Abdominal Pain

[RogerR]

Hello everyone,

I have had a HepB for  some over 10 years now which I am treating with different medications. Eventhough my blood results are more or less normal I have occacional abdominal pain which occurs several hours after eating and sometimes goes away when I eat something. The doctors I went to see about it did not consider this a serious problem and will not even discuss it or perform any tests. This becomes such a frustrating subject for me that I begun to seach the internet in order to self-diagnos the problem.

Does anyone have an idea what this could be? Please let me know even if you think it might not be the right answer. I will research it and maybe narrow down the possibilities. Thank you so much for your help and time.

Roger

[cuteus]

Your post is somewhat confusing in that you state having hep b for 10 years.  Hep c is the one known to become a chronic condition.  Hep b has an acute phase and then it resolves with the aid of treatment.  The hep b virus does not continue to be present after this resolution, only the antibodies remain.  Is your condition hep b or hep c?  This forum mostly deals with hep c, but some well informed people here address some of the other questions.  Please clarify for them.

[cuteus]

I'm rephrasing the chronic statement, in adults there is a 6% risk of becoming chronic; here is the url to the CDC fact sheet:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/fact.htm
good luck

[RogerR]

I do have a chronic Hep B! To answer your question; about 20% of all cases become chronic where a patient is infected with the Hep B virus. I agree that the C virus is more dangerous than the B virus but nevertheless the condition is very serious aswell! Last year I lost a friend, who was infected with chronic Hep B for 20 years, to liver cancer. You may be thinking of Hep A!

I will take your advice and find a web-site for manly Hep B patients but in the meantime maybe someone can give me a more constructive answer. Thank you,

Roger

[harleygrll]

Hi Roger!  I do not have Hep (my husband does) but I had a similar problem a few years back.  When my stomach was empty I had pain that was alleviated as soon as I ate something.  My doctor said I was getting an ulcer and prescribed some things for that and a couple months later I was good as new.  I will tell you this though, if your doctor does not take your symptoms seriously FIND ANOTHER ONE who does.  I had a doctor tell me I had tension headaches for a solid year and never would run any tests.  I had an accident and hit my head and when they did a CAT scan at the hospital they discovered I had a brain tumor! If I had gone along with my dr. I would be dead by now!  If you really feel something is wrong, don't let up until you find out what it is.

[audreywald]

I agree with Harlygirl. My husband is going thru the same thing, he had an endoscopy, blood work, and is being given different kinds of acid reducing meds. ANY recurring pain is a big deal, what is wrong with your doc, doesn't he have a heart?

It may not be related to the Hep but so what?

PLEASE find yourself a doc who will respond to your needs.

[cuteus]

Sorry you misinterpreted my post as stating hep c is more dangerous than hep b, I never said that.  No one can make such statement.  Any illness that affect the liver is potentially dangerous.

Yes the statements of resolution apply to hep A, TY for correcting that.

The CDC states the chronicity rate at 6% for hep b, but then they also state hep c is a std when many studies are disputing that.
   It looks as if you have gone to more than one doctor already, to no avail. Other than keep looking for a GI that will listen,( sometimes your PCP might be more receptive to testing further than the specialists), and arming yourself with internet possible diagnosis, there is not much you can do, it seems.  
You are not with an HMO like Kaiser, are you? They seem more resistant to costly tests.  Upper GI series can miss  things like hiatal hernias, as in my case.  If you can convince any dr to refer you to an endoscopy and colonoscopy, if not yet done, you can rule out many disorders.
  Have you also research the sides of the meds you are taken?  Can that problem be caused by them? Can those meds cause an erosion in your GI system?
As other have stated, even though you saw so many drs, keep looking for the one that will listen.  It can't be all in your head, as they might want you to think.
   Keep us posted and stay as well as you can.

[harley dude]

Hey Chevy, just read your message under the Happy Birthday post- Wow you almost brought tears to my eyes - Tough Harley Dudes don't suppose tear up(lol)-Thank's I really needed that. I'm doing fine at work, I'm telling you it was because I had stopped those AD's that screwed me up- Like I said some people can do without them, some can't. Thank's again for that message, and I don't mind muchy stuff every now and then- See Ya and hope your feeling OK- Harley Dude

[mll]

Sorry to butt in on this post but it won't let me ask a question and I posted on the int. based neutropenia but it'a a ways down there so I don't know if any one will see it so...ok, I am soooo confused. What is neutropenia???????? My docs nurse called today and said my neutrophils have dropped and that I needed to have immediate blood work done tomorrow and that if they drop below 1000 he will either tell me I can't take my shot # 4 on Sat. night or he might reduce the dosage. I was lurking wondering what neutrophils were when I started reading this thread about neutropenia. Can someone fill me in?
Thanks
Michelle

[madbyron]

Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell produced in the bone marrow and are one to the body's key agents in fighting and warding off infection. Neutropenia is the condition of having fewer neutrophils than normal. I guess anything below 1500 is considered neutropenic and below 500 can be very serious. It's quite common for neutrophils to drop sharply in the first few weeks of inf. therapy, then to slow their decent and stabilize. Mine fell below 1000 in just two or three weeks. My doctor allowed them to fall below 750 before reducing my inf. dosage by 25%—I did not skip any shots.

Managing hematological side effects like neutropenia, anemia, etc is an area of ongoing refinement in the treatment of hepc. Projects in Knowledge has recently made this handbook available to help doctors and their staffs manage treatment side effects. See section IX, page 3 for a discussion on managing neutropenia. You may want to pass this information along to your doctor, too.

I used Neupogen, which stimulates the production of white blood cells, beginning in week 21 of my 48 weeks. This, following 10 weeks of dose reduction for neutrophils in the 500-600 range. I don’t necessarily recommend Neupogen—some doctors aren’t comfortable or familiar with it—but I do recommend not skipping a shot at this stage in your treatment and doing whatever can reasonably be done to avoid dosage reduction.

There is some evidence that inf.-induced neutropenia is not associated with the onset of serious infection, though it makes sense to be cautious by limiting your exposure to bacteria where possible. This can be done by adopting vigilant hygiene habits, avoiding injury to the skin and meticulous oral hygiene. Very few patients have experienced severe or life-threatening infections. I don’t mean to alarm you, but it is particularly important to be careful with counts below 750. Your neutrophils may well stabilize on their own. Best of luck to you.

[madbyron]

You may want to scroll down to the discussion thread "Interferon-based Neutropenia § Infection... from 3/16 for more on this.

[CARUU]

I'm having a colonoscopy today.  I have had a significant amount of blood loss (rectally) on Monday and Wednesday of this week.  I atttibuted it to low platelets after the first occurance.  When it happened again I called my GI.  They had me come in for lying, sitting and standing blood pressure and then did blood work.  The WBC and platelettes actually improved a bit since last week, but my HGB and HCT are down (another sign of blood loss).  So, here I am getting ready to drink gallons of Fleets for breakfast and I don't actually have the test until 4pm.  This is going to be a long day!  Wish me luck with the outcome!  I just have two Pegasys injections left and really want to get back on the road to health.  Thanks everyone for your support, caruu

[cuteus]

That prep for the colonoscopy is the absolute worst.  It definetely cleans both ends.  GOOD luck on that and the procedure.  
Bleeding was a scary sx of anemia for me.  Blood even soaked through the gauze after monthly blood work, something that never happened before.  TG for Procrit and insurance.  best luck

[Xenigma]

Good Luck with the colonoscopy.
The procedure is nothing.  It's the
prep that is terrible. (as you probably know right about now)
Now a sigmoidoscopy in the doctors office can be a bit uncomfortable but a colonoscopy is nothing.  Before you know
it they're waking you up saying that it's all over!
I hope all goes well.
Enigma

[Honey15637]

Good Luck and I will be thinking of you today!

[CARUU]

The colonoscopy is done and I'm at home.  As you guys said, the prep is the worst part of it.  It's not my first time to have the test.  In fact, I had colon CA back in '79 and had emergency surgery, colostomy, pints of blood, etc.  This is the most likely cause of the hepc.  Today's test showed a raw, bleeding area where the previous surgery (resection) was done.  The doc put a couple of clips in there, in hopes it will help the area heal.  He says to take my INF tomorrow and see him on Monday.  Whew!  I'm relieved because I couldn't help but worry about reoccurance of the CA.  Now my next hurddle it my qual. test next week before ending tx.  You are all great, thanks for the kind words of support. caruu

[Xenigma]

I'm so glad everything went OK.
One step at a time.  It sucks when
something else gets thrown into the mix <so to speak>
The clips will help heal the area.
I'm glad it all went well.
Hugs,
Enigma