I called Curascripts and my meds are being sent overnight next wed - So Fri start is a definite - I will be taking pegasus pre-filled; Rivavak 1x day 600mg; Ribavin 1xday 200 mg. Went I did my last blood it was on a Thurs and Dr. ofc called Tues with results...They did a viral load so they would have a starting point, Checked for Hep A & B negative so I will get vaccines for them on Friday as well, they also did full Thryoid check and not sure what else..I def am calling Tuesday for a copy and will have them fax me a copy everytime for now on. My info from back in April when I was first diagnosed is:
Platelets: 108, MCV 100, MCH 35.0 - Glugcose was high as it was not a fast test and I had a diet coke on the way DAH! I never drink but had one...My Dr. first thought I was a diabetic but when I told him I had a coke, he redid all the test and my sugar level were normal and that's when I found out about Hep C ..AST 86; ALT 69, MY HEMOGLOBIN ALC WAS 5.1 - ..I liked my Beer but gave everything up last Sunday and hubby joined in for support..I have gotten a book from my friend call The Liver Cleansing Diet by Sandra Cabot, MD and have been reading it...It amazing on what to eat and not to eat to cleanse your liver...I have been taking Milk Thistle and a Iron Free Multi Vitamin as my Iron levels are too high which is also Toxic for the liver...Ugh!! I plan to start walking 2 miles daily again tomm and hope to finish the book. I have to give up red meat, fried foods, dairy is not recommended... You can get your proteins from skinless cage free chickens and letins, legumes, beans etc... A new healthier me is coming...Will keep you posted when I get my fax on Tuesday...I only wish I could start my first treatment at nite but they want to show me how to give the shots so it will be sometime in the afternoon...I plan on staying positive during this journey...So much about me...What about you...Are you cleared? or still going through treatment...Did you have to do the 48 wks that I have ahead of me? Did you have any issue's??? Thanks again...
"They are connected with Labcorp and get their results online"
Good for them !
It does not make the results available any quicker since the test still takes time
and the more sensitive Labcorp NGI Quantasure can take up to 2 wks I actually prefer the lab faxing results instead of online because it made it easier FOR ME to get an actual
hard copy instead of some nurse giving me results over the phone....
Unless they give you (the patient) the same online access....
Being overweight I would check for Insulin resistance asap.
You do that by testing glucose (blood sugar) + insulin from the same blood draw
and calculate your HOMA2 score. Above 2 means your are IR and it is recommended
to bring that down since IR can possibly effect your Interferon response.
Also I would check Vit D and I also do Vit A and B12 + Folic Acid.
You have low platelets , what is your Albumin , INR , ALT/AST , Ferritin ?
Thanks so much you have no idea how helpful this is...I pulled my bloodwork from when I was diagnosed in April - I did not get a copy my most recent one but I know my viral load had gone up by 1000 - I posted the wrong viral load in April it was 200,500 which is still low compared to others..I am about 50 lbs over weight so that bothers me and in April my Platelet count was 112 which is low so that also concerns me..I feel like have I have so many more questions now before I start which looks like next Fri...Why did I not start exercising in April...I know they are going to give me the Interferon & Ribivin and Ribavin pak due to weight..I know I will get through this My Dr. Is highly recommended here in S FLA he has patients from University Of Miami come to his ofc, my friend was cleared with him with type 2. They are connected with Labcorp and get their results online, all blood pulls will be right in the ofc..She had all my results in 3 days so that's good...I will call tue and get all my last results from two weeks ago ...Thanks again Hugs...
IL28b blood test is used to predict how well you might respond to Interferon.
When I was diagnosed my viral load was also low 38,000.
There is no reason to panic. You have HepC and you are taking care of it now.
You could be lucky and achieve an early response (RVR) which could allow you
to shorten tx since you have a low baseline viral load.
I would make sure to have your Dr. run the most sensitive viral load test available
(Quest Diag. TMA <5 IU or LabCorp NGI Quantasure <2 IU) and to try to catch
the exact week when you become undetectable using those tests.
Until you become undetected I would run only Quantitative PCRs and no Qualitatives
My preference is the Quest. TMA because it has a much quicker turnaroud
time (3-4 days) which helps a lot and there is more data on it.
Thanks for your post what is the IL28b test? My Dr. took 6 viles of test from throid, current viral load and all the rest...I didn't get a copy as I kinda panic so trying to remain calm...I hope to start next Fri...my viral load is not as high as I see others but the nurse in my Dr's ofc who has been there 20 yrs said I'm only the third patient with type 4 lucky #4 Only wish I would have gone to Egypt lol! Looking forward to getting with this journey and meeting some nice folks...I am going to google now ...Thanks so much for the tip!
I treated for Geno 4. You could consider adding Alinia (nitazoxanide) to your tx.
If you google genotype 4 nitazoxanide you can read up on it.
Did you do the IL28b test ?
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