TOPIC:

Well… that happened.

Six months of Sof/Dac; never missed a single dose. I was pretty hopeful because I tested Undetected at 2 weeks after starting treatment and my starting VL was 14 million. I remained UND through EOT (tested again at 4 wks, 8wks, EOT). EOT + 4wk test saw the virus surge back to 12 million.

Ah well, I guess I am a nice place to live.

While I had almost no notable sx there were a couple curious things. Though I generally felt good throughout tx, I didn’t experience a marked increase in energy and feeling of well-being… until about 2 wks after EOT. At that point I noticed that I felt really good; full of energy and fully engaged with every moment of the day, which seems odd, almost as if my body responded with enthusiasm to the return of it’s previously known state.

Also, my monitoring physician did another Fibroscan at EOT. My pre-tx Fibroscan was 8.9, so high-ish F2 (interestingly, the Fibrotest Pre-tx was F3). At EOT my score dropped to 4.8, so F0/F1. That was even more unexpected than my 2 wk RVR. I don’t know what to make of that exactly except that in my case it seems the non-invasive fibrosis tests more accurately demonstrated liver inflammation rather than actual fibrosis.

Not being cured is frustrating and disappointing, although curiously, not crushing, perhaps because I’ve only known about my hep-C for less than a year. Most frustrating is that there’s no clear explanation of why the tx failed. Most likely it’s RAVs. My dr. took blood Pre-tx to store so we’d be able to test for baseline RAVs in case of tx failure, but his tech accidentally sent it in rather than stowing it in the fridge That test found the Y93H mutation (as well as others that apparently are not clinically relevant). That was tested again after tx failure and showed the exact same mutations, which is good since it says I did not develop any new NS5A resistance. Though I don’t quite understand how they survived the Sof for 6 months, I guess the RAVs got me. Oh, and the whole ‘harder to treat GT3’ thing.

So yeah… tx failure. Like others, I’ve got my eye on the Sof/Vel/Vox combo. So now there’s the wait for the release of Vox and trying to stop my mind from incessantly chewing on the why of my failed tx. One thing I’m confident was not a factor is the choice of generics and I am deeply grateful for Dr. Freeman’s efforts as well as the courage and determination of everyone on this forum.

Hello hepCat,

Really sorry to hear about your relapse.

The sad reality of <100% statistics is that some people fall into the relapse group.

Yes, Sof+Vel+Vox (and probably with Ribavirin) is what you should be chasing. Zepatier + Sofosbuvir is similar.

Happy to have a chat offline, or here.

I don't know how HCV works... In my case after EOT I don't feel much better. In my opinion I feel even worst during the time I had to swallow sofosbuvir and daclatasvir pills.

My situation was quite similar to yours. I was undetected since 18th day of treatment. Additionally I got HCV-RNA test in the middle and in the end of treatement, Both were negative. I followed Doc. Freeman advise and I've extended my treatment to 24 weeks- F2 (9.2 kPa) and VL: 1,23*10^6 IU/ml. Today I received SVR4 HCV-RNA test: HCV virus is not detected. Now I am wait for SVR12... and whatever tomorrow brings.

Hi Lukemeister,

Congrats on the SVR4. The drugs should be mostly washed out of your body now. If you felt unwell taking them it's fair to say they only just agreed with you so we would expect things to improve.

It would be worth trailing some vitamin B12 to see if that helps and checking both thyroid and for diabetes.

Hi hepCat,

I'm really sorry to hear about your relapse. There are a few of us here that know exactly how you feel. Like you I was disappointed and also quite sad as I had so looked forward to experiencing a HepC free life after so many years of dragging the baggage around with me. I also did the guilt thing about "what did I do to stuff it up". which is understandable but not useful.

I can see though that you're working your way through it and despite the frustration of "why" you're looking forward. I've now completed another treatment and am sitting in the waiting room again. My second round included one of the big guns Ribavirin and the virus fled very early in my treatment which was a good sign. I don't doubt that this will be the same for you.

Good luck with your next steps.

Coral

Hi HepCat, ...I am also very sorry to hear of your relapse. .There are more options now with other new drugs, you will be

able to beat this on the next round. ..Good news though that you are feeling well.; . sounds like you were doing everything

right. Best of luck with the next treatment....

so sorry bro to read about your situation. hope some new med-combinations can bring help for you and you stay tight untill then!

Hi HepCat,

I have just finished 6 months re-treatment and understand that the virus does not want to leave us cats alone.

Second time around I found that AFP was down to 2, rather then 4, and LFT's were all normal without the slight elevation the first time around.

Red cells and platelets were a sad storey ........

Keep up the fight as I think the virus takes some convincing it s not welcome anymore.

yours


Jeff

Damn. I've had 3 months dac/sof gen 3a, no cirrhosis (metavir F2) and at week 8 I was still detectable (40). I was certain I failed, but at EOT I was undetected and thank goodness I stayed undetected.