About half the cases are successful for geno 1 and higher for 2 and 3. So
there are more success stories than you see posted here. People with
problems tend to post more here, I'm sorry , you must know this already.
buster

What part of 50% chance of SVR for geno 1 don't you understand?

I went through three treatments, and it absolutely was worth it, because
now I'm cured. I didn't have to, my damage still was mild, but I'd
rather get rid of the virus before it does major damage that can't be
repaired. You may think differently, and some docs don't necessarily
recommend treatment for people with no or mild fibrosis. For many here,
though, not doing treatment is not an option because they already have
significant damage and the next step is either a transplant or a slow
and nasty death. Is it worth trying for them? You bet it is.

Thomas

Hi Calva,

Yes, I began tx Sept 04 and ended it 3 weeks early with several days in
the hospital. I couldn't keep anything down and my blood work was all
screwed up. As of Feb 05 my enzyme levels were normal and the virus was
undetectable. 2 weeks ago my enzymes were up and a week ago I got a PCR
count of 413000.

I can assure you that there are no placebos here. This is about as real
as it gets.

Good luck to you,

Dan

I think that doctors are, in general, less aware of the possible side
effects than they should be.  That said, the people you're seeing post
here are the people who have difficulties they need support for.  Not
everyone, some are people who showed up for support before they started
tx and then discovered they had an easy time of it (Rasputin comes to
mind.)  So I think that overall, the experiences you are reading about
here are more tending to the worse-than-average.  If you do have
side-effects I don't think there is any better place to go to get
information about what's going on and how to deal with them.

It works for enough people that people keep deciding to do it.  I think
it depends on your level of liver damage or feeling that you have
quality-of-life symptoms that balance out against the possible issues of
going through treatment.  I didn't have a choice and that made it
easier.  If I had a choice, if I didn't have to go through treatment, if
I had no liver damage, if I was in my 20's-early 30's, I would probably
have waited.  

G

Hi Calva,

24 weeks ago I was sh.t scared of treatment having read loads of horror
stories about the side effects, you need to bear in mind that not everyone
has all of the side effects and some people actually have none.

I guess I have been one of the luckier ones on treatment.  I have worked
full time throughout treatment, I swim 1,000 metres a day and weight train 3
times a week.  I had a few emotional problems in the early days but these
were really related to fear that the treatment might suddenly become hard.
I have not really lost or gained any weight and I honestly do not think I
have lost any of my hair, the only real physical manifestation of any note
is the rash that I developed on my back.

I am due to do my last injection tonight and have 7 more days of ribavirin
pills to take.  I cleared the virus after 4 weeks of treatment.  There is I
believe a 1 in 10 chance of relapse but I will cross that bridge should I
come to it.

Good luck
Jonathan

Yes, 'round 2' means a second round of treatment.  And yes, I think it's
worth it.  It took me 3 tries at it, but I beat the dragon. I don't have
to worry about my liver being eaten by the hepc virus anymore, nor do I
have a monkey on my back.  How could it not be worth it?  
Elmo
/////////
Don't mean to sound stupid but -
I've never had treatment yet, and seeing the horror stories here about
different tx's, is it worth it? Plus from the sound of things it doesn't
really work! What does round 2 mean? Did you go through the horror of 1
tx and now you have to do it again? Are you people sure your'e not part
of some grand experiment using nasty placebos?
"Booger" <dan@NOSPAM.dpci.us> wrote in message
news:Xns9670AEC0E7CADdanNOSPAMdpcius@207.217.125.201...
Hi All,
2 questions about round 2.
24 or 48?
Peg or Infergen?
Wishing you all good health!
Dan

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/DocElmosHepFile

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/TheFamilyAlbum

YES! YES! YES!

Plus from the sound of things it doesn't

Sure did for me. Peg-interferon + ribavirin, finished two years ago and not
a sign of HCV. I had hep C over 20 years, I was symptomatic, I was sick, I
had cirrhosis. May still have the cirrhosis (but tx can reverse it
sometimes), but I feel healthy and energetic again, like I haven't felt in
years and years. I have a life again.

Yes. And that last comment of yours did sound stupid.

Waterspider