I`m glad you have some more information now, and your results so far sound good. We would expect to see your ALT and AST levels elevated with an active Hep C infection. Do you have those numbers?
A hep B vaccine is recommended for everyone with Hep C, and the reason your specialist said it would take 6 months is because you need to have a course of 3 vaccinations over a period of six months. The second dose of vaccination is given at one month after the first one, and then the third one is done at six months after the first one.
I`m not aware of which insurers do require this to be completed before treatment, maybe someone else will be able to chime in on that.
Let us know about your Fibrosure test results when you have them.
Good to see things moving forward for you, even though slowly!
xtra said
Dec 1, 2015
I had my first appointment with a specialist. He said that I was not immune to Hep B and some insurance companies require inoculation for Hep B before approving treatment for Hep C. He said that inoculating for Hep B takes six months so, possibly, I could not be treated for 6 months. I have never seen anything about this. Does anyone know which insurers require this and why it is six months?
There was some good news. He did say that after 50 years of this disease, I don't have a palpable liver or spleen. All the labs are normal except for the ALT and AST. He did order Fibrosure so I will have some more numbers in 6 weeks. It is 4 to 6 weeks between appointments because he is busy but this is a small town. Not many specialist around.
Hi again xtra,
I`m glad you have some more information now, and your results so far sound good. We would expect to see your ALT and AST levels elevated with an active Hep C infection. Do you have those numbers?
A hep B vaccine is recommended for everyone with Hep C, and the reason your specialist said it would take 6 months is because you need to have a course of 3 vaccinations over a period of six months. The second dose of vaccination is given at one month after the first one, and then the third one is done at six months after the first one.
I`m not aware of which insurers do require this to be completed before treatment, maybe someone else will be able to chime in on that.
Let us know about your Fibrosure test results when you have them.
Good to see things moving forward for you, even though slowly!
I had my first appointment with a specialist. He said that I was not immune to Hep B and some insurance companies require inoculation for Hep B before approving treatment for Hep C. He said that inoculating for Hep B takes six months so, possibly, I could not be treated for 6 months. I have never seen anything about this. Does anyone know which insurers require this and why it is six months?
There was some good news. He did say that after 50 years of this disease, I don't have a palpable liver or spleen. All the labs are normal except for the ALT and AST. He did order Fibrosure so I will have some more numbers in 6 weeks. It is 4 to 6 weeks between appointments because he is busy but this is a small town. Not many specialist around.