Hepc clearing miracle?

[trebor45]

alt was 486, and ast was 263 just two months ago, i have have had hepc  since 1975, chronic active, just had an ultrasound, it came back normal, and a liver panel, alt 35, ast 16, is this a miracle,or what, I'm on no treatment, just herbs, and vitamins! Have you ever heard of a spontaneous clearing like this after 36 years?

[HectorSF]

"it's interesting that so many of the A+ members have weight in. i am more like a C- member."
Funny!

I won't venture to say where I might be in the alphabet soap... but when I see posts of total conjecture presented as reality (instead of our hopes and wishes) or blatantly false or misleading statements about hepatitis C presented as though they are statements of fact I must say I find it disheartening, depressing and more than a little maddening.

If we who have been personally affected by this disease don't understand the basics of the disease, what hope do we have to better educate the public and erase some of the stigma and misinformation that is out there in the general public's mind about hepatitis C?

That is my two cents worth on the matter. Now I'll get off my soapbox...

Hector

[trebor45]

I am hoping to get on a new treatment plan if hcv still present, and it sounds like it is, according to all replys, only problem i see now is, one poster here said its dangerous after under going detached retina surgery, also had laser treatment on left eye for a weak retina, by the way, the retina reattached itself, but with a slight fold in it, my vision is very distorted,and blurry now, a permanent condition, unless i opt to have another major surgery, with the chance it may make it worse, best regards, Bob

[coeric]

good news on your platelets.   when i was first diagnosed with cirrhosis, about four years ago my platelets were running around 150.  In the past year the platelets have been running between 90 and 100.  I also recently found out that i was experiencing grade 1 esophageal varices, so there was no time to waste on getting started with triple therapy.  it's interesting that so many of the A+ members have weight in. i am more like a C- member.
blessings
eric

[James10500]

Sorry you have HCV, your post says nothing. It's the equivalent of saying I have a broken leg, it hurt more yesterday than it does today my leg remains broken.

[trebor45]

platelets 150   normal range 150-400

[HectorSF]

"my eyesight took precedence over Liver tests"
Totally understand able.
I am sorry to hear about your detached retina. My girlfriend has the same issue earlier in the year and it was a tough recovery process.

"wouldn't the ultrasound show if i had advanced fibrosis, or cirrhosis?"

An ultrasound in the hands of a good tech at a transplant hospital can show cirrhosis. Not fibrosis.
Only stage 4, cirrhosis of the liver, causes a change in the architecture of the liver which can be seen by a ultrasound.
In the early stage the liver may appear swollen and course. The caudate lobe may increase in size compared to the right lobe.
In the later stages regenerative large and small nodules appear on the surface off the liver.  Ultrasound images also show evidence of splenomegaly (enlarged spleen), varices and other collateral vessels may appear and ascites. The portal vein may also appear dilated.
None of these complications of liver disease appear in earlier stages of fibrosis.

"also I have never had symptoms, and all other liver function tests came back normal also"
Yes, the vast majority of people with hepatitis C have no symptoms. Nothing strange about that. Liver function tests will be normal until the liver is no longer able to perform all of its functions. This only happens with the liver disease has progressed to cirrhosis.

Sorry but some of your assumptions about hepatitis C are not correct.

"my PCP was in awe of the numbers"
Unfortunately a PCP is no expert on hepatitis or liver disease. You must go to a gastroenterologist or hepatologist in order to know what your condition truly is.

Hope you aren't too disappoint when you get the news. Hang in there.

Hector

[Bill1954]

Trebor, if they ordered a complete blood count (CBC) it should include platelets. When cirrhosis starts to establish, platelets almost invariably reduce to <100,000. This is  relatively easy to check, more so than say a biopsy. If your platelets are in normal range, then you’re likely dealing with some degree of fibrosis alone. There are of course exceptions to this, but for the most part it’s a good backcheck.

Best-

--Bill  

[trebor45]

Had a physical at the same time the liver panel was drawn, with all the usual blood tests, everything came back normal, don't have the actual numbers in front of me.

[pooh55811]

My liver ultrasound came back as completely normal but my liver biopsy showed Grade 2, Stage 2 fibrosis.

I had been so happy about the ultrasound results but my bubble sure burst upon learning the biopsy results.

[coeric]

i really could use a miracle story.  

on a positive side your ratios of ALT to AST may indicate less fibrosis that what one might see in cirrhosis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9448172

have you had a recent CBC, and do you know your platelet levels?

[trebor45]

Thanks,will report back after VL test, believe me, I'm not promoting anything, just needed some feedback, however I don't feel as good about my latest results, after reading most of these posts.

[hrsepwrguy]

Here is another concerning children with chronic HCV

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9365066

[coeric]

thanks so much for the links.  fascinating reading.   over the years there been posts on this site about remission without therapy.  these post usual have a product or theory that the poster is trying to promote.  if my post seemed harsh, i apologize.  i tend to overreact to those promising remission without interferon therapy.  

i really hope you let us know about the viral load test and hope you indeed are experiencing a miracle.  
blessings
eric

[Bill1954]

Interesting; thanks!

[nygirl7]

oh yes the Alaskan Eskimos gosh we have been around here a long long time !

Maybe they were 'juicing' and using the blood cleaning machine too?  ;)

[trebor45]

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/7/953.full

[Bill1954]

Here's one of them; the abstract from 2003 seems to suggest that this occurred in 3.7% of this patient group:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12858409?dopt=Abstract

I can't access the full text so methods remain obscure; they do state that HCV RNA testing was used though.

--Bill

[Bill1954]

There have been some peer reviewed published studies of Alaska natives that cleared chronic infection a few years back; if I stumble across them I’ll post here.

--Bill

[hrsepwrguy]

Only from oscar and BHT. LOL :)

[orphanedhawk]

I am a firm believer in anything being possible.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
OH

[coeric]

i am curious has anyone ever seen a peer-reviewed report describing a spontaneous remission from chronic hepatitis c?  maybe it does happen. i understand it is common in the acute stage of the disease.

[nygirl7]

Please continue to follow up because the numbers you mention really don't equate to anything very much so therefore - they dont matter and dont mean anything.

People with cirrhosis can oftentimes have lower liver enzyme levels because there is less healthy tissue to die and relase the enzymes.

I dont think anyone on this forum would advise that you are somehow magically cured so please get your PCR tested and followup with a biopsy.  Ultrasound really doesn't mean very much except that luckily you do not have tumors or cancerous growths but you could very well have advanced fibrosis after all of this time.

[trebor45]

I'm just happy that i had a positive ultrasound report, and enzymes, and liver function was normal, my PCP was in awe of the numbers, he didn't say i was cured or anything, he just said he has never seen a drop like that in such a short amount of time, I will report back here after i see my specialists, thanks for all your reply's, both positive, and negative, don't want to get my hopes up too much, also i forgot to mention that i was a partial respondent on two previous treatments years ago, interferon, and then interferon, with ribaviran

[coeric]

hrsepwrguy's ct was normal and yet he had advanced fibrosis. ultrasound, a much lower imaging device will not show fibrosis directly.  at some point the liver will become so scarred that it will appeal like a bag of walnuts on an ultrasound , and it is possible to infer very advanced fibrosis.  i have read many storied of people that had no symptoms until they started to vomit blood.
blessings
eric