hepatitis cand Thalassemia (mediterranean animia) geno type 2B

[Mister beagle bailey]

This is my first time on this site and just found out I have HCV-geno 2B, but I also have thalassemia which is mediterranean animia minor.  It run's in familys and there is nothing to take for it.  Taking iron, etc. can harm me, so my question is if I go on treatment for HCV and my blood count drops will I be safe?  Also does any one know if it matters having this type of animia at all?  It's totally different from the reg. animia.  Any feed back would really help.


                      Thanks,
                          mister beagel bailey

[Mister beagle bailey]

Hi,as of right now I don't know much about this yet- but thanks to you and ever one else I'm learning. The doctor I started out with here in Florida, the more I learn the less I trust her knowledge about thalassemia. two weeks ago when I seen her she said she would have to take my blood ever three weeks,never did she say she would send me too an hematologist.My daughter made me an appointment with a doctor that is a specialist in hepatitis,and thaiassemia, he comes from that part of the world. He also is teaching in collage all about hep c, about the med, and how to use it.I feel more comfortable going up to NY to see this doctor. My daughter was talking to him yesterday and he said one of the first things he will do is send me to a hematologist this way he can check my blood ever two weeks.He said once he starts me on the med he wants to make sure  he don't have to stop my med and the hematologist will be of great help.

The doc in Florida,really don't know much about thaiassemia, so I think I'm doing the right think. I will bring your info up to NY on my visit on Dec 17 will let you know how it works out. Thanks so much for the info.

Take care and good luck.

[Mister beagle bailey]

There are alot of Drs. that really don't know, that's why I'm going back to the NY doc.  It's two weeks away, will let you know what I find out  But my daughter talked to him yesterday and he said not to worry about the Thal because there are meds he will give to raise my blood count if it drops and it will drop. This dr.also works close with a blood specialist.

Keep the faith, there's always an answer to every problem.

         Bob

[iceboy]

It doesn

[GoofyDad]

You're not being a baby at all. I'd be wondering what was going on too. What do the docs say?

[cquest]

My friend is on B12 shots w/a supplemet of B12 and iron...one family member of hers gets transfusions pretty regularly...I know the iron would be a problem for you but you could ask your doc about the other stuff...

I know some of you may remember that I was on tx for a whopping 5 days back in August (or so) and mentioned the injection site being red and swollen and asking how long that would take to go away...well folks, let me just update you all on that little matter...I STILL have a swollen area on my stomach, about the size of my palm, no redness or discoloration or pain but there is an 'area' there that I noticed this morning in the shower...it feels kind of mushy like the tissue underneath was sort of disolved slightly, it's swollen but when you push on it, it 'gives in' easier than the surrounding area...very very weird...that's almost 4 months ago that I did the one shot! I know, I'm just being a baby about it but I can't help thinking what it would be like if I had stayed on tx and kept injecting and injecting...yikes...
Cin

[Wasabi Pea]

Hi, I have thalassemia minor/intermedia (awaiting tests), and I'm heading towards the end of my second round of tx.  Because the thalassemia tends to start you out at a lower hgb baseline, it's my opinion that it's important to start out with epogen before starting tx.

My first round of tx ended after three months because docs tried to intervene with Procrit/epogen too late.  Hgb dropped into 7's, and they just couldn't get it back up in time.

Second round I started on Procrit, got hgb up to 13.3.  I'm still on tx 9 months later.  Unfortunately, I've had to really drop down on my dose of riba and really up the dose of procrit, but I'm showing non-reactive on my qualitative tests (undetectable) right now.  I hope it stays that way.

But really talk to your doctor about this because my first doctor dismissed the thal and my family history of thal as irrelevant to the tx, which was incorrect.  Would have saved me a lot of headache and a lot of hair had I only had to do this once.