Am I a non-responder?

[sunshines76]

Hello! Got diagnosed with HCV, genotype 1b two years ago. Looks like I've had it for at least 30 years now - had a blood transfusion in 1970s... I am now on week 14 of TX (pegasys + ribavirin). Don't feel any side effects at all, except for some mild hair shedding. I also drink plenty of water, and feel very good, actually better than before the therapy. Got more energy. Yet, my PCR test results are ... a buzz killer:
- 3 weeks before therapy- 280,000
- 1 week before therapy - 1,060,000
- week 4 of therapy - 13,000
- week 8 on therapy - 2,575
- week 12 on therapy - 66,742
- week 13 on therapy - 103,000

Looks like a roller-coaster ride to me... Am I a non-responder? My doc is suggesting keep on the current meds will week 24 and then if the virus is still detectable, switch me on infergen.

I am still hopeful... but my optimism is kind of down now when I got my labs done for week 12...

Anyone had the same happen to them as far as viral load climbing up? Is pegasys not working for me?

[annieCinMD]

Great news! Keep us posted when you get your 8 week UND!

[sunshines76]

I had my doctor appointment - to review my week 4 PCR. I am pretty happy today - I am still detectable, but the result showed <43 (down from 94,000 before starting infergen). My nurse said it looked like I was right on the border and that at 8 weeks we should expect to be UND.
:)

[sunshines76]

I did my bloodwork on monday, including PCR, this week. On wednesday the lab called me and wanted to redraw my blood. Said they have contacted my doctor already and I just needed to come in for additional testing on PCR only. Noone could give me an explanation why I had to retest. I am looking forward to getting the results next week. It's been almost 5 weeks on daily infergen now. I am feeling ok (if forget about anemia), hoping for good results.

[newleaf09]

You mean how does damage happen from long term exposure?  Search this forum for starters to see what the damages can be.  I stopped reading those because I thought that some of the problems were age-related and people were still pinning the problems on IFN, but it's obvious that that's only the case for a few people.  Others have real damage.  You already know that some people are much more responsive to IFN than others and I think the damage can be just as variable.  The interferon is part of the body's natural immune response and when we add extra with the shots, it ramps our own immune system up even more.  I suspect that it causes autoimmune responses; makes us allergic to ourselves and causes the body to attack itself.  Can cause nerve damage, lung damage, permanent thyroid damage, arthritis.  Ideally you would be on IFN for the shortest possible time, to be sure no systems got damaged by the drug.  It's a miracle drug, but I wish we could defeat the virus without IFN at all.  Research may never arrive at that point.

[ditzybabe]

"The current research goals on HCV Treatment are to shorten TX time in order to reduce the patients exposure to interferon, which can cause permanent damage to the human body from long exposure. "

How does that happen? I've had one form or another of interferon for over three years.

[sunshines76]

It sounds so awesome when you can write "I WAS also 1b". Congratulations!