
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.

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Sorry but I forgot to mention in my last post. Does anyone out there feel someone who is young should wait a couple of years for new drugs that could be more effective with less side effects? I read alot about new drugs that are going through trials that sound very promising. My worries are my girlfriend got it in 1993 from a blood transfussion so she has had it already for 14 years. I feel time is of the essence! Any thoughts would be great! Thanks
PS Never had a liver biopsy because medicare sucks and it is a 2.5 month wait for one. The meds were a 1 month wait. She chose the latter.
PS Never had a liver biopsy because medicare sucks and it is a 2.5 month wait for one. The meds were a 1 month wait. She chose the latter.
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Because she may not have any liver damage and so she could afford to wait a bit longer before doing tx.
This virus seems to be pretty weird. Some people have the virus for decades and when they find out and have a biopsy, they discover that they have literally no liver damage and no inflammation. They really don't have to do tx if they choose to wait.
The length of time that you have had the virus does not equate to the amount of damage.
Doing tx can sometimes aggravate other medical issues and there are no guarantees that tx will clear the virus for good, so if she has a biopsy and the results come back with stage/grade values around 0 or 1, she can wait.
Too often, people freak and just jump into doing tx without gathering all the info about themselves.
I did tx even though I had no damage and very little inflammation because I did not want to wait until I was too old and had too many other health issues to be able to do tx. Even though I relapsed, I don't regret my decision because I gave my liver a rest after 30 yrs with the virus, even if I was clear for only 10months or so.
Wish her luck in whatever she decides, but tell her that if she can wait and get the biopsy done first, it will let her know what is the real condition of her liver. It's kind of important.
Do you have to pay for tx and could you afford more than one go, what genotype do you have and what are the chances of tx succeeding? Think about those things, and if there's nothing against, I'd go for it. Remember tho' it can be awful -still getting over mine 2 years down the line and there are no guarantees.
If she finds in the biopsy that she has a high stage/grade, numbers like 3 or 4, it is vital that she does tx to get rid of the virus.
This knowledge is especially important because if she does tx and relapses, you really won't know if you have time to wait before trying again, or need to push to redo tx or try some other form of tx.
Really try to get her to have the biopsy because once she has done tx, if she then wants to have a biopsy, they may say why now?
Now I'm doing tx because I'm semi retired and have the time. My situation changed this year and that is why I'm doing tx. However, if I had same diagnosis as 1995 about my liver, I probably would not do tx.
So you see my friend, listen to all the advice posted here, then make a very educated decision about your mate.
Whatever you decide, may God bless and keep you both.