Never in doubt! Hugs.

And a huge woohoo from me on your SVR24!

Thanks BP, it's outstanding!

Hurray !!! I wish you celebrate SVR2400!!!

 God Bless !

I can't believe it..... SVR 12!

Wishing the same for all x

Good to see the Hb come back up. So, you've got gallstones- so have I.

Great stuff Susan.

Hi all, results today at 12 wks EOT against previous..

HB 117 ....And 12 wks earlier (73)

WBC 5................................(1.9)

platelets 172........................(62)

neutrophils 2.5......................(1)

AFP 1.7

ALT 34.................................(15)

U/S results

"liver homogenous in echo texture and is of normal size with smooth margins. No focal nodularity or lesions have been identified. Multiple calculi are noted within the gallbladder. Common bile duct measuring 4.8 mm and gallbladder wall measuring 1mm are both within normal limits. There are no soon graphic features of acute cholecystitis"

Thanks Gracie, Scruffy and Mal! So kind of you to respond to my concerns. I have actually had a little relief with my hands since taking daily magnesium powder, but sleeping is still bothersome. It's encouraging to hear that it may infact be just a matter of time before these annoyances resolve themselves. I'm happy to say I have put on 6 kg in the last month! This is great news for me, I'm actually looking healthy these days. 

mal you may be right about the "spider" diagnosis. they are quite small and disappear when i apply pressure but then quickly reappear. if it is or it isn't, I do know they faded completely during tx but returned after finishing. They are somewhat faded in comparison to a few years ago, not a big deal. 

hope everyone is feeling good, thanks for taking the time to read

Be well friends,

x

Hi Susan,

I'm patiently waiting for your SVR, so I'm glad you're getting a 12 week VL.

Probably starting champix wasn't a good idea at this time. You've still got Ribavirin in your system and 48 weeks of Interferon takes up to a year to recover from.

Champix has a long list of side effects and interactions, so give it a miss for 6 months.

Your hand pain, tingling and numbness are probably related to Interferon. These problems will settle down.

From your Fibroscan, you're not cirrhotic. As we said last year, you probably only needed 28 weeks of treatment, but that's not relevant now.

With an ALT of only 15, there's nothing going on in your liver so relax and look forward to SVR.

As for the 'spider naevi' , who told you what they were? I hope it wasn't your GI who had you on the wrong dose of Victrelis. There are many similar skin lesions, and anyhow, females often have a number of them.

Just relax and wait for your Hb to come back up. Cheers.

Hiyas

Some where during my treatment I got "prune finger tips" wrinkled like from water. It still persists to this day. Comes and goes. I don't know about pain as I have 4th stage arthritis in my hands so if I use them to much or in the wrong was they hurt. I'm supposed to wear a thing that disables the use of my thumbs. The pain hasn't gotten any worse post tx.

Hi Miffy,

Sorry you are having trouble with your hands. It's interesting to me as my hands have been puffy for the past few years and after my round with incevik, I had pains in a couple of fingers, my right hip and feet joints. I think it's the Inteferon that causes this. I'm sure others with more medical knowledge will tell you about that. Glad to report that a year and a half later that most of those aches and pains have subsided. The only remaining thing is my stomach issues And i take a daily pill for that that helps. I sure hope your pains subside as well after some time. Don't think it has anything to do with SVR. 

thinking of you ... 

Gracie

Hello everyone,

it's been almost 3 months since tx finished and I feel much better. 5 weeks ago I began taking champix to facilitate a smooth farewell from nicotine. Remarkably it worked very well but despite this I was nervous  about remaining on champix, so three wks in I decided to stop. Since stopping this med I have experienced debilitating pain and inflammation in both hands. i have mentioned previously that at some point during my pegasys tx I began to experience random tingling and numbness in my hands during sleep. This has progressed to a level where sleeping is no longer pleasurable as I am woken many times. It just seems as though taking champix has taken it to a new and unbearable level. Iv never had joint pain or experienced weakness like this. I see my GI in a couple of weeks for my 12 wk results. She only wanted me to do routine bloods but I am instead going to do the PCR test that was meant for 24 wks. champix has been reported to elevate liver enzymes in a population of ppl with existing liver damage or hep. im not confident I have achieved SVR but I will know soon enough. Shortly after EOT my spider naevi returned. this was disheartening. My GI believes I am cirrhotic and I was beginning to believe I may not be but like I said, not so confident right now......

worse things happen to better ppl so I'll be right!

hope your all feeling well! X

Thanks so much Matt! Wishing you a smooth journey and SVR as your final destination!

have a beautiful day!

Hey Miffy

Congrats indeed, 48 weeks are a marathon and you have completed the find fight a won the race. SVR will be waiting hopefully right around the corner.

matt

Hi Greg, Tig, Mal and Cinnamon,

So nice to receive your encouraging responses.

Thanks so much! Xx

Hi Miffy, that`s brilliant...very well done!!  Give yourself a big pat on the back for getting through such a long stretch of difficult treatment, it`s an achievement to be very proud of!!    

Big congrats on your EOT UND result...onwards and upward to SVR!!! 

Hi Miffy,

Congratulations!!!! Great achievement.

Prediction: You will achieve SVR and your next Fibroscan will be under 10.  I'm willing to bet my Super. Fund on it.

At your age you should recover quickly, but don't expect too much for a few months. Try to get a VL at EOT + 12 weeks so we can celebrate with you. Cheers mate.

Hey Miffy, 

WOOT! Congratulations! 48 weeks of P/R/Victrelis is a monumental achievement and one you can be proud to have accomplished. I can understand why you might want to wait to do any backflips! With that Hgb and platelet count, you might just want to watch stuff like that on TV! I'm so happy for you and know you must be beside yourself. Now it's time to recover.

The thing that I found difficult to adjust to after I ended treatment, was not having to take all those pills so many times a day, the food and all the water. My alarms were the first thing I turned off, that was a happy moment! You might find yourself jumping up because you think you missed your alarm and then remember it's all over. It's a good feeling knowing its done. You've done so well and been undetected for do long, I know this is your time. I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing the coming test results! Good luck...

Tig    

Hi Miffy!

What fantastic news!!!!!!!!! No cartwheels unless you can do the splits to finish it off lol.

You made my night with your great news. Congratulations, you earned it and I couldn't be prouder for you and of you. Shine on.

Hello all,

I'm so excited to be able to say my 48 weeks is over!

If I could muster a cartwheel without injury I would!

My EOT results are nothing less than fabulous...

UNDETECTED.

ALT 15, HB 73, platelets 62, albumin 35

Even with the possibility of relapse, I feel so lucky that I was given this opportunity.

Mal, I was reduced to 600 mg of RIBA about 3 months into tx.

My next bloods are scheduled in 3 months and unless their is cause for concern,

next PCR and fibroscan will be 6 months EOT.

Paul, I too was her last patient on this protocol. Hope your hanging in there, my thoughts continue to be with you and I will be overjoyed when you reach the end.

Be kind to yourself, it's not an easy journey, but how lucky we are to be given the chance to alter the course and destruction of this disease. 

Thankyou so much to all the kind people on this forum. I apologise for not making the effort I'd hoped too in supporting everybody else here.

I hope I can offer more as I begin to feel better.

Thanks so much for reading and wishing all kinds of wonderful for you x