SISTER HAS HEPATITIS

[pigsty213]

My sister is 54 years old, she was  a drug user many years ago.  She has been told she has hepatitis, not sure which one and is to have about a year of injections. She said teh side affecfts are lke chemotheraphy.

How often will she need the injections?  She has to go about 40 miles away for them.

I am really upset about this, don't know much about it but doesn't sound good, she was told she had hepatitis about 20 years ago but it wasn't followed up1

Do the injections cure or just make things better for her?

[Idyllic]

You mean your sister has to drive 40 miles for her weekly injection? The logistics sound unusual. There are one or two members from the UK on here however you might want to try the hepc nomads web site (hepcnomads.co.uk) not sure that will site address will appear. If not I will post it in your notes.

[Dawn703]

C the drug one? Drug use is not the only way to be infected with HCV. Exposure also happened through drug transfusions, receving blood products, transplants, health care workers from needle sticks, the list goes on. She would do the injections herself in the belly or thigh, no veins at all. Again, she should be able to give the injections to herself. I don't see any reason why she has to go to the hospital to get them, I have never heard of that before. You may want to say something to her Dr about that.

[maybe368]

I have not finished treatment yet, so I cannot speak to recovery. It can be tough, but some people have a relatively easy time. I would recommend that the treatment of the disease should be the priority. There is a ton of info on this site, do a search and look for more recent results, watch for the hour glass that indicates an older thread. The triple therapy drugs (the protease inhibitors) have only been approved since May of 2011. That doesn't mean that the older info on the interferon and ribaviren is not helpful, just be aware that there are some really old threads.  A good support system from family and friends is very helpful. Good luck...Mark

[pigsty213]

What is recovery like?  Can she get transport, its quite a way to the hospital and she can't afford to pay anyone petrol!

[maybe368]

It is a sub-cutaneous shot, you don't need veins. And the "drug one" really?...Mark

[pigsty213]

I think its the one some actors have had, an 80% dhance of success!  I'm sure its C the drug one.  The problem is she has no veins so not sure if she can do injections herself.

[kam_lukesmom]

I have Hepatitis C and I am starting Triple Therapy tmrw which is an injection and 2 different pills. There r 3 kinds of hep-a,b,& c &then different genotypes for the hepatitis so just hapatitis is kind of broad! I take the shot once a week and I think it is the same for all of them but I do the shots myself hope this helps a little!!

[Dawn703]

Well you have given very little info, I would recommend you post what hepatitis she has (I'm assuming C), the genotype, results of liver biopsy or fibrosure test, and if this is her first time treating. You will get more accurate info that way

However, the injections are probably peg interferon injections. She should be able to give herself the injections, we all do/did. She probably just needs to go the one time to learn how to do that. These injections are once a week; she probably will also be taking some pills called ribavirin, and if she is genotype 1 (if HCV), she will also likely be taking a third drug called a protease inhibitor. How long she would have to treat would depend on a lot of different things.

I understand you are upset and concerned. The treatment will hopefully cure her, but unfortunately that is not necessarily true. If she is genotype 1 and is doing the triple therapy, the odds of being cured are much higher.
The length of time she has had it doesn't really mean too much, I had it for 37 years before I was diagnosed and that is pretty normal. It can take a long time for damage to be done and most people go for decades without knowing they have it.

Here are some websites to check out, which are for HCV

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hcv/index.htm

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs164/en/index.html

Good luck and keep us posted on your sister. You may want to have her also join the forum, she is going to need some support.