Hep C Diet

[das6504]

Is there any special diet you should follow or foods you should avoid with Hep C?

[Bill1954]

Aw, Pooty—you oughta not do that, especially if you have Hep C. Why don’t you go to the top of the page, click on the ‘post a question’ button, and repost this; that way, you can have your own thread to talk about this. Tell us how more about your diagnosis and how long you’ve had the disease, etc.

Whatever you do, take care of yourself—

--Bill

[pooty365]

I GOT HEP C GOT SO DEPRESSED AND WENT ON A DRINKING BINGE NOW I'M PAYING FOR IT I HAVE TO STOP I NEED HELP

[merryBe]

Part of any biopsy is the worry. Folks who have never had one think it's a major operative procedure but it is not.

Like I told you earlier, mine was fine.

It might help you to take an ativan or a valium just before getting to the hospital.
Most hospitals will offer you a sedative, but not all. However you can request it, just say...I'm very nervous and scared about this, and even the stingy places will usually comply.

the only way it's going to raise your blood pressure is if you worry.
my biopsy did not include an insicion, just a needle, in and out of an already numbed area.

the reason you must lay quiet is so that there will be good clotting of the sample site.
Not every hospital makes you lie sideways, mine did not, the main thing (only in late stage that sometimes happens is that the liver won't clot the sample site but this is very rare. However rare or not they keep you for several hours just to be sure.

after the procedure, I was given a room, and the nurse came and drew blood from my arm each hour. They measure your blood to make sure  you aren't bleeding inside...

Now this is where it got a little scary....my nurse made a mistake.
She calculated that my blood level was going down.
However, what they did right after the biopsy when they put me in the room was they came in and told me to to drink as much water as I could.  So like a good girl I drank lots of water...for hours...why...because they told me to.!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of a sudden, after 4 or 5 blood draws and her acting more and more worried....well she comes in, sits down with a stupified look on her face...and says, "OH< I forgot to calculate the water you drank in."  Well by that time I'd drank 3 or more quarts!!   And so my blood was reading as more diluted or something...but it was not a bleed.  Phew!!  Fortunately the whole time she was worried I really wasn't very, thanks to  the lovely sedative...

anyway, don't worry, be happy. thousands of these are done every day and it's considered a very safe procedure. Any procedure has some risk though, and they must tell you that.

As long as you don't have clotting problems and aren't taking meds that would thin your blood you should be fine. Some meds should be discontinued for a few days, like heparin, warfarin..

Some insurances are not allowing folks to treat in stage 1 or 2 right now...(partly because other better drugs are coming soon)...but knowing your stage is important before treating. It's the only way to make a choice about when to treat...and the only way to get the approval as just mentioned.
when is your biopsy scheduled???

[Bill1954]

There are several ways that samples for liver biopsy are taken; most typically, a ‘percutaneous needle biopsy’ is performed. It’s an outpatient procedure; you’ll be at the hospital for roughly 6 hours.

Generally, most liver biopsies are now ultrasound guided. You'll have an ultrasound just prior to the procedure, an IV line will be started, and if you request, drugs that cause‘twilight sedation’, similar to what you’d have during a colonoscopy are delivered.

Then, a local anesthetic is placed at the surgical site, and a tiny incision is made; the biopsy needle is placed, and the sample is taken with a spring-loaded retrieval tool. The actual sampling only takes a few seconds; they may take several samples, you’ll be asked to breathe deeply and to hold your breath at some point.

It’s very likely you won’t remember much of anything; and while you might feel a brief pinch or pain, it goes very quickly. You might also feel some referred pain in the right shoulder for a bit afterwards; some folks do, some don’t.

The worst part of the ordeal comes afterwards, when you’ll be asked to lie on your side and wait for several hours; it can be boring. Bring a book or some music; they will want to monitor you for any post operative complications like bleeding.

After 5 or 6 hours, you’ll be discharged, and told not to do any heavy lifting or strenuous exercise for two or three days. It will also take a couple of days for your doctor to receive results from the pathology lab.

A biopsy will determine how much inflammation and/or fibrosis/scarring might have developed over the course of your disease; it is usually invaluable information, and will help determine the urgency (if any) for treatment.

Good luck—

Bill

[happyoldergal]

i know i am not looking in right places but could someone explain to me what they exactly do when they do a liver biposy? i want to know if it hurts and also do you know if it messes with high blood pressure and if you have diabetis does it make your sugar go up? would i have to stay nite in the hospital?wiposy?what exactly do they learn from the biposy??happyoldergal

[Bill1954]

It’s my understanding that protein is not only important, but critical to liver health. This seems to get sticky when decompensated liver disease is present; then, animal proteins like those that derive from red meats can aggravate hepatic encephalopathy. I think years ago, it was suggested to restrict it for this reason. It’s my understanding now that it’s usually preferable to continue consuming proteins, and manage issues with encephalopathy as they arise with pharmaceuticals such as Lactulose instead. Here’s some info on this:

http://tinyurl.com/ycblx3h

Always best to consult your doctor--

Bill

[spectda]

thanks for asking the question and to the people with the helpful answers. How about protien, should it be limited as well?
Dave

[Bill1954]

HCV patients do tend toward iron storage issues; limiting iron might be something to consider. Not all of us have problems with it; your doctor will typically order an iron study prior to treatment. Avoiding *supplemental* iron should be discussed with your doctor

There has also been discussion about raw shellfish; sometimes there’s an organism that can harm the liver:

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0196655304001968

“ISSUE: A 40-year-old male presented to the Emergency Department with fever, shortness of breath, bilateral leg ulcers, and history of Hepatitis C. After continued deterioration, blood cultures were drawn and an infectious disease consultation was called. The blood cultures grew gram-negative bacilli. After a thorough assessment by infectious disease, the patient admitted to ingesting raw oysters at a local restaurant. Preliminary diagnosis of Vibrio was determined. People with liver disease, low gastric acidity, and immunodeficiency are at an increased risk for septicemia. Infection in these individuals may result in death within 24–48 hours. Diagnosis and intervention are key elements in decreasing mortality…
…LESSONS LEARNED: Hepatitis C patients should be counseled concerning not eating raw shellfish. The restaurant added a notification to the menu cautioning immunosuppressed individuals to avoid ingesting raw shellfish.”

I believe that a patient with compensated liver disease will continue to metabolize and process food normally. Avoiding excessive salt and sometimes animal proteins might need to be considered in cases of advanced cirrhosis, however.

Bill

[Rockerforlife]

Organic Food.

[hcvJames]

Good question. I'm new also. In materials handed me b4 treatment began AND on some credible sites (from hospitals and such) all agree ... NO ALCOHOL, poison to the liver with hep c.
--- no fat or high fat foods. Beef, both because of the fat content AND it's a source of iron, which isn't very good for the liver. But the fat content is enough to cut it out. Ditto pork.
--- no salt, retains fluid. The liver begins having problems processing and eliminating fluid, stores it in the legs, and intratissue areas around the stomach, and chest (big man boobs, if you are a guy)

--- told to stop caffeine. And for some odd reason, dark soda pop.

--- some say sugar. I have to drink a gallon of 'water', really, fluid, a day. If I go the full 72 weeks, that's 504 gallons of water! Somewhere along the way I'm going to grow gills, live IN the lake, and eat worms. Hoping to avoid that, I drink about 24 - 36 oz's of no caffeine, ginger ale, or sprite/7-up like soda. I can't think of a fruit drink with less sugar soo.. I have a smoothie (no sugar added, plain yogurt, apples, bananas, etc., frozen unsweetened strawberries,etc) once in awhile, certainly will have many more towards summer.

-- people warn against mega-vitamins with iron. I just stopped taking them, unsure what to substitute. At this point it, with other worries, it sounded to complicated to figure out. But that's just me ..

-- I was told to not eat spicy foods. Perhaps for the salt content of many. I *THINK* it's because some people develop nausea at some point Not because it damages your liver directly. If you can tolerate, say raw, fresh hot pepper, it might be ok to eat.

Please if someone knows the fer sur give us the hot skinny.

No Alcohol, fat, salt, or caffeine. Eliminate Alcohol period. Cut back as much as possible on the rest.

The rest is more speculative (to me, at least.) Oh, if you eat fowl, remove the skin and fat b4 preparing it, of course, don't fry it.

Good question. I hope more will comment and certainly correct any mistaken advice of mine. I want very much to know more also.

Good Luck and welcome to the Hep C forum
lots of good and knowledgeable people here

[flashDude]

I heard that fish and chicken are also good. As Jakied says we need to stay away from high fat foods, fast food, fried food, and yep I agree with eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but I think that we need to also watch the sugar content as well.

And yes no alcohol as well!

I am not a Nutrition guy, I am just learning myself`-`

[Jakied]

High fat foods are harder to process with hep c.  eat a lot of fruit and vegs.

Most important, NO alcohol.