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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Hepatitis / January 2009Progress
I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were 196. Is that good progress? >I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were >196. Is that good progress? At the four week point, that's *excellent* progress! If you can whack those last little bastids out in the next couple of weeks the odds of obtaining SVR should be very much in your favor. What's your genotype, btw? Are you in for the 48 week battle or just the 24 week skirmish? Cheers - and keep up the good work! /greyhackles >> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > /greyhackles I'd written a reply but it didn't make it here, sorry! I'm a 2 so I'm looking at 24 weeks. I'm at 12 weeks now and nobody scheduled a blood draw. I've had zero help with side effects. I'm just gonna show up at the clinic tomorrow and hold a sit in till I get tested. Headaches are horrible and she is cutting me off of the Vicodin. I will be talking to the head of the clinic too. I found a friend going to the same group of clinics who was told me had hep c too. He's not had a biopsy and has no idea how far along he is. He was told he was "fine" and not worry about it do I gave him a fast education in not trusting doctors and learning the details of his hepatitis. Tampa General has a sorry bunch of doctors! >>> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >>> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > >Tampa General has a sorry bunch of doctors! Good that you should only need to do the 24 week course! And insisting that you get your viral load checked (and the rest of your blood work done) at the 12 week point is absolutely the right thing to do! Stand your ground on this. For the headaches, others here may have more useful suggestions than I - this was not one of the problems I experienced during therapy (something I'm thankful for!) I've read pluses and minuses about Tramadol, for instance, so I can't recommend you ask for a 'script for that. Perhaps a good sit-down with whomever "she" is will change her mind on the Vicodin. I'd certainly try to have a calm conversation discussing the importance of fully completing therapy verses whatever fears "she" has about your use of Vicodin. As for your friend, my philosophy begins and ends with having the patient know as much as can be learned about his/her condition - at all times. Unless your friend makes the decision to seek treatment regardless of his actual condition, he ought to insist that whatever tests required to provide a complete assessment be performed immediately and the results provided to him so he *can* make up his own mind on what to do next. Bottom line: blindly putting one's life in the hands of others is never a good idea. There are far too many doctors handling HCV patients that really should not be - something clearly not limited to Tampa General... Hoping you're clear and on the way to SVR! /greyhackles >>>> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >>>> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > you get your viral load checked (and the rest of your blood work done) at the > 12 week point is absolutely the right thing to do! Stand your ground on this. Thanks for the assurance that I'm on the right track. > For the headaches, others here may have more useful suggestions than I - this > was not one of the problems I experienced during therapy (something I'm > thankful for!) I've read pluses and minuses about Tramadol, for instance, so I > can't recommend you ask for a 'script for that. Tramadol can't be used with antidepressants although the doctors here prescribe it anyway. I'm on generic Zoloft. Perhaps a good sit-down with > whomever "she" is will change her mind on the Vicodin. I'd certainly try to > have a calm conversation discussing the importance of fully completing therapy > verses whatever fears "she" has about your use of Vicodin. I did that several weeks ago and got two months worth. Now she's cut me off again. She doesn't believe in prescribing any opiates for any reason. I have been having bone pains, primarily in my thighs but could pop up anywhere. Along with that are head aches that last a few seconds but are very intense and repeat themselves. Add to that a regular headache from tx to make things more fun. This was first brought to her attention in Sept 07 and yet while having tests she keeps writing that I have joint pain when I don't even though I have corrected her several times. Sorry to make this complicated. I got a call from the nurse telling me that my bone scan revealed arthritis and to take ibuprofen for it even though I've been on ibuprofen for a year or two for back pain and the headaches don't even slow down on it. Worse yet the Vicodin has acetominophen in it so one way or another I'm exceeding the amount I'm supposed to have or resorting to ibuprofen which I'd rather not take at all. I've never heard of arthritis giving me headaches and thigh pains. Is there a website or two I could consult about all this? > As for your friend, my philosophy begins and ends with having the patient know > as much as can be learned about his/her condition - at all times. Unless your [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > idea. There are far too many doctors handling HCV patients that really should > not be - something clearly not limited to Tampa General... I've found that out the hard way. My doc was supposed to be running the Hep C clinic when she doesn't know much of anything. One good thing out of all this is she resigned from the clinic. I was referred to a hepatologist, or at least the nurse practitioner there but I won't even get in there till the end of January. > Hoping you're clear and on the way to SVR! Me too! I just don't know if I can hang in there with the side effects but I'm gonna do my best to grin and bare it. > /greyhackles Thanks for helping me. Sorry for the long post. Char >>>>> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >>>>> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 92 lines] >Thanks for helping me. Sorry for the long post. >Char Heck, if you need to post a long post, feel free to post a long post :-) See, I was right not to recommend the Tramadol ;-) Really, I try not to grandstand on anything I don't have solid knowledge about, and pain meds aren't a strong suit for me. It certainly seems counter-intuitive that arthritis causes headaches and "thigh pain". I mean, the latter *might* be "referenced", but the headaches? I think that's bologna. A couple or few years ago there was a study that clearly decided that the majority of patients in pain were being under-medicated, and it seemed at the time that the response by the medical community at large was to be less knee-jerk and more introspective about withholding pain meds. It certainly sounds like the person managing your treatment didn't get that message. Hopefully someone else has a good suggestion worth following, but in the meantime, your best bet is probably to ask for someone else to hear you out. You mentioned arranging a meeting with the head of the clinic, that'd probably be the right person for you to bring this whole pain thing up. As for the treatment: what you need is some encouragement. Get your viral load and blood work done - don't let the doctor put you off on that. The odds are in your favor that you'll have made it to undetectable status, and having that result should give you enough of a boost to get you through the last weeks of treatment. Hang in there! /greyhackles >>>>>> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >>>>>> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 123 lines] > >/greyhackles don't forget the all important water! I'd find myself feeling generally a lot worse if I didn't get enough water. one of the first things I notice when I start getting a bit dehydrated is that I get headaches. Sara > don't forget the all important water! I'd find myself feeling > generally a lot worse if I didn't get enough water. one of the first > things I notice when I start getting a bit dehydrated is that I get > headaches. > > Sara I was a huge water drinker before all this and now I'm doing near a gallon a day. I buy spring water by the gallon. First thing in the morning I drink some. > >>>> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This > >>>> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 95 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Hi Char, You might want to peruse this link http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/cgi/content/full/105/1/205 or either of these two other links to help you search for your rights. You seem to be intellegent enough to search for one that will be exactly right for you. I hope these help. I had no problem, because I already see pain management for 101 reasons. I truly wish it wasn't necessary but the fact remains it is hard to live a life because without them I wouldn't have a life. eileen http://www.ask.com/web?q=Patients+rights+for+pain+management&qsrc=0&o=0&l=dir http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu1V0fFlJLkcB7ABVqZp4?p=Patients+rights+f or+pain+management > Hi Char, > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > http://www.ask.com/web?q=Patients+rights+for+pain+management&qsrc=0&o=0&l=dir > http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu1V0fFlJLkcB7ABVqZp4?p=Patients+rights+f or+pain+management I've been trying to see a second pain specialist but she's not gotten a referral to me. The first one didn't want to help me with back pain and now I have several sources of pain. Good news is that I'm switching doctors. Thanks for the links. Looks like they will be useful. > Tampa General has a sorry bunch of doctors! Oh wow, that is SO ironic! I was in a massive car wreck in 1974--went to a hospital in New Port Richey (Community?) where I was totally treated like dirt, screamed and yelled my way out of there, ended up at Lykes Hospital in Brookesville (since torn down), and was rushed to Tampa Gen. They dx'd a ruptured spleen, by which time I'd bled internally some 27 hours....so, a blood transfusion and emergency surgery saved my life--and gave me HCV. > Tampa General has a sorry bunch of doctors! Oh wow, that is SO ironic! I was in a massive car wreck in 1974--went to a hospital in New Port Richey (Community?) where I was totally treated like dirt, screamed and yelled my way out of there, ended up at Lykes Hospital in Brookesville (since torn down), and was rushed to Tampa Gen. They dx'd a ruptured spleen, by which time I'd bled internally some 27 hours....so, a blood transfusion and emergency surgery saved my life--and gave me HCV. (Chardonnay, sorry if you get this twice--I hit "Reply" instead of "Reply Group" again. Brain fog.) >>> I had a viral load done at 4 weeks and found out the results today. This >>> summer it was a little over 7 million. This last one the results were [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > >Tampa General has a sorry bunch of doctors! Congrats on making it to the half way point. Sorry to hear the doctors are not making it easier for you but do whatever you need to do and you should have this disease beaten in another 12 weeks. At 12 weeks you should have at least had your bloodwork done. If you're not getting that at least once a month that's too risky. Though personally I don't think they should skimp on the 12 week quant or qual that 4 week check indicates the meds are working and its a good bet you are undectable now. I was a geno 2 also btw. Good luck with getting some help with those sides and I'm looking forward to your forthcoming 24 week clear post. Don |
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