Hep-C positive what lies ahead

[searing tuna]

I just about have the same war stories that you all around here have. Having starting in the early 70's when heroin ravaged my beautiful Bronx neighbrhood and all was effected.Girls ,guys, et,al. It was cheap and all said I'll do 1 bag on the weekend ,soon enough it snowballs until every cell in your body is screaming for the drug. I went on Methadone for 2years saved some cash from working and got the fu%k out of the Bx w/ my vacation doses which I forgot to refigerate and spoiled by the time we got to Iowa. Well out 0f site and out mind and it turned out well and never injected again. As it turns out, yes we shared works and everything else, everyone I knew was Hep-c positive. Me I had multiple operations so I'm thinking it would surely come up in pre-op testing. Not so much. It's a very specific test which I finally did after oh 47 years or so. 0 symtoms but that's par for this type. They now have pills that both cure scirrosis only a longer 24 week course and for Hep-c a 12 week course. Any of you dudes/dudettes have/had this and what's involved or what to look forward to, I'm seeing a gastro doc next week. ??

 

[T. Calderone]

I found out over the summer I've got hep c too. They have new oral medication, Sofosbuvir together with ribavirin that can eradicate it in twelve weeks. Trouble is, my insurance won't pay for the medication. So I'm appealing this and hope to get an answer soon. I guess worst case scenario, I would have to go with interferon or whatever else they recommend. My doctor told me it's a waiting game so hang in there. Did they test your genotype?

 

[Dresden]

If you have excellent insurance (enough to cover a $75,00 dollar pharmacy bill), then you're golden. Otherwise, you're screwed, but since Hepatitis C incubates for so long before causing trouble, you should be fine for now. The price of the cure will inevitably go down in time, as other drug companies race their new hep c drugs to market.

 

[The.Ghost]

In some cases, the manufacturer will work with you on pricing. A wiki excerpt on Sodium oxybate:

Jazz Pharmaceuticals [sic] offers a Patient Assistance Program to patients that do not have insurance and are unable to afford their Xyrem prescription. Approximately 8% of Xyrem patients currently participate in this program and receive their prescription for free.

Not all companies do this, but it's worth looking into.

 

[pharmacybandit]

This is my line of work, pharmaceuticals, and most companies will work with you. I'm 26 and I've been hep c positive since 19 and I am about to start treatment after my viral load went from 61,000 to over 7 million in a year. Best of luck to you for real, it's a shitty reminder everyday of my fuck ups... Hep c treatments are the new "trend" and they are getting better and better