Hi, I have been reading a lot of the posts about Hep C and Im in the diagnois process. My stats are:
GOT - 289
GPT - 693
under different lab Test
ALT - 487
AST - 227

Given the normal range these are extremly high.
The last tests were in 2004 and were normal.

Other than being very tired and lack of focus im OK.

The doctor talks about the interferon treatment. After doing research on it I dont even want top consider it. I see natural treatments like Mirosilver (spelling) etc. Any body had good results.

Hi, I have been reading a lot of the posts about Hep C and Im in the diagnois process. My stats are:
GOT - 289
GPT - 693
under different lab Test
ALT - 487
AST - 227

Given the normal range these are extremly high.
The last tests were in 2004 and were normal.

Other than being very tired and lack of focus im OK.

The doctor talks about the interferon treatment. After doing research on it I dont even want top consider it. I see natural treatments like Mirosilver (spelling) etc. Any body had good results.


Those are high enzymes, but they are not life threatening. Enymes can go way up into the 100's, even to the low 1000's and still come down within range.

The most critical stat is one you have not posted. What does your biopsy say? Truly, that is the measurement of health of the liver and there is no substitute for it.

That this is a new test result is good news. It may be a spike. Is your doctor going to monitor these results over the next few months or retake the test to see if it anomalous or a lab error (it happens!)

If your doctor has not considered evaluating you for excess iron in the liver (haemochromatosis) make sure you have that test. This is a condition that increases liver enzymes yet is not generally considered by doctors, especially when there is a diagnosis of hepatitis already.

Enzymes can come down significantly with an exercise and nutrition program. It doesn't guarantee that they will, mind you, but your fatigue may decrease with moderate exercise, too. Now, don't go out and start running marathons, but do research a program for yourself that you can work on regularly and that you can ramp up over time.

Alcohol, smoking (and exposure to same or other toxins) and certain foods (like "junk" foods, processed foods and fast foods) WILL increase your enzymes and bad food choices put a huge load of fat on your liver causing your enzymes to elevate.

Getting these under control over a month or two can demonstrate to you how much control you can expect through lifestyle changes. If you do decide to treat based on your biopsy you will be in much better shape to manage whatever side effects may come your way.

You need to have a biopsy report before making any decisions. Do not let anyone tell you that you don't. You will not have a record of where you started for future reference if you do not have a biopsy.

Lastly, DO NOT take any "silver " product! It is toxic. If you have already been taking it, it could explain the rise in enzymes also. The stuff is downright dangerous for someone with hepC.

I hope this helps,

thanbey

I am in the beginning stages of talking with the Gastronoligist and have not had a Biopsy yet. It is his intension to have it done. The Ultra sound and CT does not show any obvious signs of physicall damage. There is some small amount of fat however. The test results are out of a series of blood tests and are from different labs. So I dont feel an error was made. In 2004 the Enzymes were within normal limits go figure. He has not talked about excessive iron. I will be getting the final bloodwork results this week to determine if in fact I have Hep C and if so what strain. He tells me all indications point to it. He did briefly talk about the Interferon treatment and for what I have read Im not impressed with what you have to go thru to obtain minimal results. I have not taken anything for the condition including the "Silvcer" products. I have been doing some research to determin other options than the Interferon. As far as toxins in my system I have not Smoked, drank or drugged for 12 years and have no intensions of doing so.

Actually, the success rates are quite high, and vary by your genotype. Even the type 1s now have more than a 50% chance of becoming sustained responders...that is, clearing the virus permanently. The other types now have upwards of 70-80% chance of clearing. Those are GREAT odds!

The ONLY way you will beat the virus short of a spontaneous remission (rare, but does happen) is by treatment with the newer interferons and Ribavirin.
Silver, herbs, electric treatments, you name it, someone has tried it...won't help.

My husband treated with Infergen years ago, back when the odds (and the treatments) weren't quite so good. He relapsed and was treated again a year later with the newer peg-intron. He treated for another year, and now has been clear for several years. His GI doc says he has very little chance now of having the virus return.

He worked full time during both year long treatments. It wasn't a piece of cake, but very worthwhile. His liver biopsy has improved markedly after clearing and sustaining.

So, muck around with herbs and/or silver if you want. You won't likely clear, and in a few years there may be even better treatments available. But there are good, PROVEN and tolerable treatments now, and the sooner the better so far as your viral load is concerned. Years from now it may be many millions higher, and harder to eradicate. Educate yourself by visiting so good, informative websites and NOT the ones run by snake-oil salesmen. They WANT you to buy their products, that's why they are often so disparaging of conventional hepatitis C treatments.

I have not read anywhere that the Interferon success rates are as high as you state. All I have seen on the average is 20% with a 50% reacurrance rate. Are there recent documents avalable to support your numbers. I certainly would be interested in them. I dont know what route I will take in the treatment of this. Its all new and to be perfectly honest im scared. I know two people that have gone thru the Interferon treament and both said it was bad. One has had the treament 3 times in the last 10 years because it keeps coming back. He was however able to work most of the time. The other has just gone thru 11 months of treatment and his doctor has told him there are no signs of the Hep at this point. He was not able to work during the treatment and said a lot of times he was depressed and angry even when he tryed to have a positive attitude about it. So you can understand my concerns and apprehension. I do appreaciate the encoragement Thank you.

Actually, the success rates are quite high, and vary by your genotype. Even the type 1s now have more than a 50% chance of becoming sustained responders...that is, clearing the virus permanently. The other types now have upwards of 70-80% chance of clearing. Those are GREAT odds!

The ONLY way you will beat the virus short of a spontaneous remission (rare, but does happen) is by treatment with the newer interferons and Ribavirin.
Silver, herbs, electric treatments, you name it, someone has tried it...won't help.

My husband treated with Infergen years ago, back when the odds (and the treatments) weren't quite so good. He relapsed and was treated again a year later with the newer peg-intron. He treated for another year, and now has been clear for several years. His GI doc says he has very little chance now of having the virus return.

He worked full time during both year long treatments. It wasn't a piece of cake, but very worthwhile. His liver biopsy has improved markedly after clearing and sustaining.

So, muck around with herbs and/or silver if you want. You won't likely clear, and in a few years there may be even better treatments available. But there are good, PROVEN and tolerable treatments now, and the sooner the better so far as your viral load is concerned. Years from now it may be many millions higher, and harder to eradicate. Educate yourself by visiting so good, informative websites and NOT the ones run by snake-oil salesmen. They WANT you to buy their products, that's why they are often so disparaging of conventional hepatitis C treatments.


I recently heard a newstory about the flu vaccine the US Government is stockpiling against bird flu. The efficacy rate was reportedly around the 50% mark. Scientists, one after another, came on various news programs to talk about this. Every one that I heard personally described a 50% efficacy rate as "dismal" or some equally negative word. It struck me what aggressive marketing can do to a dismal efficacy rate as I considered the treatments for hepC. So, it is important to make a considered decision based on both potential for benefit and risk.

Since the advent of new and more sensitive testing, a significant number of people retested positive who had formerly tested as negative in studies. Sort of makes me wonder what numbers and what information is truly reliable.

So, we aren't quite there yet with our numbers and the meaning of efficacy. How can you be when so much is still unknown AND the viral load and health status of your liver are not related, not to mention the potential for aftereffects and long term condition caused by the treatments themselves?

Just as dismissing treatment out of hand is not wise, neither is jumping at it too quickly, or maybe at all. The best treatment decisions are based on a personal medical history (gender, genotype, biopsy results, race, age, physical condition and identified co conditions) against your values (timing, family, job, finances, insurance, lifestyle)

By the way, the genotype 1 result you refer was a European result and is generally understood not to apply to the American strain. They haven't figured out (lifestyle suspected) quite why the differences are there.

Every hepatologist/transplant surgeon I have spoken with has said that severe complications from hepatitis C almost always accompany heavy alcohol consumption, smoking, and other types of high risk behavors. Not EVERY one, but the consistency has struck me from time to time.

When you consider that a retrospective study at the NIH that looked at 50 year old blood samples found people (who did not know they had HCV, by the way) who lived with hepatitis C died of causes unrelated to the hepatitisC 98% of the time, it leaves one to wonder why the big push to get treated when it may not be necessary?

My own husband's biopsy result improved greatly with no treatment and a (religious) commitment to better eating and living. It was possible for him. His viral load also remains low. There is no evidence that viral load or liver damge inevitably progresses over time.

Since hepatitis C moves so slowly anyway, why not give it a chance and see if it will help? There is time to do that for most people. For others, treatment may make things better or worse. It is a toxic, unpredicable drug. The chances are about 50/50 that it will significantly affect the viral load (and the numbers are even lower for improvement in histology) if we accept your numbers.



thanbey

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