Hoping for a few opinions...

[thissuks88]

If I didnt tell everyone but I probably did, lol, I know I talk alot and I can type fast so that doesnt help none. So I appreciate everyone. I really do. I have to wait until May 27th to go to the first real doctor to find out anything else. Its a gastro doc but its a good place I do know that. Im so hoping that my test will not show the virus but I showed up the antibodies and my enzymes have been around 40-70 the past three times, so I pretty much no something is causing them to be up. I guess between now and the end of May im gonna be thinking of everything, good and bad. I just dont see alot of good at this point. But anyways, im working out now, especially on my cardio and im eating a diet very high in vegatables and fruit. Im juicing to show im getting alot of good nutrients. And I question I wanted to ask everyone what they thought about eating vegatables that are high in iron, should I probably not? Also, I take a multi vitamin. I dont take the womens formula, I take the mens or the mature ones cause neither contain any iron. Im also trying to quit smoking, down to like 3 or 4 a day and no more then that. I drink loads of water. I take apricot seeds that are supposed to be the "cure" and prevent cancer. I dont know about all that but it cant hurt. If you look the apricot seeds up, their is alot on them. One time the U.S. banned them. People say it was becasue they worked. If so, there would be alot of people without jobs cause cancer is a big market. But who knows. I eat a handful of cranberries daily. Im doing whatevr i can to get healthy, body and mind. Trying to stay stress free. But one question is, if I get in the best possible shape that I can, well, aithin reason, does anyone think that can be a big help during treatment, like as far as the no energy part and the depression part, or any of it really. Im just trying to prepare for the worse. The funny thing is about all of this. I honestly feel better than I have in along time. I look really good. Great color, hair very shiny and healthy, eyes are colorful and bright. Just doesnt seem like I got a virus butthats how it is people say. I dont ever remember having an acute phase as I think if I got it, I more than likely got it in the past two years. So that may be why my enzymes are not that high cause ive not had it long enuff to do any real damage. Thats what I think. I know that everyone is ready for me to find out, I dont know if I am, but I got to wait until May, or i think I do atleast. I have no insurance and I think this place will work with me some. I appreciate any answers or opinions, thanks! Good or bad!

[thissuks88]

ok...I just wanted to make sure I wasnt missing someones post. I dont know why its telling me I have new post, but I dont. Of course its no big deal, but this is the only time its happened and like i say, I just didnt want to ignore no one, but thanks again.

[carol411]

You can go to your profile page, along the top there is a link to account settings, there you can choose what you wish to be notified about.  

[thissuks88]

it keeps telling me I have new responses, but i dont. Im probably doing something wrong, as I havnt got it all figured out yet. Like I dont even know if anyone is seeing this. ANd its asking me to select a best answer. I dont know if I supposed to do that either. I was told no, so if anyone wants to let me know, great! Thanks for everyones time!

[thissuks88]

So sorry, isnt mean to bump the forum as I know what that means now, I think, lol! It still looks like a great wall of txt. I guess you guys will just get used to me writing so much and choose whether you want to read or not. I can be really funny at times, but im afraid to be to commical for fear that someone may take something the wrong way. When things are in writing you cant hear the emotiojn that comes with the words, so maybe in time il figure out what I can and cant do. And I guess ill figure out what fans I got as well, lmao! I do understand if no one wants to read. im sure as this becomes something that isnt so new, my post wil get shorter, but I dont know, im a writer, so thats what we do best, write!

[thissuks88]

       I apologive, I will seperate my thoughts from now on. I type very fast and sometimes ive done typed a "great wall of txt" before I know it. I read just as fast, but I agree its nice to not have to weed through all that when you may not be feeling your best.

       Im not a unhealthy type of person right now, but ive been in really really good shape before and you can only get there, to where i was, by working out, hard cardio and weight training. I could do 50-80 pull ups with ease. I felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. I did, and I was very very happy. When you excercise regurlarly, your brain produces more serotonin, the chemical alot of you take in antidepressants. So, to Isobella, you told me what I was wanting to hear. But id lie to hear more peoples thoughts too. And if it doesnt help any, atleast ill have a rockin bod, something that makes me extremely happy, LOL, hopefully happy enough to counteract some of the depression the meds may cause. I know that still may not be possible though.

       Im a really happy person to begin with, but ive had bad luck on top of bad luck, especially lately, and I may run from treatment cause im just now getting my life semi back on track. I love music. I sing, songwrite, and im the leader of my band. The band that its looking like I may not lead again, so im doing everything to stay completely away from depression cause I got reasons to get that way, and thats not the only one.

       To Hector SF, I know its not important, but I cant help but to think of the few things that I did that was very stupid. I had a madical issue that lead to an opiate dependentcy on top of everything else that was going on. I plan on writing a book about it all. Actually next month I meet with a writer thats going to help me. I want to go back to school for two yrs, but I dont know what to do right now and it really *****. So, this really is effecting me in a big way. I want to know if im gonna be able to hang with college and workin, and waiting until May isnt helping me at all. And even then no one can tell me how treatment will be for me, only when i may need to treat. Does anyone have any suggestions for me about persuing college, and id like the truth, not just a positive answer, but a real one, although I know to be positive with everything. I would appreciate it.

        Also, about the iron issue, I have a very high hemoglobin, for a woman anyways. Its like a mans, in the 14's and 15's. Its your hemoglobin what controls if you are anemic or not. And isnt the iron in your blood that controls that. I could be all wrong bout that but people have told me Ihat iron isnt good for theh hep. And I do know that I may be trying to do things that I dont even know about what im doing, but I got totry to do my best, so thats all im doing at the time.

        I found that Visteryl is helping alot with the anxiety. I dont know if its cause the methadone or what cause it never used to work. But im very glad it is because I really dont like the idea of needing benzos to be normal. Also, I start my taper off mwethadone next week because I cant afford it with me not having any insurance and this treatment stuff too, and id like to think that im handling one problem at a time, and putting the whole opiate issue behind me would be good and it would help me accept the Hep thing. Im the kinda person who wants to do one thing at a time the best way you know how. Im somewhat of a control freak, thats why im having trouble with how my life got for a short period of time. Out of control as far as im concerned, although ive seen a hell of alot worse. Does anyone think that being on methadone may help and make the treatment any easier. What I mean is, does anyone think that its worth staying on for a lil bit, atleast while im treating? Cause if not, I really would like to come off it before I treat. That way, if I need something for pain or whatever, I can feel it, lol!! Im doing a very very slow taper, so its going to take me two yrs to taper, assuming I have that time to do before I should treat, and id lie to wait for the new meds to come out as well. I dont see no reason to try to rush the taper if im just going to need to increase.

         Well, any suggestions would be appreciated, and again sorry for the "great wall of txt", LOL!! Im not a very sensitive person so I can take constructive credicism just fine. And I can handle the truth, well, Imay not can handle it really, but thats what I need. Cause im really in the middle of making some huge chooses for my life and career, and now i feel stuck, like I dont know what to do, and I cant wait another two yrs figure it out. So, the whole college thing, I would like some opinions on that for sure, and about the exercising to, and anything else that someone may want to comment on.

[HectorSF]

When or how you contracted hepatitis c is not really important, as many people don't know this information and it doesn't matter. Once you find that you have chronic hepatitis your focus should be to rid yourself of the virus through treatment.

It is a misnomer that Enzymes (AST, ALT) have anything to do with how much liver damage you have. It only indicates the something is damaging or killing your liver's cells.

Whether any of the foods you are eating is providing any health benefit is debatable. But the fact is that smoking is one of the most unhealthy times you can do as it damages many body systems.

Sure it is great to be in shape but that has very little to do with how treatment will affect you (unless you are very unhealthy to begin with) and and nothing to do with whether it will make you depressed or not. Many people are able to undergo treatment with only minimal side effects. Others find it very difficult and some need other medicines to counteract the effect of treatment on their bodies.

Perhaps it might be helpful if you understand the basics of Hepatitis c and its treatment.
WebMD has a good overview of all aspects of the disease:
http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/hepc-guide/default.htm

For a complete medical view go to AASLD's Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment of Hepatitis C
http://www.aasld.org/practiceguidelines/Documents/Practice%20Guidelines/hepatitisc.pdf

Good luck!
Hectorsf

[Trish77]

Good luck with your test in May - keep the positive attitude in the meantime.

[Trish77]

"and easier on our eyes and muddled brains to wade through.

Especially the Canadians...   :)"

Hmph....I throw a snowball in your general direction!!  

[Isobella]

I had about a 9 month wait between being diagnosed and starting tx.  I did exactly what you are doing....getting healthy and strong.  I cooked and froze meals ahead of time, trained for  9 mile run, juiced, took supplements, you named it, I tried to do it.  

I bought a new couch because I knew I'd be living on if for 48 weeks.  Basically, I did all I could do to get my mind off of HCV and get my body strong.  I can only see the positives of that.

As far as the iron, ask your doc.

I'd had HCV for anywhere from 25-40 years and my enzymes were never above the 60's that I am aware of and my biopsy was 1/0.  My sides were very managable throughout tx and I have no lingering problems 2 years out.  Whether or not my pre-tx regimen had anything to do with that, who knows.  I think I was just fortunate-but I still hit walls during my 48 weeks.   Maintaining adequate nutrition and activity levels can definately help during tx, tho.

Like the others here, I love paragraphs, also, lol!!

Take care and good luck,

Isobella

[willbb]

and easier on our eyes and muddled brains to wade through.

Especially the Canadians...   :)

[Bill1954]

When you write in the forum here, it’d be helpful to others if you broke your thoughts up into paragraphs. Try writing a few lines on a particular topic, and then as you change the course of your thoughts, hit the ‘enter’ key twice to provide a paragraph break like this:

That break above make your thoughts much easier to manage, and easier on our eyes and muddled brains to wade through. It doesn’t take much effort on the writer’s part, and you’ll likely get better and more concise responses that way.

Other than that, have a great day and take good care of yourself—

--Bill

[Fnzol]

WALL OF TEXT!!!!!!!!

Jumpin' Jebus on a pogostick, use some hard returns.

[Bill1954]

I’m trying to find your question in all that above; if it’s concerning dietary iron intake in veggies, simply ask your doctor about it. Not all of us have iron storage issues; if you don’t then there’s nothing to be concerned with.

Good luck and take care-

--Bill

[Diane12855]

Being in good shape helps your body in many ways. Some say that if you keep working out during tx the symptoms aren't as bad. I think anemia feels rotten for everybody though, and having it is a good sign that you are getting enough Riba absorption in your blood.
The depression is caused because the interferon can screw up the chemicals in your brain and I think that is more of a genetic thing than how fit a person is.

I never remember having an acute phase either, but I got mine over 25 years ago. The only thing that really matters is to get rid of it.

Diane