Mine was 16.5 million when I started tx, undie after 4 weeks. The only time it matters is when you are on tx. It really doesn't correlate to amt of liver damage--- people with low viral loads can have huge damage and vice versa. What else besides viral load are you doing to monitor (e.g. bioposy, AST, ALT-- liver panel, sonogram?)

I do all the eblood tests, all normal except AST, ALT, which are always slightly elevated. I had a sonogram and will get another in a few months, but I think it doesn' t show anything until it gets very bad. Dr. wants a biopsy, but I'm wary.

The bioposy is the definitive test, for me it was no big deal at all-- the doc numbed it locally, waited 60 seconds, was in and out in another 60 seconds. I had to lie there on my side a couple of hours, took a tylenol, and went to work. My sono was completely normal, but my bioposy was stage 3/4, so you are right about the sono not showing much.

Brigid, my heart goes out to you. I'm quite aware of how depressing this news can be, devastating. When it happened to me I started to feel as if something is happening to me and it doesn't matter what I do.

When I did the vitamin C IV's my VL and liver enzymes moved in opposite directions. Alt and Ast improved but viral load went from 1.8 to 5 million. After the initial devastation I began to think that what was happening was that the load represented the homeless. That the therapy was preventing them from getting back into their homes, the liver cells, so they were homeless on the streets, ie, the veins. Remember, they take a teaspoon of blood out of your arm, not from your liver.

I couldn't keep doing the IV's they were too expensive, so I tried MMS which kills viruses in the blood, by traveling with the red blood cells. My VL went down to 3 mil. I kept doing it and tested again. My VL came back at 33 mil. The ND was using it to try to get me back on the treatments I couldn't afford. I retested a week later and it came back at 3.3 mil. The MMS got to be awful for me, and as I thought about the antidote for MMS overdose being Vitamin C, and the nutritional IV's being Vitamin C, I knew what I was going to do next: Vitamin C. I titrated to find my dose, which was 40 grams a day, spread throughout the day. I took it every day for a couple years, my titration amount went down to 20 grams, and my VL load went up to 6 mil from the stress and frustration, but I persevered, and then my VL went down to 2.2 million. PLUS the liver enzymes, which were raising again, began to lower and were around 2 times normal instead of 6 times normal. After that I quit testing my blood all the time and just went on how I feel. I do better in warmer weather, so I'm back on the C again, but about 1/4 to 1/2 as much as I used to.

Question: how are your platelets and bilirubin?

When you meditate, try seeing that your liver has kicked the virus out into the blood, so that raises the VL. See your liver stronger and more resilient to the virons.

I think the coffee enemas are really helping me too. They increase the ability of the liver by increasing glutathione in the liver 6-7 times. I can really feel the difference.

Also consider Wobenzyme. It has antiviral qualities plus it reduces inflammation. Also garlic, licorice extract, and green tea have anti-viral qualities. I'm hoping to be able to get blood tests this year and see how things are. Last time I was tested was Jan 2011. At that time the VL came back at 16 mil. I reject that. I think it was 1.6 mil. I seem to get better labs when there isn't a doctor involved in the process. There is a service online where you can get your labs without a Dr.

http://www.healthonelabs.com/ I haven't used it yet, but their prices seem quite reasonable.

Wishing you all the best!

NOTE: It's quite easy for a lab to mess up a VL report, due to the procedure involved. They sometimes dilute the blood with 9 parts of water or something and redo the test. Then they multiply by 10 for the results. If they think they've done this when they haven't, then they will multiple the results by 10 and you'll get the shock of your life when your results come back 10 times higher than they were before.

Thanks, ladies for responding. Yes, Shadow, I'm hoping to wait. I'm one of those iffy cases about waiting. I may not have the 2 years. Barb, glad to hear a good biopsy story. So many aren't. And Mak, I love the idea of homeless virus. I'll use that!

While VL may not correlate to liver damage bewteen different people (ONe can have a higher vl and a healthier liver) I think it does have to mean something for a specific person. Hopefully it means homelss virus.

I like the homeless virus idea.... just trying to find its way out of you.....