC, and I always make sure it is included in the blood test referral and ask after. In fact raised AFP was the main reason I sought out generics in late 2015 – my reasoning was that if a raised AFP could indicate either active HCV or a HCC, then rid of the HCV.

I don’t think it is really that simple though, between EOT last time round and subsequent HCV recurrence, the AFP was down. Maybe the liver repaired itself along the way?

Yours

Jeff

Still waiting for 12 weeks EOT second time round – will find out in June, fingers crossed.

Hi all

found this on Youtube:

Apparently Jerry Lewis said the glass was full of juice after Dean Martin died. Dean only really abused the grog in the time before he died.

Been mainly on the wagon since a HCC in 2012 myself, and now find I cannot handle much more then a taste.

J.