Thank you so much for all your friendly, encouraging voices. And yes, Greg Jefferys is one big hero. I too believe he has been an influential voice in the area of drug companies and government haggling in Aus.
mallani said
Jan 5, 2016
Hi Syd,
Welcome and good luck.
As a Geno 2, your chances of SVR are excellent, even with cirrhosis. I'm glad you were able to access the generics.
Greg Jeffreys and Dr James Freeman have done a remarkable job of supplying generics from India and Bangladesh. It has forced Gilead and BMS to offer these drugs at heavily discounted prices to the Australian Government. Rumour has it that they will pay ~A$10,000 for a 12 week course of Sovaldi.
I do not share your pessimism about the PBS listing. The fairly useless Olysio will now not be prescribed. Peg and Ribavirin are cheap, and patents have long expired. My Hepatologist has lined up his previous treatment failures, and is confident they can be funded in the PBS after March 1st. Cheers.
Linuxter said
Jan 4, 2016
Hello Abigail,
Welcome to the forum, you'll like it here, lots of very wonderful, warm and knowledgeable people that will help guide you along your journey to SVR.
I'm new here too so can't really answer many questions but others will be along soon that can help with all kinds of information.
Rest assured, you came to the right place.
It will help if you can put some history and information in your signature line, helps keep people from asking you the same questions each time.
Like I said, others should be along that can help more than I.
Edit: And I see they posted while I was still typing ... LOL.
Be Well,
Linux
-- Edited by Linuxter on Tuesday 5th of January 2016 04:34:10 AM
-- Edited by Linuxter on Tuesday 5th of January 2016 04:34:27 AM
Tig said
Jan 4, 2016
Hi Syd,
welcome and congratulations for starting treatment. GT 2 is very treatable and we have had great success from our members here. I'm glad you found us and know you will fit right in. If you have any questions at all, let us try to answer them for you. We've got a lot of caring folks here and all are willing to help.
We have a few others here from Oz, and I'm sure you'll hear from them soon. Don't worry and concentrate on proper hydration and diet. Always try to stay rested, your body is in a fight right now. Give it all the support you can.
Let us know how things progress and good luck. We're here for you!
Sydhanrahan said
Jan 4, 2016
I am taking Sofosbuvir and Ribovirin, both from India as well as Daclatasvir, for 12 weeks.
i have genome type 2.
tkflex36 said
Jan 4, 2016
What drugs are you taking and for how long?
Sydhanrahan said
Jan 4, 2016
I feel very lost and frightened. I was diagnosed with Hep C in 1994 but I was advised not to take Interferon because of side effects. I was supporting four children and couldn't afford not to work.
The virus has been decimating my liver, particularly for the last two years. my specialist had been hoping for drug approval. Last October I developed ascites and my specialist suggested Greg Jefferies who lives in Tasmania, Australia and has done an amazing job making generic Indian generic drugs available to people with a doctors prescription and $1200. his blog makes inspiring reading. There has been a lot of talk about the Australian Government putting these drugs on the PBS and how wonderful it is. In actual fact, they are switching money currently used for Interferon to Sofosbuvir, daklavirun (?.) and Ribovirin. And there will still be a queue. Currently if you're on death row the one starting with D is available on the PBS. I know it's a lot better than the U.S. but the fact remains that both the drug companies and the government have put a price on the health of hundreds of thousands of people.
Anyway to return to the journey at hand, I began my treatment on 12/11/15. I was very frightened of side effects as I am alergic to many drugs and thought may be I would be one of those people who has to abort the trial. I read here of the prevalence of pre treatment anxiety and it was so comforting. So far my symptoms seem to common to most people on the new drugs - nausea, fatigue, headaches. A small price to pay for the hope it may buy me a bit more time. I haven't had bloods or viral loads done since 12/18/15 as the clinic is only open on Fridays and Christmas and New Years both fell on Fridays. So my next appointment, is 1/08/16. I feel very isolated and out of the loop.
Only people on this forum seem to understand that the difference between clearing the virus and failing to, is literally life or death.
Thank you so much for all your friendly, encouraging voices. And yes, Greg Jefferys is one big hero. I too believe he has been an influential voice in the area of drug companies and government haggling in Aus.
Hi Syd,
Welcome and good luck.
As a Geno 2, your chances of SVR are excellent, even with cirrhosis. I'm glad you were able to access the generics.
Greg Jeffreys and Dr James Freeman have done a remarkable job of supplying generics from India and Bangladesh. It has forced Gilead and BMS to offer these drugs at heavily discounted prices to the Australian Government. Rumour has it that they will pay ~A$10,000 for a 12 week course of Sovaldi.
I do not share your pessimism about the PBS listing. The fairly useless Olysio will now not be prescribed. Peg and Ribavirin are cheap, and patents have long expired. My Hepatologist has lined up his previous treatment failures, and is confident they can be funded in the PBS after March 1st. Cheers.
Hello Abigail,
Welcome to the forum, you'll like it here, lots of very wonderful, warm and knowledgeable people that will help guide you along your journey to SVR.
I'm new here too so can't really answer many questions but others will be along soon that can help with all kinds of information.
Rest assured, you came to the right place.
It will help if you can put some history and information in your signature line, helps keep people from asking you the same questions each time.
Here's a link to abbreviations used in case you need it http://hepcfriends.activeboard.com/t51085702/forum-abbreviations/
Like I said, others should be along that can help more than I.
Edit: And I see they posted while I was still typing ... LOL.
Be Well,
Linux
-- Edited by Linuxter on Tuesday 5th of January 2016 04:34:10 AM
-- Edited by Linuxter on Tuesday 5th of January 2016 04:34:27 AM
Hi Syd,
welcome and congratulations for starting treatment. GT 2 is very treatable and we have had great success from our members here. I'm glad you found us and know you will fit right in. If you have any questions at all, let us try to answer them for you. We've got a lot of caring folks here and all are willing to help.
We have a few others here from Oz, and I'm sure you'll hear from them soon. Don't worry and concentrate on proper hydration and diet. Always try to stay rested, your body is in a fight right now. Give it all the support you can.
Let us know how things progress and good luck. We're here for you!
I am taking Sofosbuvir and Ribovirin, both from India as well as Daclatasvir, for 12 weeks.
i have genome type 2.
I feel very lost and frightened. I was diagnosed with Hep C in 1994 but I was advised not to take Interferon because of side effects. I was supporting four children and couldn't afford not to work.
The virus has been decimating my liver, particularly for the last two years. my specialist had been hoping for drug approval. Last October I developed ascites and my specialist suggested Greg Jefferies who lives in Tasmania, Australia and has done an amazing job making generic Indian generic drugs available to people with a doctors prescription and $1200. his blog makes inspiring reading. There has been a lot of talk about the Australian Government putting these drugs on the PBS and how wonderful it is. In actual fact, they are switching money currently used for Interferon to Sofosbuvir, daklavirun (?.) and Ribovirin. And there will still be a queue. Currently if you're on death row the one starting with D is available on the PBS. I know it's a lot better than the U.S. but the fact remains that both the drug companies and the government have put a price on the health of hundreds of thousands of people.
Anyway to return to the journey at hand, I began my treatment on 12/11/15. I was very frightened of side effects as I am alergic to many drugs and thought may be I would be one of those people who has to abort the trial. I read here of the prevalence of pre treatment anxiety and it was so comforting. So far my symptoms seem to common to most people on the new drugs - nausea, fatigue, headaches. A small price to pay for the hope it may buy me a bit more time. I haven't had bloods or viral loads done since 12/18/15 as the clinic is only open on Fridays and Christmas and New Years both fell on Fridays. So my next appointment, is 1/08/16. I feel very isolated and out of the loop.
Only people on this forum seem to understand that the difference between clearing the virus and failing to, is literally life or death.