Hi Otis,
 A lot of answers depend on which genotype the virus is.  Is it 1a, 1b, 2 a
or b, 3, etc.

unfortuntely you have found right place for good answers, you can look in
hepatitis-central.com  too.

cactus jammies

Hi Otis

I think 4 million is a medium/high viral reading, but it doesn't seem that
bad to me, as I started out over 7 million.  My viral load quickly went down
once on treatment though, and by week 12 I was undetectable and stayed that
way for the rest of the treatment.

Treatment is a combo of interferon and ribavirin -- one shot a week of
interferon and ribavirin pills every day, how many depends on your weight
usually.   I took 6 a day, or 1200 mg.

With today's treatments, I think there is a good chance of clearing the
virus.  If you are a good responder, you'd probably be on treatment for 48
weeks.  Many are now staying on the meds for 72 weeks, and that seems to be
working for a lot of folks who are a little slower to respond to the meds.

There are some promising treatments in the works, but we all think they are
at least a couple years in the future yet.

The current treatment plan is tough -- they are very strong meds and they
definitely take their toll on your body.  Luckily most of the side effects
go away after you are done, and your body goes back to normal.    The side
effects can be brutal, but many many of us have gone there and are glad we
did as we are now virus free and feel like we have a whole new lease on
life -- energy, strength, and an appreciation that we didn't have before :))

My doctors worked very closely with me, helped me get through by providing
the meds I needed as things progressed (anti depressent, anti anxiety meds,
pain meds, meds to build up my red blood count, etc)   And we are here with
some practical advice to help with other side effects as needed, like
reminding you to  DRINK WATER, LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!   plus lotions for
the itchy dry skin you'll develop, and so on.

It's doable -- and it's not as bad as cancer treatments.    I'd do it again
if I had to, and many of us have done it two or three times.   It's a life
changing experience, at least for the time you are treating the virus, but
IT'S WORTH IT

good luck, and let us know what you decide to do, ok?

OH, and please, ignore people like Chardonnay and IronJustice....   we tend
to draw more than our fair share of crackpots!  There are NO magic cures for
Hep-C, some herbal remedies help with other physical aspects caused by the
disease (but be sure to do your research because there are more BAD things
out there than good!)  but the bottom line is that, for right now at least,
only that combination of interferon and ribaviron can kill that dragon!

Sara

It's considered towards the higher end, but your viral load is not an
indicator of either how damaged your liver is OR how well you will
respond to treatment.

I imagine it probably is, but it's hard to know without a lot more
information. Your statistical chance of clearing the virus varies
greatly, depending on genotype ("strain" of the virus), your age,
gender, race, how long you've had hep c for, whether or not you are
overweight, and many other things...

Most people inject themselves with a long lasting form of interferon
once per week, and take an oral medication (ribavirin) twice per day.
Depending on side effects, you may need to take other medications as
well, but not everyone experiences sides (like significant anemia, for
example) that necessitate those.

I get my interferon (Pegasys) and ribavirin (RibaPak) sent to me in a
cooler box via Fed Ex once per month (the interferon needs to be
refrigerated) along with two other drugs I need to inject to help me
deal with anemia and neutropenia. I get other medications from local
pharmacies.

Typically, your first blood draw is within 2-4 weeks after you start
treatment. Because some people experience severe anemia and/or
neutropenia as a result of treatment, I believe most doctors prefer to
do them about 2 weeks after the start of treatment---the earlier, the
better...

As far as how bad treatment is...uh...

I encourage you to read as many personal accounts as possible, watch
videos online, etc.

Short answer: "it varies."

I am really not sure what the "average" experience is like.

I have found treatment difficult beyond description, and my sides
include anemia, neutropenia, pain, memory problems, brain fog,
insomnia, depression, anxiety, etc.

Yes. There are some very promising new drugs which should be on the
market within a few years. Telaprevir, for example.

Otis, Welcome Aboard!  I can relate to your signature; "scared".  I am
just over 6 months into treatment and when I found this group, I was
more than scared.  so stay in touch here, there's lots of good people
with a wealth of knowledge, watch for posts from Grey, Sarah, Cactus
and a whole lot more.
As for your viral load, sounds about average, I was 6 mil. when
diagnosed.  That's only 1/2 the equation tho.  How is your liver?  did
they do a biopsy? any level of scirosis?  I was lucky, I had no liver
damage.  At week 12 of tx. my viral load was "undetectable".  So,
keep us posted and we'll be there for you.
T.C.

On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:11:00 -0400, Otis T.
<ferrante276-otist@yahoo.com>, in message ID
<a9fvc41mrh8js5j58pmn5jo92l7m1ehfen@4ax.com>, in the newsgroup
alt.support.hepatitis-c wrote:

Hiya.
You've found a good place to ask this stuff.  The people on this NG
are, for the most part, very well informed.  I don't think I can add
much really to what's been said.  I got very lucky in the hep-c
lottery really.  I had a genotype 2b which meant 24 weeks tx and only
2 x 2 ribavirins per day - in spite of being very overweight.  I also
had one of the lowest viral loads that I've heard of - around 91,000.
However, this did not let my liver off the hook as I had a fair bit of
damage (stage 2 grade 3).  Your 4 million sounds marginally at the
high end of average.
I don't know how the 70% figure was arrived at.  If you have geno 1a,
the odds of clearing are usually pitched a bit lower than that around
50%ish but as has been said, a lot depends on your individual
circumstances.
There are medicines in the pipeline such as Telepravir which I
understand might mean a shorter tx with an improved clearance rate.
There are also interferons (such as Albuferon) that may only need to
be injected 2-weekly and possibly 4-weekly.  I don't think these have
come through final testings yet though I may be a bit behind the
times.  The less frequent interferons are said to reduce side effects
a bit.
As for the side effects - you just don't know what you will get.  I
had a bumpy first two weeks then it settled for a while.  Around 16
weeks it became a real drudge and I was persistently bad tempered.
However, I was very grateful that I suffered no sleep loss (as some
do) and that my skin didn't itch at all.  Indeed, I slept wonderfully
on tx and was thankful for that because by sleeping well, it helped me
cope with the other stuff tx threw at me.
It can be unpleasant but it's doable.
You may be lucky.  Some people get very few side effects - but don't
bet on it.
I really just want to offer encouragement.
Forgot to mention.  I cleared the virus at my one and only attempt.