been offered new treatment for hep c t... - British Liver Trust
been offered new treatment for hep c type 1 been on methodone for 12mths started using heroin again will i still get treatment
Hi Betty. If your source of heroin is "clean" i.e. from a medically approved supplier, then probably yes. If your source is the street then you might struggle as the risk of re-infection from sharing equipment is so high. It's not the use of heroin per se that is the problem; it's the risk of spreading infection from one user to another. You're still better off getting off the drugs but, as someone who is struggling to stop smoking, I can guess how difficult it can be. Good luck, Phil
Your a fool. Stop taking cocaine. I would think it is highly unlikely that you would receive a liver transplant if you continue. Donor livers are in short supply and are certainly not wasted on people who continue to take alcohol or are drug addicts.
Will you still get the new Hep C treatment if you are taking heroin? Probably not. You will have to have regular bloods done while on the medication and I presume these will pick up anomalies. The meds are not cheap and the medics want those who are given the meds to complete the course and to clear the virus. As Ph1ldad says if you are using heroin you will be risking reinfecting yourself so trying to clear the virus at the same time will most likely fail.
Hi Bolly
What is the new Hep C treatment referred to please? I thought it was awaiting NICE approval? Is this another one or has the one ending with vir??? been approved. I know you will be able to answer me. Best wishes.
Hi Tatjana, i assumed the 'new' treatment referred to is the triple therapy Dan68 mentions. It's for Geno 1 only and is interferon + riba for the full course + a protease inhibitor (either Boceprevir or or telaprevir/Incivek) taken for 12 weeks. People started courses in the USA in 2011 and in UK in 2012 I believe, but it has only been a select group, I think non-responders initially, as the meds are expensive and NHS budgets didnt stretch to every Geno 1 having this treatment. However there seems to be another drug, Simeprevir, a second generation protease inhibiter, which I dont know enough about to comment. It was approved for use in the USA late 2013 but I dont know if it has been approved for use on the NHS. Hope you are ok.
Hi Bolly I knew you would know. It's the one without the Interferon that has to be approved by NICE, it has been in the USA and I have agreed to let my hospital make a study of me and I will be one of the first to get the treatment. (You will remember my story) Will keep you informed but I reckon it wont be until the beginning of 2015 but, you know what they say 'what's worth having is worth waiting for' and I have been waiting a mighty long time. Best wishes.
Hi I was on methadone when I recieved triple therapy treatment for type 1 hep but they will not put you on it if you are still on the gear. My treatment lasted a year and finished my liver off but I cleared the hep and have now been post transplant for over a year. The hep treatment is hard going and you have to be committed and if you have to worry about taking gear and the effects then you'll never succeed.
My hep turned to cirrhosis then cancer but I was lucky enough to recieve a transplant. I know I was lucky and wouldn't go back to them days ever again.
