Hepatitis C, good news about treatment

So, the Hepatitis C virus has been found in your blood. What to do now? First, locate a gastroenterologist or hepatologist. Try to find one who shares your attitude toward treatment. Some will favor an aggressive approach, some are more conservative. You’ll need more blood tests to determine your viral load, the genotype of the virus that you have, and the condition of your liver. Before many doctors will begin treatment, they will want to wait six months and re-measure your viral load, etc. If you’ve been recently infected and your body fights off the virus by itself, it’ll probably be cleared by then. Approximately 30% of those infected do not acquire a chronic disease. If you’re in the other 70%, you’ll be told you have chronic HepC.

Although there is no cure, a large number of those who receive treatment improve. I was lucky enough to have had my viral level sink to a non-detectable level which, incidentally is as good as it gets (it never actually disappears altogether). The condition of your liver is important; if you have no damage or only mild to moderate damage, the reduction of the virus in your system can reduce the chance of serious, end-stage liver disease.

Rebetron Combination Therapy is given to previously untreated HepC patients as well as to those who have not responded to interferon alone. It consists of Rebetol (the brand name of a drug called ribavirin) capsules, taken twice a day, and injections of interferon three times weekly. In many cases, the injections can be given in the home by the patients themselves. The recommended length of treatment is six months; some doctors prefer to go a full year if your liver is behaving well.

The side effects go easier for some than for others. Some patients continue working as usual, some need to take daytime naps. You can expect muscle cramps, hair loss, extreme fatigue, sweating, headaches, dizziness, yeast infections, and athletes’ foot. You may not get all these maladies, but you’ll experience some of them, most often in the early weeks of the treatment. Before you start on Rebetron, Shering, the pharmaceutical company that produces it, will send you a dandy information packet, including a video telling you just what to expect.

You’ll need to pamper yourself a bit; be sure to have flu and pneumonia shots and get vaccinated against Hepatitis A and B. Your immune system will be compromised so avoid crowds and sneezing babies. One of the more important things to keep an eye on is your mood. Rebetron Therapy can have an extremely depressive effect; if you start to feel senselessly glum, tell your doctor immediately. Schering also has a 24/7 Toll Free number to call with your questions and concerns.

Here’s one other important thing to know. If you have an excellent insurance plan, or a large trust fund, well, good for you. This medicine costs, but don’t fall into despair. All three of the pharmaceutical companies who produce these drugs, Schering (already mentioned), Amgen, and Roche have programs to help you. Schering will give the whole package, medicine, syringes, video and support to folks with no insurance, no state aid and little cash. Amgen and Roche both have good reimbursement programs. The most important thing is that they care about you.

Several other drugs are being studied and may help in the fight against Hepatitis C, thymosin, amantadine and other forms of interferon. A vaccine would be ideal; sadly that’s still at least ten years down the road. Although funds for research have been scarce, it’s getting better. Direct funding to the National Institutes of Health increased from $25.3 million in 1997 to over $34 million in 1999. And communities of HepC patients and those who care about them are forming which will increase their political clout. Just keep in mind that you are far from alone in this, and to take very good care of yourself.