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Hep C Support Group

Trying to make a difference in the lives of those with Hepattitis C. If we ... more

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Dletmedown

Joined: 03/02/2010

My Story:

I am a male born 6-20-1953, diagnosed 2002 geno type 1A. I have not treated to date. We all have burning questions about hepatitis "C". I hope that this site can help with answers to those questions so that we can all better cope with this disease. It is not an automatic death sentence. So especially if you are newly diagnosed read everything you can find about it. Keep in mind if you look long enough you will find information that you would have rather not read. Some is true and there is a lot of false information out there. The doom and gloom get your things in order and wait to die stuff. You will more than likely live a long life and die from something else. Knowledge is power and power is knowledge. I hope we can share our faith & belief in God & be respectful of one another’s opinions & beliefs. We can all agree to disagree. God has given me a peace I have never had before I found out that I had Hep "C" So obviously I want you to have that same peace. God is the ultimate physician & has the final say. No co-pays & No deductibles, He is open for business 24 hours a day 7 days a week & He still makes house calls. I hope God will bless each & everyone who comes here & give you that same peace He has given me. Check out the Hep “C” links. There are wonderful sites out there with great information. I am not concerned about trying to be worldly & politically correct I'm just trying to share what God has done in my life with others who are looking for more than what doctors & medicine have to offer. I hope you will become a part of the SOLUTION!.
I have Hepatitis C articles & research that I have been posting since diagnosed with Hep C in 2002. I hope it can help make your journey with Hepatitis C an easier one than it has been for me. We ALL need to pay it forward & share what we can to help our brothers & sisters with Hep C.
Check out the links below for information:

Founder / Owner ( HEP "C" SUPPORT GROUP )
http://hepcsupportgroup.multiply.com/ http://www.myspace.com/hepcsupportgroup
drsletmedown@yahoo.com
( Get Tested )

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There "IS" A CURE but GREED is keeping us from get...

Shame, Shame, Shame on these GREEDY $ MONEY & PROFIT Driven people to CONTINUE to...

Posted by Dletmedown

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Did You Know ?

Did You Know? May 26, '10 3:10 PM by Drsletmedown: for everyone ...

Posted by Dletmedown

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"NEW" Telaprevir TRIAL Starting In November 2010 (...

On 10-20-10 I went to see a Hepatologist / Gastroenteroligist for a checkup &...

Posted by Dletmedown

On 10-20-10
I went to see a Hepatologist / Gastroenteroligist for a checkup & hopefully some advise on my Hepatitis C. It was a total waste of my time & money. I had made an appointment three weeks in advance for 2:00pm — 10-20-10 & I finally left at 4:30pm. I was there for 2 &1/2 hours. I was seen by his female P.A. not him. I ask her questions & she ask me some & then she called another female in as a witness I suppose & did a rectal exam supposedly to look for blood. She said she found none but then again she was looking for stool & if you get none you have nothing to test. He finally came in the room after I sat in there alone for a long time & ask me if I had any questions. Well let's see I made an appointment with you not your P.A. so YES I have questions WHY do you think I came ? He seemed more concerned about letting me know that he was no longer going to accept Blue Cross insurance after 11-3-10 because his complete group of doctors were dropping Blue Cross because they were cutting what they pay the Dr's by 30%. My wife & I pay $750.00 a month for coverage & this is what you get from the doctors Blue Cross offers you to choose from? I tried asking him about treatment & options & their odds of success & he was talking about the protease inhibitors that would be out in a year or so & that I should wait for those since I am male & 57 & geno type 1A. All things that reduce your chances of treatment working. Basically he was just reading me back the information I had given him telling him the odds & acting like he was telling me something new that I did not already know. He said the new stuff when it came out would have about a 60% success rate. I ask him who the drug company was & what was the name of the drug he was talking about. He said he did not know the name he thought it was by Schering Plough. That is the company that has paid doctors $2,000.00 per patient to treat in the past with their poison in the past & it is widely known about. Read here:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060830/news_1b30schering.html
I ask him about a drug that has been through several trials & that has had great results as high as 88% success even in people that did not respond to the standard Schering Plough treatment that is available & widely used & that I know someone that was in the very first trial about 4 years ago & was almost instantly Hepatitis C free & three years later he still is. He said he did not know ? He is a Hepatologist / Gastroenterologist working at a liver wing of a major Dallas Tx hospital & he does ( NOT ) know about ( Vertex Pharmaceuticals ) experimental drug Telaprevir
http://vrtx.com/
formerly known as VX-950 that has been know about & in trials with great results for years now ? That's inexcusable & this Dr. is a BAD JOKE! A year ago in November 2009 they were talking to doctors about it being 80% successful. Read here:
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2009/11/02/vertex_pitches_hepatitis_drug_to_key_doctors/
A new study with Telaprevir is starting in November 2010. Read here: (DON'T MISS THIS )
http://investors.vrtx.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=522614
It is ( NOT ) posted on the Clinical Trials .Gov website yet ?
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/
I talked to Vertex the drug ( Telaprevir ) maker & they said just keep checking back at the http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ website for details. If it starts in November it will fill up quick.
This trial is taking anyone & it does not matter if you have treated before or not & EVERYONE will get the Telaprevir not just one of 3 groups. Most studies there are 3 groups in the studies & you don't know which group of the 3 you are in until it is over. Usually only one of the three groups gets the Telaprevir.
Six days after going to the doctor I found out about this ? He knew NOTHING ?
Thank God for the internet as we "ALL" with this disease KNOW it is the BEST source for HONEST - NON BIASED information we have.View Thread

Posted byDletmedown

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"NEW" TRIAL - NO Interferon & NO Biopsy ALL pills

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01435044?term=quantum&rank=1 ...

Posted by Dletmedown

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New Hepatitis C Drugs in the Works

New Hepatitis C Drugs in the Works Study Show 2 Experimental Drugs Are Able to Reduce...

Posted by Dletmedown

New Hepatitis C Drugs in the Works Study Show 2 Experimental Drugs Are Able to Reduce Virus Levels in Blood By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Oct. 14, 2010 -- The long wait for new drugs that cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) may soon be over.
In early research, a combination of two experimental, oral, direct-acting antiviral drugs dramatically reduced levels of the virus in the blood of infected patients over two weeks of treatment.
And studies of other experimental drugs that also directly target HCV are under way.
For decades, injected interferon and oral ribavirin have been the only treatment options available, but only a small fraction of patients have access to the drugs. And many patients who start them soon stop due to side effects.
Today's standard HCV treatment -- combination pegylated interferon and ribavirin -- cures about half of patients with genotype 1 HCV. Genotype 1 is the most common HCV type in the U.S. and the hardest one to treat.
"We are on the eve of a new era in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment," HCV expert David L. Thomas, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine writes in an editorial appearing in the Oct. 15 issue of TheLancet.
He adds that in the foreseeable future, "nearly all those who are treated might be cured."
Avoiding Drug ResistanceResearchers say the newly published study represents a "proof of concept" that the combined oral direct-acting antiviral therapy similar to that now used to manage HIV can dramatically lower virus levels. But longer studies are needed to determine if the approach can cure patients by completely eradicating the virus.
Direct-acting antiviral drugs work by blocking viral replication. When the drugs are given as single agents, patients typically become resistant to them, often within as little as two to four weeks, study researcher Edward J. Gane, MD, tells WebMD.
"The point of this approach was to use a combination of direct-acting agents that have different mechanisms of action to avoid resistance," he says.
The study included 88 patients with chronic HCV infection living in New Zealand and Australia, treated for up to 13 days with various doses of a combination of the experimental antiviral drugs RG7128 and danoprevir or placebo.
All the patients had genotype 1 infections. Some had been treated unsuccessfully with interferon and others had never been treated before.
Over the course of treatment, HCV levels in the blood of some patients who took the experimental drugs dropped so low that they were undetectable.
Few treatment-related side effects were reported, even at higher doses. And none of the patients developed drug resistance.
New Treatments ComingPerhaps most significantly, patients who had been treated unsuccessfully with interferon responded almost as well as those who had never been treated.
"Right now we really have nothing to offer patients who have failed interferon," Gane says. "This would be a big step forward."
The researchers estimate that the total treatment time to eradicate HCV infection would be about 8 to 12 weeks -- about one-fourth the length of a standard course of interferon treatment.
They hope to confirm this in future studies and to determine if adding ribavirin to the treatment regimen improves outcomes.
Thomas says it remains to be seen whether this combination or another combination of direct antiviral drugs will prove most effective.
"But there will be interferon-free treatment of hepatitis C. It is just a matter of time," he tells WebMD. "This is the first study to be published that moves us in that direction, but it won't be the last."View Thread

Posted byDletmedown

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C-Diff (Clostridium Difficile) (C. Difficile)? Do ...

I am fighting this & my first round of treatment failed. "EVERYONE" needs to "READ"...

Posted by Dletmedown

0 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:C-Diff (Clostridium Difficile) (C. Difficile)? Do "YOU" Know About This ? You Should ! I am fighting this & my first round of treatment failed. "EVERYONE" needs to "READ"...

WHY ? does it have to be SO HARD to get informatio...

WHY ? does it have to be SO HARD to get information that is current & up to date ?...

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Daniel's Story It's "AWSOME" Praise God

Hello there, Eight and a half years after my Liver Transplant and the Diabetes, Massive...

Posted by Dletmedown

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Reply: dont know what to do...

First I would find another doctor. Read everything you can find so you can make your own...

Posted by Dletmedown

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Participate In This Hep C Webinar

[hepcunited> Webinar: Hepatitis Advocacy in August Learn about the important work...

Posted by Dletmedown

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