Sofosburir and Simeprivir akak sovaldi & Olysio is the off-label tx many of us are on or have completed. it is 12 weeks, virtually no side for the vast majority, and works very well for geno 1s.

The only hitch is getting insurance approval which is what you doc is asking you to check. I am just a little confused because i thought the way to do it was for the doc to write a script and submit it and then see if it is approved, and if not - appeal.

Most Rx insurance cos are approving those who are sickest OR have tried and failed INF and/or Riba txs...OR, have an INF intolerance.

Don't know your GT, but I see you've failed two previous txs...

Aside from documented side effects, their severity and other ailments might have a lot to do with how healthy you and your liver is.

It is impossible that everyone will feel the same.
Placebo's effect people differently.

Purely my opinion though.

Many here have cirrhosis or varying stages of damage. I believe that is what is making the difference.

Bestshot - I'm the sick one on S&O - and so is Lev and so is DRC - but PLEASE do not let that stop you from taking Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Olysio (simeprevir). The three of us (Lev, DRC, me) are in a very very small minority of those who get some rough side effects. So far, from what I've read here and on other HCV forums, side effects are very minimal IF at all. The only more frequent sides I've read about are MILD headaches and fatigue. I just got hammered, that's all, and for all I know, most of the issues are/were from an upper respiratory infection. The headache - that's Sovaldi, but I can handle that as the price for SVR.

I was tx naive before this. I ALMOST did triple last year but knew Interferon would kill me and probably Riba too. So I can't compare from personal experience, yet I am ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SURE that this tx is nothing like triple.

I'm glad you stated your fears because I would not want anyone to turn away Sovaldi (in any form) because of just my experience. So a small amount of patients seem to get some rough sides - that's the truth. But 99% (probably a good guess) do NOT. Please go for it!

Lev has a good point about state of your liver. Mine was late stage 3 or early stage 4, and you are not near that. I'm getting a feeling, because I know Lev and DRC are/were a late stage like me, that later stage means a POSSIBILITY of more sides. Also, I'm a 1a - pretty sure DRT is too - think Lev is too. 1a's are harder to "cure" on this than 1b's --- not that they don't almost ALL eventually go UD during tx, but it takes longer - just from what I've been seeing/reading.

You also have Sovalid and Ledipasvir coming out in several months. I followed several people on those trials - ALL 1a's, two in decompensation and one was 75 years old and stage 3+ - NO SIDEs for any of those folks and they ALL are SVR24 now.

My experience is a rarity, I'm sure. But I had to post it here - I needed support and now a couple others are saying they too feel like a "poop biscuit" - that was Lev's term - so funny.

Lev - I am CERTAIN you are onto something. I was late stage and not very healthy going into tx. Good job, you "poop biscuit", you. Now TAKE YOUR MEDICINE! :)

I was never on INF, but I was on Riba. Riba a gave me anemia, shortness of breath, SEVERE insomnia, nausea, vomiting, severe sun sensitivity, and moodiness; riba rage.

NONE of these were an issue on S & O. NONE! Some fatigue and some headaches, but I could not tell you for sure that either were worse on S & O than normal.

Thank you all for replying to my post. I guess I should have explained a little more about my situation. Forgot there's so many new people here that may not remember the rough time I went though on tx back in 2011/12. I am geno 1 and have cirrhosis. When on tx I had a very hard time on it physically and emotionally. Suicide was not out of the question for me!! As a few here may remember. I am pretty much back to normal now ( but was is normal really? haha). WarriorGal, question about the insurance is a valid one and one I thought of myself. I am in Canada and have insurance through my husbands work. I guess I just have to try to submit it and take it from there. As long as there is no interferon involved I think I will be ok.
Hugs
Debbie

Olysio is called Galexos in Canada and yes this combo isn't available in Canada. I am on my first week of items and it is going VERY well.

Kramer you are on tx now? The same one the dr wants me on? Tell me more please. Sides? anything that will help me.

b/s - I really feel guilty that I've scared you. PLEASE know and believe that we are all unique, but I've been following Sovaldi - with Ledipasvir and with Olysio - for a while... trials and "real life." I have not seen anyone post anywhere who was taking Sovaldi who was as sick as I was - until Lev and DRT came along today and said they were having sides similar to mine.

I am certain that my experience is very NOT typical on these meds. And for all I know, I was dealing with either a bacterial or viral upper respiratory infection. WG and hellodollie are done with this tx - they had virtually no sides. Kramer just started it, as he will tell you. My doctor told me the same as yours did, "no significant sides." When I had the class with the nurse, I was given a sheet of paper listing possible side effects. For Sovaldi, mainly headache and fatigue; Olysio - light sensitivity. Others too but nothing much.

When the headache hit me, the nurse said it was a Sovaldi side effect. But a headache is nothing, even a bad one, like the sides of Interferon, Riba and Incivek from all I've read. I can promise you that you will not suffer anywhere near that kind of magnitude on S&O.

Please please please - don't be concerned about difficult sides from S&O. My experience is just that - my own. I wish I had not shared it if it is going to stop anyone from going with S&O. The main thing is, I do not know for sure what the source of the fever, chills, coughing and headache was - no one know or will ever know for sure. I was exposed to a lot of crud no doubt on a bus trip I took 220 miles each way to Phoenix a month ago to see my hep. doc.

No sides for me so far feel great. 93% success rates for cirrhotic null responders. Manulife covered both drugs for me as I failed interferon. Sunlife has covered it too. Time to get busy Debbie. Good luck :)

Cat don't worry about it. I will still go on tx and finally beat this thing. Your knowledge is wanted and needed here. Some of the info I got was off the web!! And you know what they say about that. Thank you for your knowledge and encouragement. And Kramer my friend!!! So so happy for you!! Wow, it's finally going to happen isn't it? The insurance we deal with is Sunlife so your words are very encouraging. That's so all of you for your support.

It IS going to happen for ALL of us, b/s!!!

Sovaldi is the miracle we've been waiting for.

GO GET YOUR TX!

Oh, I forgot - MARILYN is on S&O too. She finally got started this past week after waiting two months for things to line up so she could get it.

We are blessed; we truly are.

Headaches, whatever, well worth what the end result will be. I am feeling much better tonight than for the past month. Whatever it was and for whatever reason, I'm through it now and on the other side, mending ... while S&O have been working 24/7 for 64 days now to kill my HCV. Since I am on the Z-pak and on Day 4 of 5 of that, just maybe that's what I needed all along - and I had a bacterial infection. p.s. headache is gone too.

Trust your doc and nurse(s). All of us are different and react differently to various medications. We all see UD whenever OUR tx has gotten us that far. There's no set formula, although Kramer has told us that in Canada, at least on whatever h/care system he's with, if not UD at 4 weeks, tx might be stopped. I never expected to see UD at 4 weeks - and I didn't - but what I did see was "HCV Quant: less than 2 IU/mL" - according to my nurse, with that particular VL assay, THAT is UD. So ask questions to your doc/nurse (as well as here of course) - and be prepared to see your liver functions (ALT, AST, etc.) normal at 2 weeks! I almost fainted with joy!

No I already clarified that. It was my misunderstanding. Treatment is not stopped at week 4 for if detectable. Treatment is stopped if one is not close to or below 15 IU viral load.

Same here as there.