Aa
I need answers
My boyfriend is in treatment now and is still drinking about 4 to 5 25 oz can of beer and sometimes shot of alcohol per day. He says his doctor said his viral count went to 0 in the first 2 weeks in his 6 to 7th week of treatment. All his tests are doing fine. At least that what he is telling me. I have told him several tine he can not drink during his course of treatment and he will not stop he us an alcoholic. He say he is being cured and the treatment is working for him. My question Is it really?
I asked my doctor Monday that since 10 months ago I received a new liver, would it be okay to drink a glass of wine each day with dinner. He said "absolutely not". Your boyfriend should probably join AA. If he gets to the point that he will ever need a transplant if his condition worsens, they will not give him a liver if he had any alcohol 6 months prior to being put on the list. Good luck...
Magnum
Magnum
Yes indeed. His problem is alcohol and drugs. He is considered a functional alcoholic and drug user. If there is such a thing. Now his problems can be his family problem. I have informed his siblings he needs help and now. He needs an intervention. As for me, moving on!! He is now what he was to me before we started dating. An old high school friend.
Oops!! I looked at my replies. Sorry about all the typos. I am using a smart phone and it choose word for you. I have to remember to proof read before I push send. :)
Yes all of the advice was helpful. I posted it so that others can see how deceitful some people can be even while on tx. While there are loop holes while being treated. They eventually fall into them sooner or later. It's like 6 in one hand and, a half of a dozen in the other If the hepatitis c doesn't kill you the cirrhosis of the liver will. As for me I don't need a long to tell me I need help. I am using my common sense and just move on. A friend yes but and enabler? I don't think so!!! To much drama for me. I have to much living to do. And a short time to do it in. Again I would like to thank each and everyone who returned a reply.
That's funny that you 2 are saying exactly what he is saying. Because that exactly what he told me.He states it doesn't affect the treatment. That's just something the doctor says. The treatment still works. He keeps saying I am viral load of 9 now with about 2 to 3 weeks left. He be he had found a loop hole to keep drinking. But he will find out soon that what he is saying is just another hole he will find himself in. No longer my boyfriend anymore. He is just a friend to much drama.
I am in the process of moving on. I have known him since we were 14 yrs old. We start dating about 2 yrs ago. I didn't know he was in so much drama until I started dating him. Wow!! He is a mess. He is a functional alcoholic and heroin snorter. It Is all but over between us. I am just being a friend until he gets his license back in November 15th to a 6 months suspension for a DUI. I am dropping the relationship part like a bad habit. I will remain his friend and keep trying to convince him he needs help.
Your boyfriends issue is alcohol. You might want to post on the "addiction forum".
Best to you
Best to you
That's true. But he is complying with his treatment. Just hadn't stopped drinking yet.
Yes he was a heavy drinker. He wad a functional alcohol and snorted heroin. His mother passed away he lost his job and has not worked for a year now. He is now a full blown alcoholic.
No his doctor doesn't not test him for anything. His doctor is not a hepatologist. He is just a primary care physician that treats people with hepatitis and HIV. And I sure he doesn't know that he is a alcoholic.
He states all the time I can quit whenever I want to . Alcohol may damage the liver. But his hepatitis c type 2 will be cured. He has 4 weeks to go . He states his viral load is at 0 now. And the doctor states he is doing better.
Thank you very much Dee. I have many talks with him and they keep falling on deaf ears. He says I am cured my viral load is at 0 now. He has about 4 weeks left of medication treatment.
Everyone has given you excellent advice. I am glad I am wrong about alcohol interfering with tx.
I had a friend who had cancer, she continued to drink beer every night. The doctor finally stopped the chemo as they said that the drinking was interfering. She just could not stop. I assumed that it was the same for tx of HCV. I remember reading one of the sx of tx was relapsing into drug or alcohol abuse. I can understand it, tx is very harsh. I would have loved some pain management myself. :)
Sorry....OrphanedHawk is so right...an Alanon meeting could help.
I had a friend who had cancer, she continued to drink beer every night. The doctor finally stopped the chemo as they said that the drinking was interfering. She just could not stop. I assumed that it was the same for tx of HCV. I remember reading one of the sx of tx was relapsing into drug or alcohol abuse. I can understand it, tx is very harsh. I would have loved some pain management myself. :)
Sorry....OrphanedHawk is so right...an Alanon meeting could help.
Klonny is right.
Alcohol does not affect his ability to clear the virus.
The reason why our Drs tell us not to drink while on treatment has to do with
compliance. If your boyfriend is drinking there is the possibility that he may miss a dose or two and not take the meds as prescribed, or disregard fluid intake and nutritional recommendations. The alcohol has no effect on curing.
Sad but true as Hep C while drinking alcohol will damage his liver further.
Drinking while on treatment to help his liver damage from Hep C is irresponsible and careless behavior.
You may want to seek counseling for yourself to understand the disease of alcoholism.
Wish you well
...Kim
BTW. Drinking is prohibited should you become a candidate for a liver transplant. Bloodwork is taken to show adherence of sobriety for 6 months before being allowed on a transplant list. Not so for Hep C treatment.
Alcohol does not affect his ability to clear the virus.
The reason why our Drs tell us not to drink while on treatment has to do with
compliance. If your boyfriend is drinking there is the possibility that he may miss a dose or two and not take the meds as prescribed, or disregard fluid intake and nutritional recommendations. The alcohol has no effect on curing.
Sad but true as Hep C while drinking alcohol will damage his liver further.
Drinking while on treatment to help his liver damage from Hep C is irresponsible and careless behavior.
You may want to seek counseling for yourself to understand the disease of alcoholism.
Wish you well
...Kim
BTW. Drinking is prohibited should you become a candidate for a liver transplant. Bloodwork is taken to show adherence of sobriety for 6 months before being allowed on a transplant list. Not so for Hep C treatment.
It sounds to me like you could use to go to an Alanon meeting to learn how to deal with your alcoholic boyfriend.
The reason we do treatment is primarily because of the damage hep C can do to our livers. Right now hep C is the number one cause of liver transplants in the US, replacing alcoholism. Both damage the liver. Your boyfriend needs help but since the only person you can change is yourself, I suggest you check out a program, like AlAnon, for relatives and friends of alcoholics.
The reason we do treatment is primarily because of the damage hep C can do to our livers. Right now hep C is the number one cause of liver transplants in the US, replacing alcoholism. Both damage the liver. Your boyfriend needs help but since the only person you can change is yourself, I suggest you check out a program, like AlAnon, for relatives and friends of alcoholics.
From what i understand the issue with alcohol use while on treatment is not so much about it affecting the treatment as it is about compliance. In other words someone who drinks heavily is more likely to miss doses, go off treatment, not care because of depression, etc.
Was he drinking before he started treating?
I'm thinking maybe if he was not drinking before, he is now in an attempt to cope with anxiety caused by the drugs. Honestly, I don't know if one beer would be any worse than one xanax for the liver. I'm guessing he does not have cirrhosis. Yet.
I'm thinking maybe if he was not drinking before, he is now in an attempt to cope with anxiety caused by the drugs. Honestly, I don't know if one beer would be any worse than one xanax for the liver. I'm guessing he does not have cirrhosis. Yet.
My docs at the transplant center drug test and alcohol screen me every visit and I never used drugs, only smoked pot back in the 70s. I have not had a single drink since I was diagnosed back 24 years ago and wasn't a drinker then. He needs help with his alcohol problem because he may well end up with cirrhosis anyway just from drinking. If he hasn't told his doc this, he needs to. I am shocked if they knew he was drinking to even offer him treatment.
Hi here is an article about it, I hope this helps you. It does say that drinking with the virus (which he is not cured yet) can cause additional liver damage
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hepatitis_alcohol_treatment_1667_21832.shtml
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hepatitis_alcohol_treatment_1667_21832.shtml
WOW! I am so sorry for what you are going through. I have never heard of anyone drinking while on tx. Most people I know were so desperate to kill the virus that they did nothing to screw it up while treating.
This may be a myth but I have always heard that drinking while having HCV is like throwing gasoline on a fire. No one with HCV is supposed to drink. Just because your boyfriend is UND now does not mean it will stay that way.
He could be jeopardizing his ability to clear the virus. He is lucky to be treating. Due to how expensive it is there are some places where you can't get treatment unless you can show you have not had a drink or drugs for 3 months. Urine tests are done. Doesn't he want to live?
I am so sorry, I hope others with studies will come along to help advise.
Take care, Dee
This may be a myth but I have always heard that drinking while having HCV is like throwing gasoline on a fire. No one with HCV is supposed to drink. Just because your boyfriend is UND now does not mean it will stay that way.
He could be jeopardizing his ability to clear the virus. He is lucky to be treating. Due to how expensive it is there are some places where you can't get treatment unless you can show you have not had a drink or drugs for 3 months. Urine tests are done. Doesn't he want to live?
I am so sorry, I hope others with studies will come along to help advise.
Take care, Dee
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