Harvoni at last.

[cityman62]

Called in today by my lovely hep c nurse,who told me I can start on a course of harvoni,either with or without Rib depending on my consultants thoughts,advice. Chuffed not only for myself,but for the countless thousands out there struggling to lead a productive,decent life.I'm geno 1a,and turned down the conventional treatment some time ago.Since Xmas things have gone downhill a bit,the usual stuff I guess,massive fever over Xmas,extreme hip pain,ever-increasing muscle spasms,itching,obviously water-like blood from the tiniest scratch,night-sweats and so on.Its great to actually be presented with a route out of this ugly viruses grip.It really sounds as though eradicating this scourge is now a realistic proposition.Vive la revolution!

[dckimberly]

Congrats! I just recently finished my 12 week treatment of it, and now my blood tests show no Hep C. This medication is awesome! I had no side effects from it, although I did not do so well with the Rib so they stopped it. I'm also genome type 1.

It's like taking a peach vitamin pill everyday..lol.

It will, they say, make my transplant go better, and also means the new liver should not get sick either!

I'm too far down now for it to have done anything else, but that alone is incredible..compared to that interferon, which was never an option for me (but I've heard wretched things about it) the Harvoni really is a walk in the park!

Cheering you on!

Kimberly

[Hidden in reply to dckimberly]

Hi dc soo glad you are cured wot now a nice holiday? You deseve it.

[cityman62 in reply to dckimberly]

Cheers,for the helpful info,I'm so glad it helped you,And good luck if you must have a transplant,I hope it comes soon for you.

[Zsuzsanna]

Very pleased for you! Hope you will be restored to full health very quickly. You didn't say if you have cirrhosis. I am seeing the consultant on the 4th October and hope for Harvoni. I am genotype 1b and live in Kent.

I wonder if it will be available for me.

[cityman62 in reply to Zsuzsanna]

Hi,I've been borderlinr cirrhotic for about 2 years now-fibrotic 3/4 I think.But my fibroscan result jumped from about an average of say 12,to 22 after a pretty heavy fever over last xmas.I'm in mid Wales,sorry I'm not too sure how the English health boards are handling the roll out of this new treatment.My hep c nurse told me its being given going down the line here-i.e.serous,then fibrotic,then borderline etc.Also they want to get to the 'chaotic' subjects,(as she referred to them)Peeps who are still using and spreading the virus in the community.I hope you get good news on the 4th,best,Andrew.

[Hidden]

Cool good luck hope everything works out for you.

Cheeeeerrz

[cityman62 in reply to Hidden]

Nice one,likewise for yourself.

[dizzime]

Great news, I hope all goes well for you, you should see a clear result very soon efter starting the treatment. Fingers crossed for you, stay strong and keep smiling

[cityman62 in reply to dizzime]

Thank you,its great that harvoni is being rolled out-particularly with the present uncaring party in charge.Please God they don't find an 'economic' reason to curtail or even stop this treatment.It really wouldn't shock me.

[ballie52]

Great news city man. ..I think Hep c now is on it's way out at last..now people can move on with their life worry free..I am hoping I get treated soon as well..cirrhosis and low platelets so next visit I'm hoping for good news..sad it came too late for some people but at least now it seems this is a cure for good.

[cityman62]

Good luck with it all,we sound to be in a similar place,my platelet count has been low for a long time now,enlarged spleen likewise.In the words of that song-things can only get better!

[art4949]

I have HCV genotype 1b with compensated cirrhosis, and waiting for treatment. Is it possible to ask GP to give me a referral to a teaching college such as Royal Free Colege or Imperial College for treatment/cure for my HCV quicker/sooner?...the Trust here has not hired or brought in any additional staff to deal with its increased uptake of treatment for its HCV patients.

Also, no attempt seems to have been made to reduce patient waiting times, or to inform them how long they must wait. I only know they are treating 2-5 patients a week and this has not changed since June 2015. So, it may be I will not even be treated in 2016. I have no idea. Meanwhile the disease reduces my health, increases the cost of my care for liver related diseases in the future along with the thousands others like me.

The only way forward for people like me is to pay for my treatment? Is this the future of the NHS?