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458027 tn?1223609651

Treat or not to treat?

I am 71 and stage 3.  I was going to go through treatment but not entirely convinced that it was what I wanted to do.  My dr says unless I am totally committed that he does not want to treat me.  At present I have no problems except for joints that seem weak.
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92903 tn?1309904711
I have similar stats. Can you expand on the liver much improved comment? Thanks!
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Avatar universal
I treated at 66 yrs old. type 2b, 24 weeks peg / riba. Not an easy trip due to bad anemia, but I made it to SVR.
Give it a try, but make sure you are closely monitored by a good hep doc.
Good Luck
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Avatar universal
You are not too old to treat, I saw where tx was stopped  b/c of a low neut count. I have a ? for you, Why werent you allowed to continue tx when u started on neupogen? I txd at 50 years old, i was stage 4 well compensated and svr now 18mths. Liver and spleen much improved. All Joint Pain gone.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for posting.
I was diagnosed two months ago at 59 years old.  I thought I was the oldest person in the world who wanted to treat.  
It's your decision to make but you sure encouraged me.

Rosebud
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Avatar universal
If you are in good health, and your hep plans on watching you closely (weekly labs), I would go for it.  Especially since you only have to treat for 24wks.  Make your dcision based on how you feel and read up on the side-effects of tx, the majority of us experience some nasty sides, but there are a few out there who dont. Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones!!!  Good Luck, Leah  
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Avatar universal
Thanks for pm'ing me that you are genotype 1.

I am sorry to hear that you have this difficult decision to make.  If you are ever going to treat then I think you shouldn't wait, you should do it ASAP or not at all, because you are already stage 3 and because the older you get the harder it will be to take the treatment.  

That said, it's a question of do you want to take a 50% chance of being cured of HCV?

The risk if you treat is that you get sick from the sides of the meds and the tx fails anyway.  The risk if you don't treat is that you get sick from the HCV and it gets worse for the rest of your life.  

Seems to me that there are no guarantees but there is a window of opportunity right now which leads to your having a healthy old age instead of an increasingly debilitated one.

dointime
  
Helpful - 0
146021 tn?1237204887
It's kinda like what the dr tells men with prostrate cancer at 71.....
The cancer could kill you in ten years or something else could kill you by then.....
or before then....It's all a **** shoot I think.
I work in long term care/rehab and I have seen 3 people with a Hep C dx in the last few months. One was a woman with Crohn's that I posted about on the other side, one is a 89 yr old man who was transfused during heart surgery 30 yrs ago. He is not treating, and truthfully, I'm not sure he's even aware of his dx. He is in good health, all things considered, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the hep c that kills him...
Good luck with your decision...
Bug
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387294 tn?1207620185
type 3 mar  (so only 24 weeks)
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Avatar universal
What genotype are you?

dointime
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387294 tn?1207620185
Well my sides did not get worse after a number of weeks, they became more manageable and some went away.  Some people have sides get worse at different times, many of these can be treated.  71 is still young and having just finished treatment I believe it is worth a try.  Even if it doesn't work it will improve your liver stage, most say, and how you feel after treatment.  I am almost 2 weeks post treatment and feeling great, better than before.
Helpful - 0
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