I've come to the realization, that with my hep C (and related cirrhosis) prescriptions meds have about a 20 percent chance of successfully eliminating the HCV virus from our system.

From various sources, using PegIntron/Rebetol about 40% of patients will be announced HCV free at the duration of their medication plan.  Of that, about 50% will still be HCV free two years later.  Run the numbers yourself, but I see a 20% success rate for these meds.  And currently, there are now alternatives to try - I asked on 1 Aug 2003 when I was declared a non responder, she replied with: "No alternatives, but keep in touch."

The "keep in touch part" was due to much medication research that is in process.  Perhaps a "protease inhibotor" will end up being a quality 'cure all' for hepatitis C, many commentaries I read about this lead one to assume some very positive things about it, but trials are just starting, so we have at minimum a few years to go before it will be available to the public.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I contacted USC Medical Center (amongst others) regarding doing a trial medication program.  Funny, the original trial information that had me searching for contacts is specified on my "My Trial" page (botton on your left).  But I wasn't finding any contacts for it.

I researched more, and found a somewhat similar trial called the HALT-C trial, that unknown to me at the time was finished accepting new trial subjects, but I did stumble across some contacts for it, and found one at USC Medical Center - since then, we've done some email exchanges, and have had some phone conversations - they have my med records from Kaiser Permanente, and thus far I'm at the top of their list of looking like a prime candidate for this trial (details are on my web page).

Per our last phone conversation (12 Dec 2003) they should be calling me early/mid January 2004 to schedule an interview (and perhaps physical).  So I'm 90% of the way there.

If I get final acceptance, I will do the trial in good faith, though still have my reservations about it.  The medications I'll be doing are the same as I was declared a non responder to previously, just a different brand name and perhaps will be given stronger doses first 12 weeks of the trial.  And fortunately for me, they already said they'd help me with depression and fatigue (a big downfall for me the last go around).

More than anything else, I will greatly miss my herbal/natural routine, if accepted to this trial.  So now that my "reservations" have been addressed, lets move on!

DIET
From books I've read adressing hepatitis C, where a good amount of my herbal/natural routine was derived from, lifestyle changes are an important factor for correcting hepatitis C related problems, liver problems specifically.

Our liver is a very complex organ, and when ours is diseased, we should do our best to focus on eating liver healthy foods, and eliminate liver harmful or hard to digest foods.

Along this line, I have cut way back on eating red meats, most replaced with pork, chicken, and fish.  I'm also eating liver friendly vegetables - I've been an artichoke and avacado fan all my life,  just do more of them nowadays.

Also, when we cook with oil, it is mostly done with Virgin Coconut Oil.  Though we don't do a bunch of fried foods, when stuff needs to be fryed we try to use coconut oil for it.

There is a cookbook available for liver healthy foods, that I do not have yet, but will soon - A Real "Hep" Cookbook, by Ramona L. Jones, C.N.C., and Vonah L. Stanfield.  I was unable to find this at Amazon and B&N, but can order it thru the Hepatitis magazine.

IN GENERAL
I've eliminated coffee, switching to some green tea.  I have quit consuming alcohol, period.  And drink lots of water (like nearly a gallon a day)!  I do my herbal/natural routine religiously.

My next project is to cut out sugars!  I am not a candy person, though will occasionally will do cookies.  I am a licorice fiend, but am slowing that down.  Right now, my biggest downfall is fruit flavored waters and horchata (rice water).  Both have big amounts of sugar.  And I am working on replacing both, though not quite there yet.

Unlike many with hep C, I haven't lost weight, but instead gained!  And it makes sense to some degree, when your liver is damaged, the processing that takes place by the liver is slowed down.  Especially with foods that are hard to digest - sugars, red meats, etc.

So once again, liver healthy foods are a good thing for us to get in the habit of!

HEPC EDUCATION
Though I call my early hep C understanding days INFORMATION OVERLOAD, I never went thru any periods where I didn't want to learn new, sound things about hepatitis.  My actual approach is "give it all to me, I'll sort thru and determine what is meaningful, to me".

To help me gain some initial education this subject, I used a few books this subject: