Hepatitis

I have had Hep C for over twenty years.  My ALt and Ast are normal. My viral load is 30 units.  My question is can I have a brandy at night with my dinner without doing damage.  I do not have a drinking problem.  

[copyman]

not sure what you mean by "viral load is 30 units". never heard that before. as for the brandy any alcohol is bad with Hep c, they say it is like throwing gas on a fire.
Have you ever thought about treating the Hep C? This disease has a way of sneaking up on you. Think about getting rid of this disease before it is to late.

Best of luck

[belch2010]

Unfortunately I have not had an option to get treated.  I have been seen by a physician for the past 11 years.  He told me because by alt and ast are within normal ranges, I do not need treatment yet.  I have not had a biopsy.  He did do a viral load which  revealed my viral count is very low and is considered undetectable.  I would appreciate any suggestions you may have or know about.  I do not have health coverage.  Would a county health department assist me?
So I guess having a glass of brandy at night with my dinner is out, huh?

[tashka]

Very low and undetectable viral load are two different things. If your viral load is low, but detectable, you have the disease. Usually viral load is in thousands or millions. A few thousands is considered very low viral load.

Now, if you are undetectable, this means you don't have hepatitis C. You have to have viral load to be diagnosed with hepatitis C. No virus-no disease.

Did you consult hepatologist? You need to do this and find out for sure if you are infected. Considering that your ALT/AST are normal and viral load is undetectable, I suspect you are not. You need to visit hepatologist, because unfortunately doctors are not very well informed about hepatitis C. Some are just ignorant about this disease and don't know how is it transmitted, diagnosed, and managed. You need a definite answer about your condition, and hepatologist is the best specialist to provide you with this answer.

[Bill1954]

The operative term is ‘undetectable’.  You might be one of those 20% of patients that was at one time exposed to the virus, then cleared within the initial six months of infection during the acute phase.

If so, you’ll always test positive for HCV antibodies, but not for active, RNA virus. If this is indeed the case, then you do not carry active HCV, and are not infected.

Ask your doctor specifically what your ‘HCV RNA status’ is; if negative, then you can probably have brandy nightly, with the obvious caveats and warnings regarding alcoholism. And the caveats of belching from too much brandy; I'm not sure if your sign-on name implies any issues with that or not :o).

If you ask for and post your latest actual HCV test results here, someone will be able to help you interpret them. Or better yet, discuss this with the doctor.

Good luck and take care-

Bill