Posts Tagged ‘Ribavirin’

Researching the three I know of, Steven Tyler, Anthony Kiedis, and Pam Anderson, I was glad to find at least Steven wasn’t babbling about some pie in the sky treatment like Ozone, but had in fact gone through 11 months of Interferon treatment and was actually free of the virus in his bloodstream, or otherwise cured. It was in this article from September 2006 in people magazine.

Steven Tyler Reveals Hepatitis C Battle

Steven Tyler Reveals Hepatitis C Battle | Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

David “Bagel” Ungar/FilmMagic

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has revealed that he was diagnosed with hepatitis C three years ago, and recently went through 11 months of treatment.

“I’ve had hepatitis C for a long time, asymptomatic,” Tyler tells Access Hollywood in a new interview set to air Tuesday. “And I talked to my doctor … and he said now is the time and it’s 11 months of chemotherapy. So I went on that and it about killed me.”

Tyler, 58, says he’s much better after undergoing the treatment. “It is nonexistent in my bloodstream as we speak, so it’s one of those few miracles in doctoring where it’s like a complete cure,” says Tyler.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease spread by contact with the blood of an infected person, according to the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control. Many people who have hepatitis C show no symptoms of the disease.

Tyler also says the treatments, which included taking the drug interferon, were hard in his marriage to his wife of 17 years, Teresa, whom he split from earlier this year.

“I had a little problem at home, to say the least,” he says. “I would run upstairs at night, you know, to put the kids asleep and wake up at 3 in the morning with a nosebleed you know, just passed out from the interferon, the treatment.”

After keeping quiet about the disease for so long, Tyler says he’d like to share his knowledge about it with others.

“I may go on Oprah and talk about this,” he says. “I mean you know it’s just one of those things… it’s one of those things people don’t speak about it, but it is treatable.”

In March Tyler announced he planned to undergo surgery for an undisclosed medical condition, which forced Aerosmith to cancel its remaining tour dates. At the time, his rep said that doctors had advised the singer “not to continue performing to give his voice time to recover.”

So that was cool to find out. It made me want to find more about Anthony Kiedis and Pam Anderson. I found an excerpt from Anthony Kiedis’s book Scar Tissue, but man if I just don’t believe a word of it:

But the doorbell interrupts my reverie. A few minutes later, a beautiful young woman enters the living room carrying an exquisite leather case. She opens it and begins to set up her equipment. Her preparations complete, she dons sterile rubber gloved and then sits next to me on the coach.

Her elegant large glass syringe is handcrafted in Italy. It’s attached to a spaghetti — shaped piece of plastic that contains a small micro – filter so no impurities will pass into my blood stream. The needle is a brand new, completely sterilized microfine butterfly variant.

Today my friend has misplaced her normal medical tourniquet, so she pulls off her pink fishnet stocking and uses it to tie off my right arm. She dabs at my exposed vein with an alcohol swab, and then hits the vein with the needle. My blood come oozing up into the spaghetti – shaped tube, and then she slowly pushes the contents of the syringe into my bloodstream.

I immediately feel the familiar weight in the center of my chest, so I just lie back and relax. I used to let her inject me four times in one sitting, but now I’m down to two syringes full. After she’s refilled the syringe and given me my second shot, she withdraws the needle, opens a sterile cotton swab, and applies pressure to my puncture wound to for at least a minute to avoid bruising or marking on my arms. I’ve never had any tracks from her ministrations. Finally, she takes a little piece of medical tape and attaches the cotton to my arm.

Then we sit and talk about sobriety.

Three years ago, the might have been China white heroin in that syringe. For year and years, I filled syringes and injected myself with cocaine, speed, Black Tar heroin, Persian heroin, and once even LSD. But today I get my injections from my beautiful nurse, whose name it Sat Hari. And the substance that she injects into my bloodstream is ozone , a wonderful – smelling gas that has been legally used in Europe to treat everything from strokes to cancer.
I’m taking ozone intravenously because somewhere along the line, I contracted hepatitis C from my drug experimentation. When I found out that I had it, sometime in the early ‘90s, I immediately researched the topic and found a herbal regimen that would cleanse my liver and eradicate the hepatitis. And it worked. My doctor was shocked when my second blood test came up negative. So the ozone is a preventative step to make sure that pesky hep C virus stays away.

I took years and years of experience and introspection and insight to get to the point where I could stick a needle into my arm to remove toxins from my system as opposed to introducing them. But I don’t regret any of my youthful indiscretions. I spend most of my life looking for the quick fix and the deep kick. I shot drugs under freeway off- ramps with Mexican gangbangers and in thousand – dollar – a – day hotel suites. Now I sip vitamin – infused – water and seek out wild, as opposed to farm raised, salmon.

For twenty years now, I’ve been able to channel my love for music and writing, and tab into the universal slipstream of creativity and spirituality, while writing and performing our own unique sonic stew with my brothers, both present and departed, in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is my account of those times, as well as the story of how a kid was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, migrated to Hollywood and found more than he could handle at the end of the rainbow. This is my story, scar tissue and all.”

“Scar Tissue” is an heartrending story of the life of Anthony Kiedis and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and is an inspiring movement for the spiritual creating of making music and finding the ride tunes and the struggles of a rock band in the music industry.
So yeah, I just have a hard time accepting that Anthony Kiedis has this European cure all, but Steven Tyler had to do a tough as nails 11 month long Interferon regimen that took it’s toll on his marriage, and not to mention the hellish side effects of headaches, exhaustion, and feeling about 50 IQ points lower than where we started. I mean couldn’t Steven Tyler have afforded the same treatment? Yes, of course he could, and he must have researched it, and probably even talked to Anthony about it, only he didn’t go down that road….probably because Anthony read him a horoscope or something fruity and Steven decided to go with something more clinical proven…lets see what I can find a bout Pamela Anderson and her Hep C battle.

“Playboy girl Pamela Anderson has taken up the cause to promote awareness about Hepatitis.

The former ‘Baywatch’ star was diagnosed with liver disorder way back in 2001 after she contracted it through a shared tattoo needle but feels there is nothing to feel ‘embarrassed’ about the condition, The People reported.

The 43-year-old star controls the infection with medical help but personally wants to raise awareness so that other Hepatitis victims do not endure it.

“I’ve had liver biopsies. I get checked every single year, my doctor told me just keep doing what you are doing. I also have the kind that’s easiest to control. There is no cure for it, so the important thing is to encourage people to get tested and not be ashamed. People get embarrassed as you get it from blood-to-blood contact, but it is not just junkies who have it,” said Pamela Anderson.”

Well, I don’t know what I expected. Poor Pam, she is just a blonde bimbo out of Hollywood with her best years behind her. Lol, she’s dead wrong though, it is curable, and her Gastreoentologist has outdated information. Of these three Steven Tyler seemed to have his eye on the ball the most. You know what is intriguing though, is the fact that 3 heavy weight celebrities all received different medical advice. I mean you would think, paying top dollar out west in LA, these three would receive the same fucking consensus but no, all three get different advice, and then of course Anthony called the psychic hotline for a consultation, but still. Nobody laid it out for them in no uncertain terms, what is they have, what they are dealing with, and what is the best way to cure it and/or treat it. Goes to show you that you have to do your own research and take everything with a grain of salt. I’m glad my Doc here in Atlanta, Dr. Hersch, told me it was curable, through Interferon, and that the young do better than the old. I mean, poor Pam sounds like she’s being told to wait to treat it until it’s a problem, but my understanding from Dr. Hutchinson out of Duke, was that the young seem to be on the better side of the 50/50 early responders side, so then, that advice for Pam would be terrible. Sure, maybe they come up with something more effective and less harmful long term than Interferon, but hell, maybe they don’t, and she begins treatment after cirrhosis has set in, and then bam, bad luck Pam, you’re on the wrong side of the 50/50, you don’t respond to treatment, you have a year to live. Wow, that would really suck, and it would all be due to the different kinds of medical advice being offered to these three medically insured celebrities. Jesus, I mean, if these A listers (maybe B) all get different varying medical advice, what a fucking miracle I got good advice, without health insurance as a no name kid out of Atlanta. I must remember to count my many blessings… and pray that Anthony and Pam don’t realize they were wrong way to late.

Please take a moment to read about my average man’s journey through insanity, addiction, Hep C, Interferon, and AA on http://www.books4free.com and check out the strong reviews on amazon at:

-Jared Bryan Smith

I did it. After almost two years of writing my book about Hep C, and hell, 3.5 years of thinking about the story, I decided to google the competition out there and see who else had written stories involving Hep C, and of course, as the challenges are so parallel, sobriety. I don’t know why I was so reluctant to see what was out there, other than, I just didn’t want to be discouraged by seeing like Hemingway’s surprise Hep C autobiography I’d never known about or something, and I just wanted to knock it out before I looked. Anyway, I found some stuff out there, but nothing that blew  my socks off.

First and foremost, you have Anthony Kiedis’ Scar Tissue, a great book I’ve heard, as he’s the front man for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and God knows we’ve all heard, Under the Bridge Downtown, and can hear the description of his pain as he shoots heroin for the first time. Surely we can expect him to have had his own Hep C struggles, and of course the sobriety struggles that go along with it. I love one of his quotes I just found because it is exactly what happened to me regarding drugs and alcohol:

“You know I love pot, and I love beer, but I am totally sober, just because it completely stopped working for me.
Anthony Kiedis”

Man, I remember hearing that in an AA meeting before it happened, and thinking, What Bullshit. But whoa, what fear descends upon the madman when it occurs. Of an addict for 15+ years, when that day comes that the drugs and alcohol quit working, you will feel fear, and loneliness that few others ever experience. Your best friend of years disappears instantly, and you can’t imagine life with or without drugs and alcohol. I say this is my book, but it remains one of my favorite quotes: “Most of God’s miracles, first felt like a punch in the gut.” Eventually I would be grateful for that day, but I digress. So Anthony Kiedis had Hep C, wrote an autobiography, and says some pretty good shit about sobriety and Hep C. However, a lot of it was rock star, elite, Pie in the Sky treatment that Joe America simply doesn’t have access too. He says he beat it with a controversial treatment called Ozone gas, which is presumably, painless, miracolous, and just as effective as 48 weeks of hellish painful Interferon Treatment. My only objection here, is that if you ask your Dr., any major Gastroentologist in the United States about Ozone, they will laugh it off, or claim the expense is too high, that it isn’t FDA Approved, or just say that the only thing that is medically recognized to cure Hep C is Interferon…which is by the way, expensive, painful, depressing, and maddening. It’s like saying well, the common man has to take Chemotherapy for Cancer, but I, being a pompous rock star, was able to take nitrus oxide, and laugh away my disease.

“And finally yes, it’s true that Anthony Kiedis has hepatitis C. He contracted it somewhere along in his escapades and it is believed that it was caused by the drugs.  He is combating the infection with ozone administered by flea’s and his personal nurse Sat Hari. Ozone is a “wonderful-smelling” gas that has been used legally in Europe to treat everything from strokes to cancer. Most of this information can be found in his biography “Scar Tissue”.”

A wonderfully smelling gas. Interesting. I wonder how true any of this is? It’s all legal in Europe huh? If this is the case, why does the US not use it. Maybe I don’t know shit, and it’s a huge conspiracy against Americans, but as an American I was given one option, by my medical Dr., to defeat Hepatitis C, and that was Interferon, and though it was painful and hellish it did seem to work. After 6 months the disease was clear from my system, and after 2 years, I’m going in today to get it checked again, and hopefully will receive the same result. Hep C free and clear. I’ll ask my Dr. about Ozone today.

The other book I was able to find out there was written by “Johnny Delirious, Hepatitis C, Cured, who claims, from what I could tell briefly that he beat the disease, which he was diagnosed with in the late stages and given 8 months to live, with only homeopathic means. Ie… vitamins and sunshine, and positive thinking. Quite honestly his site links to so many sites charging for Homeopathic cures, you can’t help but think that this guy is just marketing to a demographic already susceptible to delusions and pie in the sky instant gratification solutions. I wonder how much money he’s made selling this book, and/or linking back to all the homeopathic solutions, that have absolutely no medical validity, and my MD claims are bullshit. Milk thistle? Gimme a break. This Virus will attack and kill your liver, and some dipshit is out there selling books about refusing a liver transplant and beating the disease on his good karma and GNC pills. Gimme a break. No I haven’t read the book, and no I don’t plan on it. I don’t know about Ozone treatments or homeopathic cures to Hep C, just as much as I don’t know how to moderate drinking or drugs. I got into this mess, taking short cuts, shooting for the angles, instant gratifications, and feel better cures, and the only way out of the hole I dug for myself, was the long ardous road of Interferon that an actual MD, speciliazing in the liver, suggested I take and whom laughed off, Ozone, and or Milk Thistle, and the other bullshit he offers on his website…

Also, never take medical advice from a guy whose last name is Delirious. Just saying. Maybe it worked for him, I haven’t , and won’t read the book, but for the average, Hep C infected addict, alcoholic, your options really don’t include Ozone, and or Vitamins and Milk Thistle. Follow your Gastroentologist’s advice and take Interferon. It’s tough, but it works, and these other cure alls are just that in my opinion.

On the other hand if Ozone does actually work, and the medical community has kept it out of the states, for profitability reasons or something that sinister, then Shame on them. Interferon changes you for life. If there were medical data, and access to Ozone, like rock stars apparently have, I would recommend it be the new treatment, but I have to assume, the United States, with the best, most educated Dr’s in the world, have a better reason than profits, to keep Ozone out of the US, and Interferon as the major treatment for this debilitating disease. I don’t know, but it just seems really strange, the only two other books out there, offer these fairy tale, delusional options, that weren’t available to me, or any of the other Hep C patients I’ve met here in the States. I guess, that makes my book original then. Unless of course, you are a rock star, then call Anthony Kiedis, he seems to have access to magical gas that smells great.

Please take a moment to read about my  journey through insanity, addiction, Hep C, Interferon, and AA on http://www.books4free.com and check out the strong reviews on amazon at:

-JB Smith

So, as we get ready to launch books4free.com with my book about surviving interferon treatment, I happen to stumble across a link to a potentially better, and hopefully easier way of defeating Hepatitis C.

http://www.anadyspharma.com/products_in_development/ANA598.html

I guess it’s still in Phase II, and I won’t pretend to know what that means, but it actually is being lead by the Duke Doctor who replied to me while I was going through treatment. His website and comments gave me some hope as I was finishing up the treatments in Spring of 2008.  I also just happened to stumble across another article mentioning a third drug, on top of the ribivirn, interferon treatments, that increases the odds of being cured even more… called telaprevir. Very hopefully, interesting stuff. I went to a Hep C funeral last week, so if they could improve the cure ratios above 50% it would mean a lot to a lot of people.

http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/7386301/

This definitely tempts me to talk to this Dr. some before releasing the final version of the book, as anything I can add to give hope or information to Hepatitis C sufferers is an asset to the book…. just when you think you’re finished huh…

Oh well, a little more research and work couldn’t hurt the overall success of the book long term, and this is just too exciting of news not to include. Looks like they were preleminary trials but still, worth writing about!

Additionally found this older article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605112257.htm

Worth reading, hopeful stuff!!!!

-JB Smith