hep c genotype 1a...or 1b...or 1...what is the difference

[karstdive]

is the hep c genotype 1a resistant to treament...what is the difference between type 1 and type 1a....and does 1a respond to treatments...as  compared to type 1

thanks

jerry

[flcyclist]

Since your question is not related to the title of this thread you likely won't get many responses.  I'd encourage you to start a new thread with your question by clicking "Post a question" at the top of this white space.  Giving some basic information will help others respond to your question.

Can you tell us what treatment your husband has been on for 3 yrs (156 weeks)?  

[hrsepwrguy]

New drugs Incivek and victrelis are showing good results in gt 1 patients that were relapsers, partial responders and null responders you can look at SVR stats for incivek at

http://pi.vrtx.com/files/uspi_telaprevir.pdf

and victrelis at

http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/victrelis/victrelis_pi.pdf

[dad45]

my husband has been on treatment for 3 years and if they take him off the virvus comes back now they what to keep him on the treatment hes on and add the neww drug that just came out he has 1a do you think 3 years of being sick will ever get better

[willbb]

Hi there. you have asked your question on a very old thread..so you may want to start one of your own to be seen by more people by ..going to the green  "Post a Question box at the top,and posing your question there.

  Side effects from treatment seem tpo vary from person to person. Many people have little or very mild side effects and others have more severe ones. There is really no way to know what your mom will experience until she is in treatment.
One thing that helps is to make sure she drinks lots of water everyday .as  the drugs tend to dehydrate.

  it may be a good idea to take a tylenol or two when doing here first shot .as very often  a flu like feeling will be experienced.

Feel free to ask any questions you have ,there are lots of knowlegable folks here and many currently treating

Good luck to you and your mom..

Will.

[craiu]

My mom will start her treatment soon for Hep C genotype 1b. Can anyone tell me a little bit about the symptoms that she should expect to have once she will start the treatment? I beg you. I am so scared because I understood that the treatment is rough and can affect some other organs.
Thank you so much!

[eureka254]

There are almost no absolutes in this treatment.  It's true that geno 1 is the hardest to treat, and there are certainly lower chances of clearance the longer it takes you to get to undetected virus, but not getting to undetected by week 12 does NOT mean you have "zero % chance" -- if it did, my husband, a geno 1, would not be treating for 72 weeks.  (He was undetected at week 13.)

That being said, this is a disease and treatment that affects everyone differently.  If you are handling treatment well and have few side effects and want to be rid of this virus, it's worth discussing with your doctor (or a second opinion doc, hopefully a hepatologist) if he would consider the option of extending.  On the other hand, if you have not sustained much liver damage from your hep c and time is not of an urgent matter, you could consider that newer, more effective, and shorter treatments are on the horizon.

You may not get many responses your questions due to the fact that you commented on an old post.  I notice you're a new member, so welcome to the forum.  You'll find that if you use the "Post a question" button to start a new discussion, you're likely to get more responses and comments.  Best wishes.
~eureka

[Pewie]

Hello  =o)

I am a genotype 1a and am on Ribavirin and Pegasys. I will be on week 11 tomorrow.

I just got my blood test results from week 9 of treatment and my viral load dropped to 7,776 (started at 526,000). HOWEVER, my doctor told me that if I do not clear by week 12 that I have a zero % chance of clearing.

Has anyone's doctor ever told them this? If this is the case then why have I always heard of the 48 week treatment?

I am worried that I will not clear  =o(

[scare_D_cat]

I was recently diagnosed 1A I go tomorrow for my liver biopsy. Since I am 1a what are the chances I may have spread this horrible diseaase to my 3 year old son? He was delivered by C-section.  And what about my other older children and new husband of only about 1-1/2 years? I am scared to death and worry constantly about the children and my husband.  I am thinking I should have everyone tested just for piece of mind but without insurance the biopsy and everything is sooooo expensive. My husband refuses to get tested  until his insurance kicks back in in Feb 09.... I am going crazy worrying, My liver is not swollen or has any nodules or lesions but doesn't being 1a mean you have had the virus for a long time? I got a few tattoos years ago from unprofessional artists i am terrified that I must have gotten the virus then? and that was about 11or more years ago :o(

[MsTigerHawk]

The only difference between genotype 1a and 1b is the type of mutations off the 1.  The hepatitis C virus likes to mutate, which is why there are so many forms of it.  I'm a 1b, have never been on treatment, have had hep C since 1969, and my liver disease has not progressed.  I'm stage 1, grade 1 as indicated by two biopsies four years apart.  Genotype 1's are more likely to be nonresponders, even with 48 weeks of treatment.

[sunspot]

chellski. Many of our fellow heppers are in legal MM states and it seems that a bit of herb does no harm and they say it helps with the sx, including anxiety, mood and insomnia. Sad to report that it did not help me, when I tried on 2 weekends.

Dana

[Califia]

I say have a glass of wine to celebrate your birthday but take your milk thistle before dinner, a goodly amount of it.   It's not a magic bullet, but it does coat the liver cells and makes it much harder for toxins to penetrate.   And happy birthday, girl!   You surely fought good and hard for this one.  But madre mia, this discussion has got me imagining the taste of a good Rutherford cabernet, something I thought I had put out of my mind completely.   It's not easy living in wine country where vineyards are popping up like 7-11's.

[cuteus]

there is no way to know what your doctor meant about your biopsy./ Get a copy of the report and read the results yourself, why be in the dark?

[chellski]

i take my shot sunday nite...i'm scared from about friday on because i just kinda start to feel better.  and for all this wine discussion - i've never been a drinker at all; cant stand the taste of anything HOWEVER i wouldn't mind smoking a big fat one to calm my nerves...haven't thought about that in many many moons.  i smoked in the 70's and i hear its a little different now - i probably couldn't hang.  I must do something for nerves/depression

[Estwing]

My doctor did not tell me what stage I was in after the liver biopsy, other than to say that my condition was not good and it was not bad, and the report also stated that my liver had been moderately affected. How would you interrpert that report. I have geno. 2 and now am 11/24

Gary

[cuteus]

drinking alcohol while on tx, if you are not negative could have  an impact on clearing the virus. studies have shown the alcohol aids hcv replication. so while it is still in your blood, it is not reccomended to drink. I waited until I was negative to have my occassional drink, one in 6 months period. why chance it?

[honey1616]

Thanks Imagine,,,,A little celebration on the b-day,,,you wouldn't think would be out of order would you lol

Bill & Layla,,,Thanks for the reply and noooo I'm not on tx. I just received my 3 month post pcr and its negative.  Bill,,,I'm like you in the fact,,,I'm still pondering that word CURE for hep and don't want to let my guard down haha  The only idea that I toss around is if small amount of alcohol could get the virus going again,,,,what about any kind of meds I take in future,,or even something in diet. There is alot of things not great for liver.  Trouble is I never had a biopsy so don't know that answer either.  Just wondered what everyone thought or even people that are post now and clear,,,are they still staying totally alcohol free?  

[LvdByGod!]

HONEY, aw that's a tough decision...we all love you and would hate to advise you and then if something happened we'd feel terrible for giving you bad advice...wish you had a biopsy and knew if your liver was damaged then i'd say not worth it...but this whole question of the virus comming back and not really being gone all the way really does freak me out...i have asked myself the same question cause i used to love my glass of wine on occasion...i mean i really enjoyed it and do miss it...

i'd love to say go for it but i feel safer and more loving saying find a special bottle of sparkling grape juice with strawberry and have a ton of laughs and you won't know the difference...i would feel safer telling you to wait longer perhaps until the one year post? i know for sure you will feel better the next day...and you did work so hard getting rid of this virus...

but honey just pray and follow your heart...do what you think would be best for you right now...i'll pray God gives you wisdom...

you know we love ya and want the best for you,

sandi

[hep62pj]

really...can't believe someone did tx without a biop?!

I was a heavy drinker, not alcoholic but pretty heavy, my damage is stage 2 and I think most of that is probably from past drinking.  I know I have had this for over 20 years.  I did not respond to virimadine/peg tx clinical trial...I drank a little bit on tx, maybe 3-4 times, no more than a glass or 2 of beer or wine, think I had like 5 drinks once...I really don't think that had anything to do with not responding, there have been absolutely NO studies about minimal drinking having any effect at all on the hep or on tx...the level of alcohol in the system is really too small to measure. But of course regular heavy drinking is a no-no studies prove it, helps the hep work to attack your liver and if you drink heavy on tx chances are slim to none that you will clear.

[honey1616]

Yep,,,,no biopsy.  The dr I went to originally when finding out,,,Says,,,You are geno 1 so no question,,,you need to treat. He did bloodwork and ultrasound and said he didn't like to do biopsies soooooo,,,,I was scared and knew nothing about this disease and just ordered the meds to begin as quick as possible.  If I could send one important message to all newbies is,,,,,how very important it is to get one before treating. If you dr won't do it,,,,find one that will.  I will not even know if the tx did some good to compare to before and after biopsies.

[Docsgold]

On my last visit to the doc I asked his opinion about alcohol after tx and what he said was if my 3 month post-PCR is negative then I may have an occasional glass of wine.  If I wanted to drink wine would not be my choice, it would be a marguerita or some amoretta on the rocks, so I guess I will not partake.  I say enjoy your birthday.

[honey1616]

Some great advice and I appreciate it. Sandi,,,I would also love to hear more from people off tx and what they are doing.  Cuteus,,,Thanks so much for your honest answer and look where you are now,,,clear!  Couch,,,you are so right,,,ultimate decision is your business only.  Fubar,,,Yep,,stress can do alot alone and if I'm going to come across this everytime with so much stress and wondering if this or that will bring it back or shake it up again,,,its not worth it.
Miked,,,I never had a drinking problem,,,probably drank more in my highschool days and college then lifetime lol  Occasional drinker until a year and half ago on finding out I had this.  It means alot,,,your answers because there is so much information from this site and so many have been there a lot longer then I have so I hope more will answer what you are doing after finishing tx.  If I knew for a fact,,,my biopsy was moderate damage,,,I know for a fact,,,,I would not even second guess on having a glass of wine or 2 here and there but,,,,,That is my dilemma,,,,if I happened to be a stage 3,,,I would definitely want to try to reverse more damage.

[honey1616]

Yes,,,My first dr was GI,,,,notice I say first lol  Because I then went to heptalogist at 6 month mark.  When I got anemic,,,the first one told me to stop meds for a week and then we would retest red blood and go from there.  We argued in his office and I said I'm not stopping my meds and told him all I needed was procrit. Well he wasn't familiar with procrit so pretty much I went home and found specialist and said see ya to first.  I wouldn't have known any better if it wasn't for everyone here at medhelp though and if I would have stopped for a week and then restarted,,,,I bet you money,,,I wouldn't be clear today.  Hey,,good luck to you when you decide to start back up.  Tx does tend to take the wind out of ya so you will jump back in there again after a break!

[honey1616]

Doc,,,Thanks for the report from your dr. Especially saying the 3 month mark,,,I honestly figured if I asked a dr,,,there response would have been 1 year marker.  See you are at finish line!  Wonderful,,,,You will in no time start feeling alive again!  And then the sweet smell of food...LOL

[Oreos]

A "non-responder" to treatment is someone who has been taking the meds but their viral load is not cleared or significantly lessened around 12 weeks.  At this point, it' between you and your Dr. to determine next steps.  There are a few folks here who extended treatment beyond the 48 weeks.  There are other options as well.  

Since you are on your second week, I wouldn't worry about what could happen.  It's excrutiating enough waiting for the 12 week test, but you can drive yourself even more BONKERS by worrying about it : )

Take it easy on yourself and keep your eye on THE PRIZE.