Hi and welcome to the forum
This is a post last commented on in 2010 your best bet is to post a new question of your own so more people can see it is a new question and respond.
To do this go to the top right of the page and select the green post a question link and ask away.
Also if you could add a little about your situation why you are being tested for example.
The good news is even if you do test positiv efor hep c there are new improved treatments approved in the last year that can cure mose who have hep c now the treatment is much bettertolerated and could be as simple as 1 pill a day for 8 weeks depending on your individual circumstances.
So start a new question and good luck
Lynn
This same thing happened to me. Did you end up in the clear? I'm sooo nervous I have to go in today.
Here are a few good websites. The best way to educate others is to first educate yourself.
http://www.janis7hepc.com/
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/
Now she's texting every 5 minutes telling me my husband must have cheated
-------------------------------
Been married for 30 years and my wife don't have it so i really doubt even if you do have hcv it was from sex.
Curious though what if you do have it and your husband don't, is your mother going to think you cheated on HIM???.......... Good luck on your tests results, best to you
can
HCV is not a sexually transmitted disease. There are plenty of happily married folks on this forum who have the disease and there partner does not. Tell your mom it's not that. Chances are somehow you could have even gotten this when you had your 3 sections - surgery involves blood and instruments and all sorts of things. Some peoeple never know where they got the disease. It could have been an innoculaton when you were a child or a dentist even.
Right now you don't even know you have the disease only the antibodies.
Take the test next week and move on from there. And no most of us are not druggie/sl*tbag/wh0res in any way - that is the stigma that is given to us until we stop and educate people that they too could easily have the disease and not know it.
maybe I shouldn't have told my mom. I just needed someone to talk to. Now she's texting every 5 minutes telling me my husband must have cheated. Way to make me feel worse.
Hey, I would echo all that Bill wrote.
Many of us have had HCV for decades and have not managed to transmit to our loved ones even when we were unaware that we had it. I would just follow basic precautions. An episode in which you could transmit is very unlikely to come up. For the most part your blood has to get into someone else's bloodstream. This normally doesn't happen very often through accidental action. I would not bother telling anybody until you know your status.
The major thing that I wanted to communicate is that a percentage of people are able to clear the virus on their own. This may be less likely if you were infected though a transfusion containing tainted blood, but we really don't yet know how you were infected. It is possible to have had the virus and to have CLEARED the virus. Naturally, one would still have antibodies. Women are far more likely to clear than men.
I don't want to hold this up as a false hope, but it is yet one more possibility.
Should you turn out to be infected...... it is not a death sentence. The disease is currently treatable and has about a 45%-80% cure rate depending on which genotype of infection that one has. There are new drugs which are soon to be approved which will shorten the treatment time and raise the success rate dramatically. I have been told that the disease will be curable (I presume that means close to 100%) in 5 years or sooner.
Try not to worry. It will avail you nothing. Get your results and go from there. I am soon to be 57 years old, may have had this since the mid 70's and have been relatively unaffected by the disease. I hope this helps you be a little more calm while you wait.
My biopsy in 2008 revealed I was still a stage 1 out of 6.
When you get your results, ask for a copy, take notes and be sure to check back with this thread. You can also search other such threads on this forum for more information on what it all means and what to do.
best,
Willy
Or more than likely, a whole lot less ;o).
I guess I can worry more in 7 days then..
I completely understand your concerns. For right now, there’s really nothing another doctor can do… they could schedule additional testing, but it sounds like the plasma center is performing the test you need for right now.
If, and that’s a big if; it comes back positive, then we’ll go from there. Hep C progresses very slowly; its progress is usually gauged by years and decades, not so much weeks or months. You’ll have time to deal with it at that point.
I personally wish they would test everyone for this disease during yearly checkups… I can’t answer why they don’t do that at pregnancy. Doctors assume *everyone* is infected with something; it’s called ‘universal precaution’; they shouldn’t present a danger of infection to you or other patients by practicing this.
Regarding telling other people right now, it’d be prudent to keep it quiet for now. Later, if for some reason this turns out to be positive, you might rethink that… for now, I’d keep it to myself. Once word gets out, it’s hard to turn things around, you know?
Hang tight; perhaps others will stop by with their thoughts and experiences as well. There are others in here with similar experiences; feel free to ask questions and such.
Best to you, and let us know how things go on the 17th if you like—
Bill
um sl*t isn't a curse word.... OH AND THANK YOU for the encouragement .
When it comes to myself and my own health I could really care less either way. Although I know HEP C is not a regular test on pregnant women. Wouldn't Docs want to test women they know for sure will have planned C-sections due to the blood and all? For their own safety and that of the child? I mean. You'd think.
And I have been thinking that although I dont have tats piercings no drug use ...ect...ect. My granny used to test my sugar with HER tester every so often as an adolecent doing no more than rubbing alcohol on the needle. SHE DID have transfusions. SHE did work in Healthcare...
I know I've read a lot of posts in here and it's better (if infected to not even try to figure it out) ugg when I had those two teeth pulled...my mother may have once used my razor... uhh see...
I HAVE NO INSURANCE.
Should I go to an STD clinic? The Health DEPT?
Is this like AIDS where everyone around me will find out and I'll be stereo-typed as druggie or ****?
Hi there,
Sorry to hear about this. It sounds like you tested positive for Hep C antibodies; this is the initial test performed to see if the disease is present. If you have no risk factors such as IV drug use, transfusions or blood products prior to 1991, prison time, etc there’s a very good chance this is a false positive test result.
Don’t worry about transmitting this too much. It is probably prudent to avoid sharing toothbrushes, razors or anything that might potentially involve transferring blood to other family members. Hep C is rarely transmitted sexually as well; the section about mucous membranes and vaginal secretions are more applicable to Hep B or HIV virus. While sexual transmission can’t be ruled out, it’s very unlikely to occur.
The follow up test on 4/17 will probably be a ‘HCV RNA by PCR’ test; this is very specific for the presence of actual virus; until then, **try** to relax; avoid alcohol, and perhaps not discuss this with too many people. False positive antibody tests do occur; and even if it turns out positive somehow, it’s not the end of the world. Pain in the butt, but life goes on.
Welcome to the discussion group, by the way—
Bill