Aa
fibrosis reverse?
i am getting 3 month treatment with harvoni+ribavirin. can fibrosis be reversed after i beat virus? it says everywhere that hepatitis c is considered as curable desease, it is "considered" but is it really fully cureable? if it is, why u have to stay away from couple of things for example even 1-2 glass pf alcohol. i hate alcohol but just a question
Yes hepatitis c in now curable with the meds approved in the last few years. Curing hepatitis c means eradicating the hep c virus from your body. Cured means when you are tested 12 weeks after you have finished treatment and the hep c virus is not detected in your blood on the HCV RNA by PCR test you no longer are infected with the Hep C virus. You will always test positive for hep c antibodies for the rest of your life but antibodies are not the virus. Antibodies are made bu your own body when it tried to fight off the hep c virus.
However, curing hep c is a separate issue from liver damage. The reversal of fibrosis depends on the severity of liver damage are you F1, F2, or even F3? The less liver damage you have the greater your odds for reversal of fibrosis. I have read for those with F2 and below they can return to a normal life as though they never had hep c.
If you do have liver cirrhosis that is why you can never drink alcohol and will need to have blood testing and abdominal ultrasounds every 6 months and at a minimum see your liver specialist every year to monitor for early signs of HCC (heptocellular carcinoma aka liver cancer) as we with cirrhosis are at increased risk for HCC although with cure of hep c our risk of HCC is greatly reduced.
For those like myself with fibrosis score of F4 or liver cirrhosis even we have about a 50% chance in some decrease in liver fibrosis and return of liver function.
I do not expect to ever attain a score of less than F3 but I hope I will see some improvement with time. My platelet count did rise about 20 points after I was cured of hep c 2 years ago tomorrow. But so far that is all I can point to.
But what I do know is my liver damage from hep c has stopped and I have the hope to live a normal life span and not to develop decompensated cirrhosis meaning that in order to live I would have to hope for a liver transplant that might never come.
I hope this helps answer your question
good luck on treatment
Lynn
However, curing hep c is a separate issue from liver damage. The reversal of fibrosis depends on the severity of liver damage are you F1, F2, or even F3? The less liver damage you have the greater your odds for reversal of fibrosis. I have read for those with F2 and below they can return to a normal life as though they never had hep c.
If you do have liver cirrhosis that is why you can never drink alcohol and will need to have blood testing and abdominal ultrasounds every 6 months and at a minimum see your liver specialist every year to monitor for early signs of HCC (heptocellular carcinoma aka liver cancer) as we with cirrhosis are at increased risk for HCC although with cure of hep c our risk of HCC is greatly reduced.
For those like myself with fibrosis score of F4 or liver cirrhosis even we have about a 50% chance in some decrease in liver fibrosis and return of liver function.
I do not expect to ever attain a score of less than F3 but I hope I will see some improvement with time. My platelet count did rise about 20 points after I was cured of hep c 2 years ago tomorrow. But so far that is all I can point to.
But what I do know is my liver damage from hep c has stopped and I have the hope to live a normal life span and not to develop decompensated cirrhosis meaning that in order to live I would have to hope for a liver transplant that might never come.
I hope this helps answer your question
good luck on treatment
Lynn
5 Comments
Lynn thank you thank you thank you. you are helping me so much, i know my liver is only slightly damaged and thats all. i will look for my ultrasound results in documents. good luck you too!
in my test results there is written fib4=0.76 is it serious? which type is it from above F1 F2 F3 or so
thank you in advance
with different calculators online i got different value of fib 4 and there is also information thats telling me that lower than roughly( i dont remember number) 1.5 is good and the higher fib4 is the worse is situation, but also saw a test where fib was calculated in negative numbers too and 0.76 was very bad result.. soo if u are adequate in this case pls answer me, i would be grateful
The test is named the Fib 4
I found this:
"Interpretation:
Using a lower cutoff value of 1.45, a FIB-4 score 3.25 would have a 97% specificity and a positive predictive value of 65% for advanced fibrosis."
As I read this it means if your score was less than 1.45 the odds are 90% that you do not have cirrhosis.
This would correspond with what you already have been told that you only have minimal liver damage. Scores range from F0 (no liver damage) to F4 cirrhosis with each increasing, score F1 minimal liver damage, F2 more liver damage,F3 borderline cirrhosis and F4 cirrhosis.
At least this is my lay persons best guess.
For medical questions the best person to ask is a medical professional.
I am only a patient that was infected with hep c for 37 years and living with liver cirrhosis since 2008.
Since you have already been told you don't have much liver damage I wouldn't worry about this test or if you want clarification ask your doctor.
I found this:
"Interpretation:
Using a lower cutoff value of 1.45, a FIB-4 score 3.25 would have a 97% specificity and a positive predictive value of 65% for advanced fibrosis."
As I read this it means if your score was less than 1.45 the odds are 90% that you do not have cirrhosis.
This would correspond with what you already have been told that you only have minimal liver damage. Scores range from F0 (no liver damage) to F4 cirrhosis with each increasing, score F1 minimal liver damage, F2 more liver damage,F3 borderline cirrhosis and F4 cirrhosis.
At least this is my lay persons best guess.
For medical questions the best person to ask is a medical professional.
I am only a patient that was infected with hep c for 37 years and living with liver cirrhosis since 2008.
Since you have already been told you don't have much liver damage I wouldn't worry about this test or if you want clarification ask your doctor.
Ok I just looked at your earlier posts you are just recently infected with hep c in the last 4 or 5 months. Only about 20% of people infected with hepatitis C for 20 years time will develop advanced liver disease or cirrhosis.
There is very little possibility that you would have any liver damage if your date of infection is correct you are very likely F0 no liver damage.
There is very little possibility that you would have any liver damage if your date of infection is correct you are very likely F0 no liver damage.
9 Comments
yep it was 4-5 month ago, also i had head surgery when i was 6 month old and they transfused blood 3 times. so my hep may be 19 years old now.. relatives and all the people i know say that i should avoid drinking for life and i dont trust them in medicine so i asked here :d i will ask everything i posted here to my doctor on 11 may. is your hepatitis c cured now? fortunately in my country treatment of C is absolutely free, im very lucky in this way
Yes my hep c is cured. I finished my fifth treatment (I treated 4 times unsuccessfully) 2 years ago yesterday.
As far as the future drinking I would trust your doctors advise not your friends unless they are medical professionals.
It appears you don't have liver damage from you test result and you have been advised by you medical team you do not have liver damage.
Even if you did have hep c for 19 years not everyone will develop significant liver damage in fact most do not.
From all I have read if you do not have liver damage and you cure your hep c you can live the same life you would have had you never been infected but that is up to your doctor to advise.
While you have hep c it has been said that drinking with hep c is like throwing gasoline on a fire increasing the possibility of developing liver damage.
Of course a patient like me with cirrhosis for 9 years now I should never drink any alcohol.
I had good insurance through my employer. I only had a $5 copay so my 6 months of Harvoni only cost me $30 dollars.
Good luck
You will be fine I have no doubt.
As far as the future drinking I would trust your doctors advise not your friends unless they are medical professionals.
It appears you don't have liver damage from you test result and you have been advised by you medical team you do not have liver damage.
Even if you did have hep c for 19 years not everyone will develop significant liver damage in fact most do not.
From all I have read if you do not have liver damage and you cure your hep c you can live the same life you would have had you never been infected but that is up to your doctor to advise.
While you have hep c it has been said that drinking with hep c is like throwing gasoline on a fire increasing the possibility of developing liver damage.
Of course a patient like me with cirrhosis for 9 years now I should never drink any alcohol.
I had good insurance through my employer. I only had a $5 copay so my 6 months of Harvoni only cost me $30 dollars.
Good luck
You will be fine I have no doubt.
Thank you so much for your support. Good luck!
Curious why you are treating with Harvoni AND ribavirin.
Normal treatment would be 8 or 12 weeks depending of several factors but without ribavirin.
The only time I have seen 12 weeks of Harvoni with ribavirin used is for those who failed prior treatments and have cirrhosis.
Normal treatment would be 8 or 12 weeks depending of several factors but without ribavirin.
The only time I have seen 12 weeks of Harvoni with ribavirin used is for those who failed prior treatments and have cirrhosis.
do not know.. :/ contacted several doctors about it in Georgia and in Russia too, they tell me its apropriate treatment
Well it is probably a more aggressive treatment than you really need unless you have liver cirrhosis. It will cure you but with the ribavirin treatment will be a little bit more difficult.
Have you been told you have liver cirrhosis?
Your other posts said you were recently infected are you now saying you have been infected for 19 years?
If you have cirrhosis or signifigant liver damage it is correct that you cannot drink alcohol for the rest of your life even you cure hep c you will continue to have liver damage.
Have you been told you have liver cirrhosis?
Your other posts said you were recently infected are you now saying you have been infected for 19 years?
If you have cirrhosis or signifigant liver damage it is correct that you cannot drink alcohol for the rest of your life even you cure hep c you will continue to have liver damage.
The important thing is even if you had hep c for many years you may have no liver damage. What does your doctor say about the health of your liver? Do they say you have liver damage or not?
no they say its not damaged, and after 2 weeks of treatment liver is in very slightly better condition. idk when i was infected, 4 month from now or 19 years ...
Its some kind of programme here. if you have 3a genotype by this programme u should take harvoni+ribavirin. Its Gilead programme and doctor can't change it unless i pay for the drugs, as i guess.
If you don't have cirrhosis and only have little to no liver damage (less than F2) after cure per the AASLD you can conduct your life as though you never had hep c. As I have cirrhosis I need to have blood testing and ultrasound testing done every 6 months and see my hepatologist at the liver transplant center every year. If you are less than F2 after cure you can put hep c in the rear view mirror of life.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis C Community
Learn about this treatable virus.
Getting tested for this viral infection.
3 key steps to getting on treatment.
4 steps to getting on therapy.
What you need to know about Hep C drugs.
How the drugs might affect you.
These tips may up your chances of a cure.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
