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Need answers, doctors are no help
Hello. Doctors just told me that I have Heb C viral load of 1,020,000, I asked about treatment they gave pegassist box told me to look thru it and they will see me in 1 month. I am still trying to get over that they would not even spend 5 minutes with me. Please, can someone tell me how bad is 1,020,000, and how bad is the treatment. Do you know of any other treatment? Thank you very much in advance.
Find a new doctor. If your doctor doesn't have time for you now he PROBABLY won't get much better later. Having a good doctor is VERY important.
Welcome. Portann sums up pretty well! Keep reading on this forum and I think you will get many more answers than you will at the doctor. Sounds like you have the doctor that started me. Five minutes was more time than they could spare, often.
An important part of this, if you don't already know, is the genotype of your virus and the condition of your liver (from biopsy). These are probably the two biggest factors that affect the success of treatment, and how long treatment may be. Don't wait for the doc to educate you, because it probably won't happen. Get your test results and do some research. This is a good site for that.
Some good basic information can be found at the following links: http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepatitis_C.asp
http://www.janis7hepc.com/Information%20Links.htm
Good luck!
An important part of this, if you don't already know, is the genotype of your virus and the condition of your liver (from biopsy). These are probably the two biggest factors that affect the success of treatment, and how long treatment may be. Don't wait for the doc to educate you, because it probably won't happen. Get your test results and do some research. This is a good site for that.
Some good basic information can be found at the following links: http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepatitis_C.asp
http://www.janis7hepc.com/Information%20Links.htm
Good luck!
I'm somewhat new to the forum myself. Let me say hi and welcome. You're taking the news in stride better than I did and my doctor was as helpful (not) as yours when I found out.
I want to reassure you and, if you don't mind, give you some tips about the forum, from my experience.
First of all, if you scroll to the top of this page you will see a blue link that says Hepatitis Forum. I would copy and post your very same question there. The reason I say that is it's easier to get medical answers there and it's busier. In theory, this side is for social issues related to HCV. It doesn't matter to anyone which side you post but practically, you may get more replies more quickly. That's my observation. Also, I think things are quieter on the weekend and pick up during the week. I've been out all day and didn't check here until now.
I believe that one million viral load is par for the course and there are people here who are all over the map, higher and lower.
The insert from the Pegasys box is excellent in one way and I think more people should read it. The company is obliged, though, to have extreme disclosure, so it lists every and any possible side effect. It can be scary but the warning labels on many mainstream medications are equally scary if we ever bothered to read them.
I can give you an idea of what you can expect to hear from some of our excellent expert-members. Having a biopsy will probably be the number one recommendation. Your viral load doesn't tell you very much, oddly enough, about your liver, which is the primary concern here. You can have a high viral load and a relatively healthy liver and vice versa. If your liver is relatively healthy, you may want to wait for better and shorter treatments because there've been some very exciting Vertex trials going on that may reduce treatment time and get better results. In fact, most people who have hepatitis C die of other unrelated causes. You can decide if you want to treat now, later or ever, depending on your profile,
You can also enter side effects into the search box on the hepatitis forum page and read the archives. Keep in mind that people tend to post about current difficulties but not necessarily when they're on a roll. So in that sense, it may be lop-sided. There are some predictors but you almost have to hope for the best. Some people work, some people don't. Some people who re-treat react differently each time. It's a mug's game, I think, to predict.
I want to reassure you and, if you don't mind, give you some tips about the forum, from my experience.
First of all, if you scroll to the top of this page you will see a blue link that says Hepatitis Forum. I would copy and post your very same question there. The reason I say that is it's easier to get medical answers there and it's busier. In theory, this side is for social issues related to HCV. It doesn't matter to anyone which side you post but practically, you may get more replies more quickly. That's my observation. Also, I think things are quieter on the weekend and pick up during the week. I've been out all day and didn't check here until now.
I believe that one million viral load is par for the course and there are people here who are all over the map, higher and lower.
The insert from the Pegasys box is excellent in one way and I think more people should read it. The company is obliged, though, to have extreme disclosure, so it lists every and any possible side effect. It can be scary but the warning labels on many mainstream medications are equally scary if we ever bothered to read them.
I can give you an idea of what you can expect to hear from some of our excellent expert-members. Having a biopsy will probably be the number one recommendation. Your viral load doesn't tell you very much, oddly enough, about your liver, which is the primary concern here. You can have a high viral load and a relatively healthy liver and vice versa. If your liver is relatively healthy, you may want to wait for better and shorter treatments because there've been some very exciting Vertex trials going on that may reduce treatment time and get better results. In fact, most people who have hepatitis C die of other unrelated causes. You can decide if you want to treat now, later or ever, depending on your profile,
You can also enter side effects into the search box on the hepatitis forum page and read the archives. Keep in mind that people tend to post about current difficulties but not necessarily when they're on a roll. So in that sense, it may be lop-sided. There are some predictors but you almost have to hope for the best. Some people work, some people don't. Some people who re-treat react differently each time. It's a mug's game, I think, to predict.
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