Aa
Stopping combo treatment
Hi All,
Just been trying to read thru all the past threads.... Nice to see a whole bunch of new faces here. More knowledge and opinions is always welcomed! I was disappointed to read of Cajims 'signing off'. He was very knowledgeable and always ensured he replied to whatever questions were asked. Hope he will return soon.
Now just wondered if anyone who has come off combo-treatment can share their personal experience with us all. I will be finishing my last week of tablets and tbh i am scared, thrilled and nervous all at the same time. Questions like will my VL steadily shoot up, will my ALT increase and will my liver start taking damage again.... Its always hard dropping a routine that you know is beneficial to you, much like doing exercise or playing that one sport you love.
My current results are looking quite good. From my recent blood test my ALT was showing 17 and my VL was UND.
What is the ratio of an increase when stopping treatment?
I'm also guessing if it does then i will no doubt have to remain on combo treatment for the rest of my life.
Any news on new medication?
P.s. Nash I noticed we are competing for ALT dominance... First i find out you were also adopted then i find out you are trying to copy my VL stats. What next? Phoenix Suns supporter?
Just been trying to read thru all the past threads.... Nice to see a whole bunch of new faces here. More knowledge and opinions is always welcomed! I was disappointed to read of Cajims 'signing off'. He was very knowledgeable and always ensured he replied to whatever questions were asked. Hope he will return soon.
Now just wondered if anyone who has come off combo-treatment can share their personal experience with us all. I will be finishing my last week of tablets and tbh i am scared, thrilled and nervous all at the same time. Questions like will my VL steadily shoot up, will my ALT increase and will my liver start taking damage again.... Its always hard dropping a routine that you know is beneficial to you, much like doing exercise or playing that one sport you love.
My current results are looking quite good. From my recent blood test my ALT was showing 17 and my VL was UND.
What is the ratio of an increase when stopping treatment?
I'm also guessing if it does then i will no doubt have to remain on combo treatment for the rest of my life.
Any news on new medication?
P.s. Nash I noticed we are competing for ALT dominance... First i find out you were also adopted then i find out you are trying to copy my VL stats. What next? Phoenix Suns supporter?
I know what you mean by being scared, thrilled and nervous all at the same time…I felt the same way when I stopped taking the Peg IFN and switched to TDF. I can only hope that someday I can stop taking the meds altogether. Don’t really know the answer to your question, but I wish you the best of luck.
Ha Ha..I thought the same thing about our ALT readings. I still don’t know how I managed to get my ALT down that low because I have been eating a lot of foods that I really shouldn’t just because I’m trying to put on weight. I hope my ALT stays this low and I just didn’t get lucky this time.
We do seem to have a lot in common except I don’t like basketball at all. Mainly just football (not soccer), baseball, hockey and tennis…..so basically that means the Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Braves, Nashville Predators and Maria Sharapova lol.
Hope married life is treating you well. Take care of yourself and best of luck coming of the meds.
Ha Ha..I thought the same thing about our ALT readings. I still don’t know how I managed to get my ALT down that low because I have been eating a lot of foods that I really shouldn’t just because I’m trying to put on weight. I hope my ALT stays this low and I just didn’t get lucky this time.
We do seem to have a lot in common except I don’t like basketball at all. Mainly just football (not soccer), baseball, hockey and tennis…..so basically that means the Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Braves, Nashville Predators and Maria Sharapova lol.
Hope married life is treating you well. Take care of yourself and best of luck coming of the meds.
I don't think I know enough to answer your first question this time. But I have the following extract from Baraclude's prescribing info sheet that gives me the impression that I might be right:
==============================================================
The optimal duration of therapy with BARACLUDE is unknown. According to protocol-mandated criteria in the Phase 3 clinical trials, subjects discontinued BARACLUDE or lamivudine treatment after 52 weeks according to a definition of response based on HBV virologic suppression (<0.7 MEq/mL by bDNA assay) and loss of HBeAg (in HBeAg-positive subjects) or ALT <1.25 X ULN (in HBeAg-negative subjects) at Week 48. Subjects who achieved virologic suppression but did not have serologic response (HBeAg-positive) or did not achieve ALT <1.25 X ULN (HBeAg-negative) continued blinded dosing through 96 weeks or until the response criteria were met. These protocol-specified subject management guidelines are not intended as guidance for clinical practice.
==============================================================
The researchers sound unsure themselves!
To answer your last question: yes, I made the mistake of not checking my VL for the last three months. I discovered today that I have 3.5 million copies/ml. I used to have 4 million copies/ml before treatment, and UND near the end of treatment.
==============================================================
The optimal duration of therapy with BARACLUDE is unknown. According to protocol-mandated criteria in the Phase 3 clinical trials, subjects discontinued BARACLUDE or lamivudine treatment after 52 weeks according to a definition of response based on HBV virologic suppression (<0.7 MEq/mL by bDNA assay) and loss of HBeAg (in HBeAg-positive subjects) or ALT <1.25 X ULN (in HBeAg-negative subjects) at Week 48. Subjects who achieved virologic suppression but did not have serologic response (HBeAg-positive) or did not achieve ALT <1.25 X ULN (HBeAg-negative) continued blinded dosing through 96 weeks or until the response criteria were met. These protocol-specified subject management guidelines are not intended as guidance for clinical practice.
==============================================================
The researchers sound unsure themselves!
To answer your last question: yes, I made the mistake of not checking my VL for the last three months. I discovered today that I have 3.5 million copies/ml. I used to have 4 million copies/ml before treatment, and UND near the end of treatment.
Right what would u say was the criteria for coming off treatment then? Is it not the job of treatment to go UND and then let the bodies defences (antibodies) fight the virus naturally? Also you mentioned mistakes you had made. Care to elaborate? I mean.... Did your VL shoot up or something?
If you are coming off meds, I recommend that you monitor VL at least once a month for the first 3 months. This recommendation is based on some mistakes I made.
I did not know that UND VL and stable ALT for a period was a criterion for taking someone off meds, so I'll not comment further about that.
I did not know that UND VL and stable ALT for a period was a criterion for taking someone off meds, so I'll not comment further about that.
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