Hepatitis C Support Group
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide.
Had VL blood work yesterday will know in about a week I ask my Doc what my VL was before I started Treatment he said it was 4.6 Mil really don't know what that means lol but will know soon what it is now!
Amazingly, good tx that is working well, brings it down DRAMATICALLY within FOUR WEEKS, What point in tx are you???
You might want to read some discussion here about the difference between quantitative and qualitative VL tests. Bottom line is that diff labs use diff tests and some will say "undetected' and some will say "less than 50" or whatever... so don't be scared or disheartened with your results, even if it shoes a VL of 50 or 150 it is an excellent early result.
THe viral loads vary so much, it still amazes me. My own even without tx would bounce all over the place......I had been over 3.5 million and came down to 1 million with no tx.....this still amazes me.
Right now you have the BEST shot of clearing this thing - Good luck - and it takes a little while for that result....Patience....
My side effects are minimal, too. So far this is very doable for me.
Dr. Pearlman: Anything over 800,000 IU/mL is high. Anything under that is low viral load Those with low viral load have a better chance of responding to treatment.
Am I Getting Sicker if My Viral Load Is Rising?
Dr. Anania: Not necessarily. With HCV, viral burden in hepatitis C does not necessarily predict the natural history of clinical disease. And therefore, patients need to understand that we use that measurement to help us guide therapy and response to therapy. We use it in conjunction with other types of laboratory data -- liver enzymes, liver biopsies sometimes, and viral genotype. Taken all together, these tests give us a snapshot of what is going on. But viral load numbers do not predict disease.
The suspense is getting to us here.
@TH, I read that one too. But, let me tell ya, I don't really know anymore lol. My Infec Dis doc said my VL was just over 1 mil in 2011, so she that was not that high. I think perhaps cause she must have seen much, much higher in her career no doubt. But, she did verify that the number has no real meaning as to the amount of damage that may or may not be there. So, reallllly not sure why they do it in the first place. If it's cause you are going on tx, then great, but they should ask you if you will be doing tx FIRST, then check VL. Makes more sense.