Danger to give a hep c patient iron supplements?

[fluugy]

Hello

I am new to this forum and have a question: a doctor i saw a month ago who knows i have had hep c for 30 years told me after doing a complete blood work that i have low red blood cell count and told me this means i have anemia and he then prescribed iron supplements to take twice a day.

I saw a new doctor yesterday and he told me this was very dangerous for me to be taking iron supplements that anyone with chronic hep c should never take iron supplements.

Now i am very confused. This new doctor was very concerned and took new blood test this morning and i get the results back tomorrow.

The first doc told me that my blood work was fine except for minor liver enzyme elevation and the low red blood count.

This first doc did not schedule any follow up at all simply sent me on my way a month or so ago.

The new doc was shocked.

Anyone know which doc is right; was it dangerous as the new doc said that i was prescribed iron supplements?

I concerned as i dont know who to believe now.

Please any feedback would be most welcome.

Thanks so much!

fluugy

[fluugy]

Hi everyone...

Bad news the new doc got my blood work back and everything is terrible. That other doc i saw a month ago must have read someone else's blood work!

I have VERY LOW iron which this new doc said is rare for someone with hep c. This is what it said" Feritin should be between 13-150 mine is EIGHT!!!

My HCV virus load is 2340000 which he said was dangerous.hemoglobin red blood whould be between 13.5-17.5 and mine is 9.1. liver functions not too high 0-36 is normal mine is 42 for both. i meant commas with the periods but my comma key doesnt work .

He wrote me an rx for some hypnothyroid med to take once in morning and one for more iron once each morning. He told me i would continue to feel weak for about 3 weeks but then i will feel better.

I asked him for 2 ten mg tabls of ritalin not for recreation as i dont take anything for recreation but i know this will make me feel less weak and i am a therapist by profession via phone and skype and mp3 downloads and i cannot discuss my challenges with my clients and told that to doc and of course he agreed i cannot i must be strong for them bu i have no one here and dont speak german.

This doc told me that in TWO YEARS there is supposed to be finally some effective drug for hep c and i found this very amusing and we both agreed it is highly unlikely i shall be around in two years anyway.

This new doc refferred me to a professor of hep c and told me to phone for appt and i asked this new doc how long he thought before i could get in to see this professor and he said that it would probably be 3 or 4 weeks.

I also asked this new doc what the point after 30 years of hep c i mean what could the professor of hep c do for me and he said well he could discover the type of hep c i have and i said to this new doc well...it is too late for interferon and a liver transplant is out so why bother. So far as i have been able to discover there are no other treatments. And he agreed.

I told him i all alone and broke down in his office and he could have given me the ritalin as i have done reseach and i have seen although unconventional that it works to ease this impossible fatigue and i told him i have no support at all none at all and cannot really even take care of myself but this latest creep refused knowing i in hell. I HATE ALL DOCTORS NOW.

I toild that doc i was now thinking of killing myself even though i have never in my life been suicidal and i not suicidal but i mean i do not wish to die all alone in this apartment getting weaker and weaker everyday and suffering all alone with no one to even care at all for me.

I dont know why he didnt hospitalize me under the circumstances.

I thinking of flying to London as my late husband's doctor is there my husband was a psychiatrist and died of brain cancer in london. There is a really cool hospital there called Princess Grace which is more like a five star hotel than a hospital and it is small and only hospital i ever liked. Maybe this doc will refer me to a hep c specialist and hospitalize me there .

I dont know if they even do hospitalize anyone in my condition as this nice new doc did not suggest i be hospitalized as i guess because there really is no treatment for me.

I dont want to be in some regular hospital especially here in Germany where i dont speak German but at least in London they speak English and this hospital is not like a hosptial i so loney and dont want to get weaker and weaker all alone dying here all alone unable to care for myself.

Also i do have hypnothyroidism too VERY low red blood count and as i said that F thing is extremely low but before i take this i ask you people if i should take it even though this doc said that it is rare that hep c patients have lack of iron i do have low iron.

Feedback please.

fluugy i scared

[jules2551]

I have hemochromatosis and it has delayed my starting of tx for several months.  It's imparative that you keep these numbers in line for the rest of your life as it will continue to "add" damage to your liver if you don't.  I have enclosed a link that hopefully will explain it to you in more of a laymens terms.  I hope you are feeling better soon!  Jules

www.irondisorders.org/hemochromatosis

[fluugy]

In the past few days since i saw the new doc i have been feeling like death. I dont know what is wrong with me...maybe it is psychological. I am all alone in Munich and dont speak German and i scared. I suppoed to go to the new doc this afternoon but i so tired and feel i am dying never felt this bad before. I been involuntarily moaning and this is not like me. Cant stand it anymore. I must walk to the s bahn which is 7 minute walk and then go one stop then take another train then walk ten minutes to his office and then up 3 flights of stairs. I must take a shower as i look a total mess. I so weak. I Feel i belong in hosptial. I scared of hospitals. Never been in one all my family died in them. I dont have anyone here to support me. I try to "get a grip" as i usually very strong woman but not now. Like i said i feel like death. Cant explain except so weak and never felt like this before. Dont know if this is depression or fear that all those iron supplements have done me in. I am a vegan for long time .I always have done daily long walks. But right now nothing matters. I have had very loose stool this morning and have had to use the toilet for bowel movements four times this morning. Not dark stool but just medium color. Just very loose and i think sticky too. I dont know how i can get to the doctor. I really do not think i can travel by public transportation but it is the end of the month and if i take a taxi i will be flat broke with maybe just five euros till the first of the month. I scared to call ambulance as not into drama. What should i do? Anyone got any suggestions. That first bad doc a month ago did an ultra sound of my liver and spleen and told me no signs of cirrohsis and no enlarged liver and my spleen looked good and no ascites in my abdomen although i dont think he is right because my stomach for at least three years has been very very large like i very pregnant and i know i have fluid retention in my arms and hands and ankles and feet but this bad first doc who gave me the iron tabs after just discovering i had low red blood count and that is all he did knowing i have hep c for 30 years and i think i had "wishful thinking" knowing that iron for hep c patients is a no no so i guess i was just so "happy" that here i am a hep c patient and he had done the ultra sound and told me the hep c was not bothering me and when he said i needed iron that made me feel that i really was ok. Of course this was me to blame as i am not a stupid person and i know pretty much everything about hep c so far as at least the basics i.e. iron no good but i so much wanted to believe him. I have lived in fanasyland all my life. This may have killled me i dont know. Seems when i had no treatment i always felt ok. Everytime i do get some treatment i start feeling horrible...this always happens dont know why.

I know what i will do i will take a taxi as i want to see this doc and somehow i will call someone of my friends in the US and beg them for enough money to last till i am paid on the first because just to take a shower and wash my hair is going to be a major miracle i cannot walk as far as i must to get to this doctor.

Please pray for me.

Thank you.
fluugy

[catmagic0406]

I have NO idea why I wrote in the past tense about iron.  Yikes.  I AM an iron storer.  I have to watch my Ferritin levels ~ have even had to ASK a dr. treating me for HepC to PLEASE check it out... because it wasn't on the order.  I was petrified of the first phlebotomy, but it was no big deal.  And it worked - twice.

[catmagic0406]

I didn't mean to scare anyone.  I just know what my own situation was - and I was an "iron storer"/high Ferritin levels, so for me, iron was a big NO.  But this is definitely something that has to be looked at carefully by your doctor.  I never quite understood the Vit. C thing - as in, it tends to bind iron - but I haven't taken a Vit. C supplement for 10 years because of it.  If I get a cold I get Vit. C via juice.

orphanedhawk - I will check for those mulitV's with no iron.  Right now I take a whole shelf full of supplements just to avoid iron in a multi.  Duh.

[orphanedhawk]

The doctor who diagnosed my hep C told me to take a mult-vitamin w/o iron because of my cirrhosis.

Then I asked my hepatologist about iron, while living in the country where the iron levels of the water was quite high. He said I might want to have the water tested because too much iron can cause cirrhosis.
He's a top notch doctor, up on all the research.

cebean:
I've been taking a multivitamin w/o iron for years now.
They aren't that hard to find. I get mine in the health food store or online.