EOT extended from 48 to 50

[TeeVee36]

I thought that tomorrow was my last injection, it is number 48.  My dx's office called me and said they wanted me to take two more injections and then the riba a week after the last injection.  That puts me at 50 weeks which I find baffling.  

I have heard of 24 wks; 48 wks; and the dreaded 72 wks but what's up with two extra shots?  I will do it, I have made it this far I guess a couple extra weeks won't kill me.

[mremeet]

Think of it this way: There are *many* people who fail to achieve SVR after 48 weeks of treatment, especially those with geno 1. And amongst those that failed treatment, there are an unidentifiable subset within that group that were very close to achieving SVR at week 48, but just weren't *quite* there. Had they taken the drugs for just another 2, 3 or maybe 6 more weeks, they would have been cured instead of relapsing later. Unfortunately there's no way to know who these people are ahead of time. All we have as patients are percentages, odds and statistics to find our way and place our bets. And placing a bet is certainly what geno 1 treatment is with today's highly imperfect treatment.

I don't know why your doctor has seemingly decided arbitrarily to glue on 2 more weeks of tx, but what I do know is that the longer you take those drugs, the more insurance you're buying for achieving SVR later. You're more likely to SVR with 50 weeks of tx than you are with 48 weeks of tx. There's nothing magic or precise about the 24, 48, 72 week etc durations that are commonly used, and there's nothing bad or useless about 50 weeks either. Yes, you're also adding more insult to your body by going another 2 weeks beyond an already nerve wracking 48, and it's something you'll have to reckon with after treatment. And it may be for nought, you may already have your SVR, you may have crossed that threshold 15 weeks ago. Or, you still may not have it, even at 50 weeks. That's the kind of "bio-casino" we're dealing with here.

In the end, it probably isn't going to make a difference. But there is that off chance that it will make the difference. If you stop at 48 and relapse later, you'll always wonder what might have happened had you extended just a little longer. If you're tolerating the drugs reasonably well, in my opinion I'd go ahead and tack on the extra 2 weeks. Geno 1 SVR rates with 48 weeks of SOC treatment needs all the help it can get. Good luck...

[FlGuy]

I need to apologize for yesterday.  Had I noticed you were on week 40-something, I would have suggested that you forget that missed riba.  You've been und for 38 weeks now it seems.  The magic behind 50 weeks, who knows?.  Ask the doc his logic, but do the two extra.  It could be that he knows I did 46  and he's just trying to put balance in the universe

[geterdone]

LMAO, posted to the wrong post, who is on first lol... O'well catch it on the other one.

jasper

[charm27]

I thought I would be doing 48. However doing 52. I think my doc pulled this number out of a hat!

At that point one or two shots wont make a difference.
Hope all works out!