Hi again Mohammed,

Yes, that makes good sense. Your results look fine and indicate that you have time to wait for better all oral treatment options to become available.  Keep in touch with us and you`ll see how the new Hep C treatments are progressing.  There may be something more suitable for you as early as later this year.

Wishing you all the best, Jill

Hi Cinnamon

Thank you for your valuable information. As I have indicated before that my fibroscan test last July was F0-F1 and  I had fibrotest recently ( please see the result below ) my doctor in Saudi Arabia told me that I can wait for the new treatment all oral

 Test                                               result                                   range

Alpha 2 macroglobulin                   2.98                                     1.3 3

Total  Bilirubin                                 15.9                                     < 18

ALT / GPT                                       38                                        <  41

Gamma GT                                      33                                      11 49

APO  A1                                          1.17                                     1.2 2

Haptoglobin                                     1.24                                      03 - 2

well, my doc appt. has been move to monday. he clinic has grown by a vast amount in a short time. i asked about these meds & the girl that i talked to that changed my appt. said this was really a gooodddd drug.. BUT that BcBs has not approved yet. My daughter works for a docgtor & she said everytime a new drug came out, it takes a small amt of time for them to ok it. just the way it is. so heres to hoping that doc will EVEN put me on it & here's to ME getting on it.. :)  my meld score has been an 8 the last 1 1/2 yrs. some kind of calculation they come up with blood numbers to see how close u would be to transplant. they 14 & u need new liver NOW.  so hopefully i can undpressed about this & get active somewhat to lose some more weight. the weight i lost i have gained back. so here is to being happy bout something!!! :)

Hi Tig,

Thanks. How are your Post treatment labs??  UND, I'm sure. 

The discount could only be allowed in countries that have approved the drugs I would think.  Not sure what the cost of treatment without insurance in US would be, but it might just be the cost of doctor visits and any lab tests with the drug company discount.  The cost of medical treatment to those who are not rich--in any country--can be daunting.  And in many countries the new drugs are not yet approved.  The internet and forums like this are a real eye opener in how medical treatment is "rationed out" worldwide.

SuziQ 

Hey Susan, that's great news on your +4 week tests, yah!!! Congrats! I also believe that anyone, regardless of citizenship or location for that matter, should be eligible for discounted treatment (drug) costs. The impact on the individual shows no favoritism based on nationality or citizenship, that we know is fact...

Tig

Hi Jill,

That is an interesting question--if the drug companies will give the discounted rates to anyone coming to the US for treatment.  I would think/hope that anyone using a US doctor and pharmacy and doing treatment in the US would be eligible for the discount regardless of citizenship.

Just got my 4 week post treatment labs.  Still UND.  Do my 8 week labs in 2 more weeks. 

The new meds rock!!!

SuziQ  

Hello again Mohammed, good to hear from you.

You mentioned in a previous post that you`d be prepared to travel to the USA rather than wait for new drugs to become available in Saudi Arabia, would this still be the case? 

The latest recommendations from the AASLD (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) suggest that the best new drug treatment options for your genotype would be either a 12 week course of Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) + Ribavirin + Peg Inf, or Simeprevir (Olysio)  for 12 weeks + Ribavirin + Peg Inf for 24 weeks. There`s also the possibility that you could do a course of treatment with just Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) + Ribvirin which would probably be of more interest to you as an `all oral` treatment.

Here`s the link to that information, scroll through the `Table of Contents` and click on section 18 `Initial Treatment of HCV Infection in Patients Starting Treatment`, then scroll down to section `1V. Genotype 4`.

http://www.hcvguidelines.org/sites/default/files/full_report.pdf

I think the best thing would be to talk to a knowledgeable hepatologist who could advise you.  As you`re a Saudi Arabian national I don`t know what the situation would be concerning payment for the drugs if you were to travel to the USA for treatment.  There are other treatment drugs in the pipeline if you are prepared to wait.

Sovaldi & Olysio !!!!  I have been waiting for you!!!  

I'm making an appointment next week with my hepa!!

Hey Baddog

Congrats on your SVR the Gilead combo work very well for you, get you tell how the treatment went?

matt 

That is the medication I was on for three months, and just got my 6 months test result...........undetected.

Thank you Gilead:)))))

I hope I am making the right decision treating now! Scheduled to start soon with sovaldi, olysio and riba. 

Thank you !! Mallani!!!! i pray hard. depression has been a factor for me. got ot get over that crap!! lol

Hi TazKat,

Yep, this is the one. These are Ns-5A and NS-5B blockers respectively. Hope you're keeping well. Cheers.

is this the one that is not a protease inhibitor? i get so confused since there are so many things in the works. i relapsed on the incevik. 2 yrs ago. in a cirrohsis stage. go for 6 months checkup march 7th. hoping for some news on a med for me.. peace out.. TazKat

I am taking Sovaldi & Olysio and I think the cost is $150,000 for 12 weeks treatment. Breaks down to $64,000 for Olysio and $88,000 for the Sovaldi. So, when the insurance company denied care the first try, I kind of understood it's a lot of money, but thankfully they approved it the second try. So, If I had to guess, They say the Ledipasvir & Sovaldi has a little better cure rate like 98%-100%, compared with 93% for Sovaldi and Olysio, and the fact that is just one pill a day easier to maintain compliance. I am guessing $175,000, we will see. 

I am on Sovaldi & Olysio. The reason the insurance company approved me the second try was that my doctor said the interferon and ribavirin caused depression and that is why I needed the new meds. So, thats an angle your doctor could approach. I hope you get approved and get well soon.

This is the one I'm waiting for!    I don't want interferon or ribavirin treatments.  I just hope my crappy insurance will cover it with the usual out of pocket expenses. 

Thanks Matt

The new drug combos are moving right along.  There will be choices in the near future.  And no ribavirin or interferon.  Really an exciting time for those who have been delaying treatment waiting for drug combos with less side effects or have failed the old SOC.  Hopefully everyone will be SVR in the foreseeable future.

Note aside:  My 4 week EOT labs delayed until Thursday due to possible ice storm.  My trial sponsor Merck needs to speed it up--they have not even started Phase 3 trials yet.

SuziQ 

Hi Matt,

Thanks for that. This is the ONE. It'll be interesting to see the price of the combo pill. Cheers.

Great News for the future Demise of HCV

Gilead Files for U.S. Approval of Ledipasvir/Sofosbuvir Fixed-Dose Combination Tablet for Genotype 1 Hepatitis C

Follow this link

http://hepatitiscnewdrugs.blogspot.com/2014/02/gilead-files-for-us-approvalledipasvirs.html

What this would likely mean is that in 6-7 months Gilead will be Selling and treating GT1 patients with an all oral combo. Yahoo!

matt