Average of Hep c pople in forum

[toughluck]

Seems most are 35 - 65. I am 50 hopefully the youger people are more carefull, believe got mine from tainted blood late 70's

[BayAreaWomen]

Hi, I'm  a 58 year of AF women born and raised in S. F.  I went through the hippy era, did my share of drugs. Then married a man 20 years older than I and he ended up being on H. He shot-up coccaine and I wanted to tried it and that's when I believe I got it.  At least thats what my gast to me. This was in the late 70s. He eventually died from cancer and I never touched drugs since then. But I did start drinking heavenly on weekends. I managed to keep my job and am still employed with the same company for 30 yrs now. But have been on LTD for the last 2 years. I haven't drunk in 13 yrs. nor have I smoked in 15 yrs. I am on wk 46 of 48 and have been und since wk 12.  Oh, and I am type 1a. Sorry for going on and on.

[motheroffour]

H is 52 year old male infected most likely from tatoo 30 years ago but really don't know, no IV drugs, no transfusions, no snorting use history, doesn't really matter, just dealing with it.

[goldenrule]

I am 30 female, contracted 3-5 years ago

[indiana frank]

iv drugs !!!heavy into herbs, now seems to be working, labs have neverbeen better

[Stiffneck]

I'm 41 and I don't care how I caught it,  I just want to get rid of it bfore it gets rid of me!

[applez]

I am 48 and caught it when I was 22. IV drugs

[painterlady13]

(((((Hippy))))))   Good to see you How the heck are you doing?  I hope that sometime they will be able to treat you again with success.  Take care hon

Pigeon I totally agree with you about testing... it should be a regular test for everyone.  Although I doubt they will because of the high cost of treatment.

One of the women I work with her hubby is treating now and they think he got in in the service getting ready to go to Viet Nam.  I have beard that a lot here too

And the age thing I figured was avg of 40 - 70  that magical time before they realized they should be using new needles for every injection.  I remember getting shots with a metal reusable syringe as a kid in the 60's and 70's.

[pigeonca]

I guess I'm one of the oldest here - 63.  Never did IV drugs, no transfusions that I know of (they used anesthesia for my many surgeries), snorted powder 3 or 4 times so that's a possible source, but tend to believe I got the virus at work from sharp tools.  And yes, I do think it matters how we got this because so many of us have no idea, were never tested because we had none of the recognized risk factors, which means there are lots of people out there who have this virus and don't know it.  Meanwhile their livers are fibrosing (is that a verb?) and they don't feel well and nobody has a clue.  They should test everybody routinely for hcv.

[meki]

" choke the f out of it. "

Here - you can borrow my rope... I'll hog tie --- and you can yank!

[toughluck]

This is really kind of what I expected most of the people so far 40-60 years old why? We are not all drug iv users, so before Hep C was found 1991 or so it was called liver disease and people just died, sad lets grab this virus by the throat and choke the f out of it.

[hippygem]

Hi there, been a while since I chatted to you, Im so glad that you are UND, thats fantastic news, Im happy for you.

Me, 47, geno 3, relapser, combo tx in 2004.  Contracted hep c from being beaten up by my ex who was a drug injection user.

[painterlady13]

46 yo female, never did any IV drugs but after being on this board there are many ways I could have gotten it...  At this point WHO CARES?

What really matters is that I finished TX in june and was UND while on TX, and praying that I stay that way.

[meki]

".my pitbulls are trained to 'take out' all uniformed midgets"

Ahhhhahhhhahahhaha

I thought it said un-informed ---

OMGosh!!

LOL!

[crazycanuck]

50 yr old female. kinda experimental in teen years but probably got it from working in the operating room at the hospital from 1976 to 1979. worked with a lot of sharps and blood! dx in july of 06. currently under the impression i cleared spntaneously but not too sure about that.

[beamishboy]

51 yrs old and All of the above...'cept for girlscout cookies-i will never allow those miscreats into my yard.my pitbulls are trained to 'take out' all uniformed midgets..i know an evil conspiracy when i see one!

[AngelsOnMySide2]

I'm 52 and got it in 1977 from a transfusion...not that it really matters...it's not like the government ever tried to track us down to tell us they gave us tainted blood???
Anybody here ever get contacted by the government???
Not I!

Donna

[FullOfHope77]

I'm a little over 50 too and can't beat i-Man's coments he's always right on! i was in the military and like to blame them sometimes as I remember them ripping gashes in 19 year old arms as we walked through the line and the 19 year olds that were giving the shots with a couple hours training were doing the best they knew with such little training. It was unreal as I remember the 'gun' used was always dripping wtih blood from many folks that were ahead of you in line and that was the scarry part... I like willows comments to too about the labels that get used to classify people that are suffering from these super smart virus'es that build little factories and are smarter than ants that hide inside liver cells (and maybe other places we don't even know about) and sit and produce hundreds of thousands of copies each day... I've heard that the average chronic sufferer produces between 200,000-300,000 little factories a day. I like Mike's comments about being obsessed with these little varments that we forget to live sometimes... I've probably had it for 30 years and to my knowledge have never suffered (outside of tx) from it at all and yet I'm stage 4/4 and grade 2/4 not even sure I know what that means now. I refuse to think that putting those needles in my arm trying to get a 'ringer' had anything to do with it :) but you never know... onward. We'll SVR and celebrate we were part of the generation that beat this thing. (BTW, the vast majority of humanity that has ever live IS alive as I write.... bizzare stat but true...)

[debnevada]

i hadn't thought of that...your take on the job thing.

I was having trouble getting over the surgery....7 or 8 weeks afterward i finally went to my internist....and my alt and ast were in the 700s and 800s. i was dog sick but i thank God for it because catching it early helped me be an RVR (twoweeks). i was a directed blood donor for many years all the way up to 2004 (ECMO babiy donations)....they are wanting me to go 48 weeks but I'm not sure about that.....remains to be seen....

OH:  I think that HCV testing should be done a lot more frequently.....don't you?

deb

[meki]

"Got it last year at surgery. Health Department and Hospital licensing board involved."

That may explain your quick removal from work. Especially if your insurance covered that surgery and if they "forced" you to use that specific doctor or hospital over any other preferences.

Me... I think I got mine from a shot of Rhogam. Or 3 other surgeries I had.

I was HCV clear in 93 - Had a Bartholin Gland Marsupulization and a Tonsilectomy in 94/95, got the Rhogam in 96 - had daughter in 96... had a breast reduction in 98 and diagnosed 2006 Almost one full year ago.

Already did my 24weeks. Diagnose was fast and hard... Had serious medical issues - couldn't figure out why I felt like **** all of the time - ALTs ASTs up like you wouldn't believe... All sorts of panels were run --- cancer tests, you name it --- then finally the HEP Panel...

And it all fell into place.

Moderate damage getting worse to the liver...

Go on TX or finish dying... LOL!

So SVR now.

But --- long year...

And now... I'm 40.

Hugs to all - wishing Good Moods, Happiness, Peace and Prosperity.

Meki

[orphanedhawk]

I'm 53. How we get it is irrelevant. We can have it for a long time and not know it until damage has set in (my situation) meaning if I had it in my twenties and thirties, I never knew. This may account for the fact there are less younger people on the forum. And why would anyone get checked when HCV is shown as 'that druggie' disease.

[Alady1620]

da*m girl scout cookies.  They embody all that's evil in this world.  ROFL

[jools57]

LOLROTF

[Verdugo]

44 yo.  Had a blood transfusion when I was seven.

I horn, After that laugh out loud post I'm going to make a concerted effort to always read your posts!  Thanks, V.

[willows]

whoa, I always get a little crazy when folks start talking about how they got this virus, do they ask folks with cancer that same crazy ass question?  I remember when the American Liver Foundation came out with an article about how we should not call ourselves heppers, it was a pigeon-hole kind of name that does not do the American public any good as far as becoming educated.  Too easy to write "heppers" off.  At the time, I thought it was a bit over the top, but now, I understand what they were trying to do.

We would not call diabetics "dibbers" or cancer victims "cancers", so I totally agree with two things.  I am not a hepper and I don't spend any more time wondering how I got the virus, or how anyone else caught the virus.  Useless information.  

It is my perspective for everyone else that I am grateful for, once I stopped looking for my answer, it didn't matter how anyone else was infected either.

Life can suck, bad things can happen to nice people.  All the same, my life can be pretty wonderful and sweet things happen all the time to me, so it is the yin and yang of just living, my burden (besides my big backside) is this virus.   NI don't perceive it as a heavier burden than anyone else, that way, I have energy left to help carry the burden of anybody that might need it.