trish: yay! good news - hopefully you've now sailed past the rockier shoals of cbc fluctuation and will be bored with smooth cruising for the rest of the passage. It'll be curious to see what Roche does with r1626 - clearly there's trouble on the wbc front.
jim: sometimes I suspect we expect the impossible from our drs/nurses. As I was lying on the gurney in the pre-op parking area waiting to be wheeled into the op room, I had two guys in their 80s on either side of me. Both talked in a slow, hoarse whisper, but knew *exactly* what they were talking about ( one was in for his 20th cardiac op ). The nurses, though competent, helpful and friendly, didn't seem to really hear a word.
you are so right...docs don't know what you feel.
I'm laying on my couch 24/7 but now "low" enough for procrit...
let them try walking a block in my shoes!!
you've gotten plenty of good advice...
let me just add, look you can lower cholesterol without stantins, oatmeal, fish oils, omega oils, and of course PPC which you've heard of in here..all safer routes than statins...
that's one..
Two: my observation, not an across the board generality but perhaps noteworthy is that permanent post treatment symptoms seem to go more or less hand in hand with the age and general health of the individual to begin with....notable exceptions might be those using other substances which can either add or detract from that.
Meaning, the older the person, the more likely they could develop immune responses, or "metabolic syndromes" because of the cumulative weakness in health.
Now today I was reading on the fatique hormone connection in HCV...and started a thread on it.
Bottom line is, my perspective, the weaker the endocrine and lymphatic system the more risk of sides. I take HGH for my pituitary...and this gets me to "normal" levels so I can repair tissue. It has not allieved all side effects...as I am only taking a therapeutic dose.
One individual who has had a great many side effects is also a male taking estrogen.
the thread I started today may give some insight as to why the overuse or abuse of any single hormone, or a male put on a hormone that imbalances his whole endocrine system, even if done for preventative reason, say to prevent protate cancer, still could lead to more than the average number of permanent post tx side effects.
The question in the end is how much is the HCV tx...how much is all the rest.
Lastly, there is a certain segment of HCV people who persist in using marijuana, drinking, or using other drugs known to harm the liver and health in general. While that certainly does not explain why everyone that has had a bad time has had it...(so PLEASE people don't yell at me peple...no assumptions about anyone in particular here)....but one must consider the idea that all those things factor into ones final results.
Judging by what one clinician told me, and the research also backs this up, the continual usage of any such substances greatly effects both liver outcome and general health, and the recovery of a healthy immune system as well...and these are not really items still up for debate in medical circles.
what is unfortunate is that not enough is known about the pharmacalogical role that many meds play in all this, but what little I've researched suggests we had all best tread cautiously into that realm. I've already discovered 4 Rx's that I was put on were toxic...
One must also note, to a failing liver many substances thought to be safe no longer are.
I think you'll do really well on tx , and yes it's tough..but try not to worry about it too much....you've seen the good bad and the ugly in here...so you will be an informed patient at least....and hopefully remain a positive one. Just remember I said that you have your first tx induced cry....and come tell mama...we'll be here.
There are months on tx I've thought were from hell...and other months I've just gotten used to the hell...or something...who knows....at any rate....you take it one day, or one hour at a time, and keep your goal in mind...and you'll be fine!
mb
Yes, thanks for pointing that out to me again, I had them separated before but my retention isn't really good and seems to be with me one day and totally escape me the next. I'll be sure and have my drugs in a row so to speak when I go see the GI man. There's at least a couple of threads that you all have refreshed my memory with, I will study them really well before my appointment. Hell I may even keep them in a folder in case I have to reflect on them during my conversation with my GI. I'm sure it will go well, I was always on a wait and see approach until just the beginning of this year when I learned a friend is on a clinical trial and that started my pursuit to tx, well that and other ongoing ailments. Anyways, great teachings and words of wisdom from all. later
Re: Alinia. It was said up above by Willing, but I want to make sure you don't miss it for when you talk to your doc. Alinia is NOT a statin. It has nothing to do with statins or cholesterol. It's a drug used to treat parasites that has been shown to have an impact on bringing down viral load. It's just one more drug in the arsenal.
Here are some links to articles about statins and fluvastatin in particular which has been shown to be the most effective on viral load:
http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2008/04/fluvastatin_low.html
http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2008/042208_a.html
http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2006/071106_a.html
Hopefully those links don't get wiped out.
Trish
Yes, a number of hepatologists have given the green light to statins for at least four years. Of course it's important to monitor enzymes, but that is recommended for statin therapy even if you don't have HCV. As to others down the HCV food chain, word travels slower. For example, my cardiologist this year asked me if it was OK to take statins because of my liver.
I have alot of information that I'm gonna take with me to see my GI man. The last time that I spoke to him in March was the first time I ever said anything to him about actually going through tx. He seems like he knows what he's doing and I'm gonna be asking him a whole lot of questions. I think he will see a benefit in prescribing me a statin, either Alinia or one of the others. It's really been my new regular doctor who is overly cautious and obviously doesn't know anything much about it. I've read enough posts just from my question that I have enough information to hit up my GI really tough this time around. Also, I'm gonna ask him alot of other questions as I am totally serious about him doing his best on me as this could make me or break me. I used to have a regular doctor and he was the best, he didn't know a whole lot about HepC but he always sent me where I needed to go and he wouldn't let me think of HepC in a negative context, ever. I had to see one of his substitutes one time and that a-hole told me I was gonna die. Just like that, I flipped out. I was soooo mad at that d-ik, when I told my doctor what happened, he flipped as well. He was soo mad at that jerk, unfortunately my godly doctor retired. Oh well, my spirituality is what guides me now, so I think I'm in good hands. God Bless