Question
Should I treat hep C if I have coinfection with HIV?
3 September 2012. Related: All topics, Complications and coinfections.
My doc has recommended treatment for my hep C. I am asymtomatic.
I tried the treatment five years ago and had to stop after 6 wks due to my inability to tolerate it.
I need info to make the right decision about whether or not to go through horrible side effects vs the benefit for quality of life and length of life with co-infection.
Answer
Hi
The decision to use treat hep C will always depend on you personal treatment history including the monitoring of your hepatitis C infection.
This will include your individual risk of liver damage and your previous treatment history.
Did you doctor say why he wants you to have the hep C treatment?
If your liver is relatively stable and unaffected then it will be easier to discuss waiting for a couple of years or perhaps longer. Over this time it is hoped that new hepatitis C drugs will be easier to tolerate. Even if they still require using PEG interferon and ribavirin – the drugs you found difficult before -this might only be for a month or two rather than 6-12 months.
If your liver test results show liver disease progression this will make it more risky to continue to delay treatment.
Because these options are so different, the discussion really needs to be with the specialist doctors that manage your HIV care and hepatitis C.
The i-Base guide to HIV and Hepatitis C coinfection includes discussions about these decision. It is waiting to be updated with more recent information about new drugs, some of which have now been approved.
Please let me know if you have other questions – and good luck with whatever you decide.
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