Hi again Mike,

I did greet you, (met you) over in STL's thread when you first posted there (bout 10 days ago), but since you have moved over here, you maybe did not see my reply to you.

So, another "good for you"!, and hello, and yer doing good, from me (over here). I was making some sig. line suggestions to you over there, but i see you got it sorted beautifully over here now. 

Your 8 weeks labs look good, good kidney function labs (creatinine and GFR), and nice you did not have to fret about that temporary blip in your lipase very long - it was good (over in your STP post) that Tig relayed about how these lipase abberations can "just occur" while on treatment, and are often short-lived.

Yes, you and STP will have to make due knowing your docs are pleased with your nice normalized crashed ALT's and AST's - revealing and heralding how beautifully the epclusa is working for you two. Sigh, I guess we will all have to patiently wait until your SVR12 UND before we can really have your first UND party - but in all good guessing, both of you were likely UND right soon to when your ALT dropped.

When you made your recent post over in STP, I did read your old/old/old posts and noted you had been around (a member) for some time, so I am really glad you are posting again, but "on treatment" better yet, and on epclusa, you gotter made bud!  And, alllll-most done too! Won't be long now. C.

Ew, gee, 2 biopsies, I didn't catch that the first time I was reading about your hx, I thought you had just had the one biopsy at first - man what a way to find out you are "not too shabby" in that dept.  

hi mike, so glad you got your thread going and are doing well on the magic beans.sun:

5

Hi Mike,

Glad to see you now have a thread too. Your results look just great. Like you I had no real symptoms but they now know that can rapidly change, and by the time the symptoms become apparent there is a lot of liver damage. I think we are both very lucky to have got onto treatment early on before that happens.

All the best with your Lovely Magic Beans. I'm now at 6 1/2 weeks and feeling good. We know they are doing what they should and wiping out these bugs we have been plagued with for way to many years.

Looks great, Mike! Just a few details is all it takes to make things clear. Thanks!

Hi Tig.  Ya that was a typo it should have read GGT.  Thanks for picking up on it.  Checked out the signature site but not sure what to enter.  Thanks.  Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for starting your own thread. It's easier to follow one's progress when we do that. I also appreciate you providing your lab value history. Adding your start date (SOT) and end of treatment date (EOT) helps, too.  Is it possible to add it in your signature line? I mentioned that this week in a news blast and if you need direction, there's a link in my signature that will help you set it up. If you would rather, I can do it for you. Doing so allows all of that to follow your future posts and we don't have to look back to find your history. It helps but is up to you.

Your labs have improved nicely. I also took Milk Thistle for years after I failed treatment the first time around. Some say it's not helpful, but I think like you do, it helped. The way I treated my liver for 20 years after diagnosis, it had to have helped. Those that believe in it, claim it helps to reduce the inflammatory processes that HCV causes. It isn't a magic bullet, but a bit of soft armor, if you will. I still suffered considerable damage, but it took longer than some to affect me. Maybe I got lucky (I did) or maybe it helped. Only the Milk Thistle God knows for sure!

I looked for a test called the GGM and came up short. Are you sure it isn't GGT? That's generally the test we see used in our cases. Your number indicates the results a GGT would typically present. Just checking.... STL schooled me on a new one yesterday! I thought I knew it all, ha, ha. Always something new!

Keep heading in the right direction and you'll be pulling into the end of treatment station in no time!

Hi everyone.  Decided to start my own thread and post results before and ongoing.  I appreciate it STL for using your posts lately and I want to thank all of you that have sent me words of encouragement.  I have been a member of the forum for a long time but never got around to posting very often.  I will give you a bit of my history.  I am a 66 year old male.   I was first diagnosed with Hep C in 2002.  I contracted it back in the early 70s.  I have been fortunate that the disease had not progressed rapidly over the years.  When first diagnosed I was told that it was Geno 2 but I don't remember what the viral load was.  My first test results were GGM 31, Bilirubin 11, AST 44, ALT 66. My first biopsy showed stage 1.  I then started taking milkthistle and stopped recently as I was starting treatment.  I guess milkthistle works as my pre treatment results were still good after 30 years.  GGM 20, Bilirubin 10, AST 28, ALT 25.  I had a biopsy last Nov and it still showed stage 1.  My results after my first 4 weeks on Epclusa were Bilirubin 11, ALT 16 but i was also given a Lipase test that came back 2.5 times the norm at 150.  I had a video conference with my doctor and he decided to send me for my 8 week tests and I got the results this morning.  Creatinine 85, eGFR 82, Bilirubin 8, ALT 17, AST 23, Lipase 56.  The Lipase test dropped dramatically.  Three months after I finish my teatment i will go for the RNA test.  Then hopefully the disease will be gone.  I pray daily for those of us with this disease that everyone gets cured.