Yes

Yes unfortunately you can always relapse but the further you make it the less likely .. I think two years is the benchmark for success

two years in oz as well

oh, mosrite, i sure hope you're right in that the 2 year mark is a teller. i have my 2 year labs coming up in may of 2011!

i heard that if you can make it 6 years then you're considered "cured." have you guys heard this?

I have heard it Quasar.

prayin for ya

thanks, marty! you're so thoughtful!

You can relapse but once you get past the 6 month mark then you have a lower percentage. Once you get past the 1 yr mark even lower and so on and on. It's like being in remission. My doctor told me she only had one case of a person relapsing after being cleared at 6 months post treatment and then on his 1 yr test it was gone and still is gone so they assumed it was a false positive.

The longer you are clear the better chance you have of staying clear.

We need to make sure we aren't putting information out there that makes it seem like the likely hood is VERY high, because it is NOT.

i found this info on this site: http://forums.webmd.com/3/hepatitis-exchange/forum/495/10

9 months ago
Melissa Palmer, MD responded:

The chance of relapse - i.e. a return of the HCV virus, after 6 months of discontinuation of therapy and the HCVRNA is still undetectable ( < 5-10 IU/dL) is so rare that the medical community is now comfortable telling patients that they are cured. This means that you are not contagious to others by any means
It is important to remember two things.
1. HCVAb - hepatitis C antibody will remain positive - this does not mean that you are infectious to others, but it does mean that you will not be able to donate blood or organs in typical situations
2. If you have cirrhosis, you are still at risk for liver cancer and liver failure.

If you need further information, feel free to check out my website at www.liverdisease.com

and another post from that same page:

Dr Palmer is absolutely correct. The chance of relapse after being clear for 6 months is about 1% and doctors believe that these people have not relapsed but actually re-infected. The antibodies for hepatitis C are unfortunately not protective. And no Tiff, that is not true about organ donors. That is old news and has proven totally untrue. Testing has also improved. The knowledge about these things has exponentially increased since the things you are talking about occured.

for me hearing chances of relapse at 1% is sooooooo delightful! when i started treatment my chances of clearing were 40%.

yahoooooooooooooooooo! only a 1% chance of relapse!

I'm not sure I'm gonna take another test... ignorance is bliss.

m,

really? you don't want to know?