8 years after transplant- Hep C is back- Should I do treatment?

[56Mike]

My dear son shared his liver with me 8 years ago... I was dx with Hep C, in 2004 tried the PegIntron and Ribaviron and only lasted 3 doses- my Dr said I had to quit treatment as my counts were too low. I rapidly deteriorated and became a walking encephalopathic corpse and  would have most likely died waiting for a cadever liver. Interestingly before transplant in May of that year- the Hep was no longer detected. I just had a biopsy- that came back 2/2- they had been undetectable all these years. My liver labs are pristine. I am afraid to start these meds again because of what happened the first time. My genotype is 2- but it looks like at best- hope for remission is 30%? Any thoughts or suggestions please?

[can-do-man]

Very well put OH, even though I am cirrhotic and treated when it comes to ESLD and Transplants I back off. I feel people like yourself, Hector, and Mikesimon are the go to people here...... Which makes me think of this.

"Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt"

[orphanedhawk]

"I did not read through the whole thread before commenting above.  Perhaps I should have.   "

Yes, and maybe you should think twice before giving advice given your lack of experience about the subject of liver transplants and ESLD.

I'm no expert but I did have ESLD. Hep C destroyed my liver and I almost died because of hep C.
I know what it's like to be post transplant. You do not.Things change post transplant.

I didn't want to treat with interferon again but even more than that, I did not want to be facing the same liver disease as I already experienced. I knew I wouldn't get a second liver transplant. Not gonna happen.

I  was advancing onto stage 2 after less than 3 years post transplant despite eating well and exercising.

And guess what. Thanks to that nasty drug interferon I am finally hep C free !

This is personal to me and I don't like hearing you tell this guy to wait when his life could be at stake.

[nonsensical]

The number of livers that interferon treatment may have hastened into liver failure pale in comparison to the number of livers that have been given a second chance due to interferon so the reward definitely trumps the risk in most cases.  

[rambleon40]

"Hep C is  the main cause of liver cancer, liver transplantation and causes more deaths than AIDs in the US."

3,000,000 or so people in the US have Hep C.  15,000 die every year.  I think it safe to presume that most (but not all, I will grant you)  die at an advanced age nonetheless.  

15,000 / 3,000,000 = 1/2 of 1%.


Driving cars is the leading cause of automobile accident deaths.  

[orphanedhawk]

In the post transplant setting cirrhosis can develop within 5 years causing the need for a second transplant. People post transplant do not have the time to wait, that others do.

The reason one treats is to save one's liver.
Hep C is  the main cause of liver cancer, liver transplantation and causes more deaths than AIDs in the US.

[nonsensical]

Mike said:  The NP at the Gastroenterologist office thought I was at stage 3, and gave me 5 years if I did not try treatment. She recommended a "trial" of Pegintron/Ribaviran. I was still actively working as a Millwright when I started treatment- but needed to quit work after the second injection and became hospitalized after the third and things just kept going downhill after that until transplant. In the email my wife received from my Hepatologist while waiting for our Dec appt- he said they will never know what caused me to deteriorate so quickly- if my liver disease was even further advanced then they thought- or if the treatmend did my liver in.

Operative words being:  "they will never know what caused me to deteriorate so quickly- if my liver disease was even further advanced then they thought"