Night sweats and Hep C

[Harry Potter]

Hi, I was recently diagnosed (by accident) with Hepatitis C, due to recurring night sweats that have happened on & off for years (though I had tested neg for Hep C a year or more after they started).  My dr. told me this could be my immune system fighting off the disease; he's given me a 50% chance of doing this in one year's time (I must've been infected sometime in the last three years, I'm guessing 12-18 mos ago).  My "stats" are: ALT 17  AST 16  Bilirubin 0.9  Viral Load 4000 I.U. (I don't know what genotype I am; my dr. said I'd need a biopsy for that?)  Does anyone else suffer from the symptom of night sweats?  What do you do to prevent them?  I've always sweated more than the average person, even in the daytime, but the night sweats are a whole different animal.  Sometimes I know ahead of time when I will sweat, but sometimes they happen when I feel cold during the night.  Sorry this is so wordy; it's my first post.  I've been freaking out for a few weeks since the diagnosis (I was in denial at first, as the only possible way I could've gotten this is through oral sex, which the CDC seems to say is not possible, or at least not documented) but now have come to accept that I will FIGHT this, whatever it takes.  Reading/lurking on this board has been so helpful...you guys are great!

[copyman]

Hi , welcome and sorry to meet you this way. you will find some of the best hepatitis info on the net on this forum. now to your problem, first i think you need to see a hepatologist. your curret doc said a few things that are wrong, geno type can be obtained from a blood test and after having the Hep c virus for more then 6 months the acute stage becomes chronic and chances of clearing it without treatment is almost impossible. others will post more advice for you but this is a start. best of luck to you.

[Harry Potter]

A follow-up question...as if my first wasn't lengthy enough: I'm totally confused as to which pain relievers are safe & unsafe to take (i.e. Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, or just plain old aspirin).  I try never to take more than one per 6 hours.  I'm wondering if taking an aspirin before bedtime would stabilize my fever during sleep & possibly lessen my night sweats.  Thank you for any responses!

[domusic]

Sorry to hear of your diagnosis and thanks for posting, your among friends here. I'm new to the forum as well but have been "lurking" for a couple months. It's a valuable asset for people going through this difficult time.  It's not at all the end of the world as they say. It's a very slow progressing illness and many go decades without even having symptoms. I've had it for over three decades and was just diagnosed two months ago.

In thinking back though, some of the symptoms listed for Hep C, I've had, actually a lot of them, periodically. Night sweats is one of them. Usually the episode would start with what I thought might be the onset of the flu with chills, (sometimes with uncontrollable shaking or shivers) followed by being hot as hell and sweating profusely. I usually have a low grade fever along with it too.

When I asked my Dr. about it he said it was the body's immune response trying to get rid of some virus, maybe the Hepatitis virus or maybe some other virus, like the flu or something. Most of the time the episode only lasted a day or over night and I usually felt fine the next day.

Among the blood tests they'll do to confirm and evaluate your hepatitis is an HCVAB test which looks for the Hep C antibodies and if you have it, will come back as a positive.

From there they'll test for the presents of the virus called a PCR and an RNA or viral load test to see how much of the virus you have in you. Along with these tests they'll do a genotype test (blood test not Biopsy). It's likely that if you've already had some of these tests you've had them all so you might want to take another look at the lab results and have someone explain then to you if possible.

You'll be flooded with valuable information here, may be a bit overwhelming at first as you learn more about Hep. But it will sink in and you be approaching expert in no time. Keep lurking, participate and ask many questions. You'll get straight answers from people who care.

I can't comment on you pain reliever question. Tylenol has been shown to be toxic to your liver when taken in high doses. I've heard 3 grams to 4 grams max, daily. (that's 6 to 8, 500 mg tablets). Your primary care physician could best answer the question for you.

Best of regards,
~DoMusic~

[ladybug52]

I've had night sweats for over twenty years and my dr. told me it was the rise and fall of my estrogen. It always seemed to run in cycles, perhaps it was the hep c all along? Doesn't matter now. I'm on my way to getting rid of this for good!
Best of luck to you both, Domusic, God bless!
Bug

[FlGuy]

I've had hcv for more than 30 years.  Before diagnosis, about two years ago, I had gone many years with night sweats. Not every night, but a series of night several times a year.  Now that I'm on treatment, I still get them but there's a more acceptable reason.  I've never known any way to avoid them (aspirin etc) but I was not able to accurately forecast them either.

[NYgirl]

Night sweats on Interferon are HELL but I never had them before I started treatment.  Now...VERY common. YUCK!

[chcnme]

Hi there. Sorry you've found out about having this virus but glad you've been lurking and are now asking questions.  The diagnosis alone can be as difficult to cope with as the disease, in my opinion.  Increased sweating and night sweats (I know that animal, too) can be a sign that something is wrong, and it's a common complaint in people with Hep C (or any chronic disease) but particularly with Hep C and HIV.  I had the awful sweating with the acute Hep  (I had Hep in the 70s; I've had this virus for 33 years). The awful sweating stopped about a year after the recovery phase back then, and then - the bad sweating started back up when I was about 25 years old (I'm now 47).  I didn't know what it was but it was hauntingly familiar.  Docs never could find anything wrong (FSH normal, all labs normal, etc. - not premenopausal, not HIV.)  The sweating was so increased from my norm, I was afraid I had HIV.  HIV and TB were ruled out. I tried to pin it on aspirin, tylenol, time of month, stress, cheap sheets - it had no pattern; still has no pattern.  It comes and goes and I can always count on it to visit again - with a vengeance at times.  I was diagnosed chronic HepC about 4 years ago.  All that sweating is the Hep.  There is nothing I have found to reduce the night sweats (even the most expensive cotton sheets don't help -lol).  When it gets really bad  (when i wake up drenched - hair wet, pillow wet, sheets wet)  I grab a bath towel and take it to bed just in case I wake up soaking wet again; I change my pillow case and just try to tolerate it.  I have noticed when I wake up drenched like that (couple nights in a row usually) I seem to feel particularly tired in the daytime (but I can't say for sure that I do feel more tired.)  100% cotton, loose fitting clothes in the summertime helps me stay more comfortable in the daytime.  In the wintertime, I wear layers and make sure (if I'm going to be out in the cold)  that I have a dry thermal undershirt to change into if the one I'm wearing gets wet (and that does happen a lot.) Doc said treatment might help the sweats. I sure hope so - whenever I do treat :)

I'm not trying to scare you  (I know you are scared enough with the Hep C), but make sure all other causes of your night sweats are ruled out, such as TB and HIV.  Just get tested for those just to be on the safe side - if you haven't already been tested.  I freaked out too when I was diagnosed with Hep C, but I knew something was wrong (had known for years - just didn't know what) and so it was kind of relief to finally be diagnosed with something.

Your enzymes (ast/alt) bili, and viral load are wonderful (they're not elevated, which is overall a good thing.)  If your doc has said you have a "50% chance", then he might know your genotype already.  Just be sure and ask him.  I'd ask for a liver biopsy, too.  Personally, if I thought I had contracted this virus only a few years ago,  I would not be too quick to treat now if my liver biopsy was not alarming.  Hep C is normally a very slow moving virus - very slow.  There are some better looking treatments on the horizon  (possibly less than 3 - 4 years away) with possibly much increased success rates for certain geno types (the more difficult to treat geno 1)  and shorter duration of treatment - possibly, very possibly.  If a family member or friend of mine had just been diagnosed with Hep C, I'd tell them to NOT discount the newer treatments that might be available in the next few years and to possibly WAIT if at all possible.  That kind of approach to Hep C is called  "watchful waiting". Ask your doctor about it.  You need to be under the care of very good gastroenterologist or hepatologist who is very knowledgable about the management and treatment of Hep C and about future therapies.  

Your diagnosis is not a death sentence nor is it going to require (in all likelihood - especially before a biopsy) that you make a decision about treatment within the next 6 months to a year. If a biopsy shows mild activity vs. moderate or severe, learn all you can about the virus and treatment before you make a decision on anything - is my advice. If you're drinking, stop it all.  If you are overweigh, try to start losing weight.  

This might sound weird, but if you have not gone to the dentist for routine cleanings, start going and keep going.  Hep C can do a number on your teeth, gums, and bony structures, and if it does start doing a number on yours, it can become problematic with Hep C treatment when / if you treat.)  

Gee... and you thought you were long-winded :)  Glad you found the forum.  Lots of good nformation and great people here.  Try not to get too overwhelmed with your diagnosis.  The sweating - you will get used to it :)  But do make sure you are clear on TB and HIV.  I would.  Best of luck!

[FlGuy]

What you describe for night sweats is the same that I have experienced.  The real icky part is when the sweats end for the night and your laying there drenched; body, hair and sheets and then the clammy chill comes along just to make you feel even more uncomfortable.  I thinks that's where the residual tiredness comes from, a lack of sound rem sleep in those nights. In those nights, I think I sweat gallons. Yuuch.

[chcnme]

I've often wondered (when I wake up soaking wet - eyes wide open saying "D*** IT!") how long I've been laying there sweating like that because the sheets are not just a little wet but ...they're soaked (up around my neck especially), and so is the pillow case, and my hair?  lol - you would think I'd been running a marathon in my bed.  Best of luck to you on the treatment!

[aquarius64]

Fever, Chills, and Night Sweats

Many people with HCV periodically experience fevers. The fevers are usually low, typically less than 101 degrees Fahrenheit. As the fever comes down, you may experience chills and sweating. You may have fevers only at night. If this happens, you may wake up with your bedclothes and/or your sheets wet with sweat. This experience is called night sweats.
   This is from Hepatitis C choices. http://www.hepcchallenge.org/choices/signs.htm

[chcnme]

That was good link!  :) Good reading

[B-bunch]

I was diagnosed last August. It looks like I've had HepC for 25 years. It wasn't until the last 2 years that I started to have the sweats. I get them at night too,  just like everyone has described. But I also get them during the day and right before I go to bed...?...go figure. Sometimes when I sweat during the day it's totally embarrassing.

I took my dog in to the vet a few weeks ago, it was 15 degrees outside and I was so sweaty while I was talking to the vet that my glasses fogged up!!! I need to keep the tempurature in my bedroom down to almost 60 winter and summer. My Siberian Husky LOVES it, she starts panting at 68 degrees.

The doctors don't seem to be too concerned about the sweating. It's just another symptom of HepC. My head sweats A LOT. So my hair starts dripping. And the thing is...it's cold clammy sweat, not like sweat when you're hot. So if I take my coat off out side to dry off I get get cold and have to put it back on so I can start to cold sweat again. Sometimes when I'm driving I have to blast the air conditioner..in the WINTER!!

It's very irritating. Just another reason to get into treatment as soon as you can.

-S

[chcnme]

LOL on your glasses fogging up and the a/c in the winter.  Really not funny,  but it is.  Believe it or not, I just got new glasses, and the same thing happened to mine yesterday (first cold day here - was in the 30's outside, and my glasses were fogging up for the first time, and I thought "now isn't this wonderful - got new glasses and you can't see A THING".  And I'm always freezing someone out of the house or the car with the a/c blasting in the winter.  And my big burly black as the ace of spades, long-haired husky looking, chow mix of mutt loves me for my heat intolerance, too.  What is with our heads doing all this sweating?  Makeup?  I've given up on it. The wonderful world of sweaty Hep C.

[siloamsandy]

As for pain relievers, my liver dr told me the only thing I can take is aspirin. The ingredients in Tylonel, Advil, etc is too hard on the liver. I was diagnose with HCV in 1993. And it was totally by accident. I went to see the dr because I had stopped sweating and wanted to know why. I had to go back in for them to take more blood. HCV causes ALL kinds of things to go wrong. I have night sweats (that just started this month), fibromyalgia, gout, nueropathy, headaches, toothaches, multiple sinus infections, so on and so on.

But to just answer the question of pain relievers, Aspirin is it.

[ncmtns]

I,also contracted this virus but through bad choices during drug useage.
I now am a recoverinng addict with all the bad feelings   piling up on me at times. I can relate to everything I have read from You People here,and My Heart goes out to You all!!!
    Mine was discovered during My First trip (I have had 4 rehabs) to a drug--rehab center.
My Dr had Me on Hydromorphone for over 1-Year,before I violated a pain contract! He said ole boy,I cant even write You a prescription for Bayer Aspirin! So-called friends were actually (Drug-Buddies),got me into snorting and eventually shooting them up. I knew that I was in a World of trouble that first day He denied Me another script of morphone.I was sweating bulletts,My Blood-pressure was out the roof,My jaws were clamping shut and My throat was too.I can relate to what Waylon Jennings said,it felt like there was a War going on in My body and shots were being fired from every rooftop! Every bone in My body hurt and I was ready for the end. A drug-buddy came along seen how bad off I was and offered Me a Methadone,I wasnt used to them but I knew that they were usued to treat hard core addicts so I tried it. Man did that War that was going on inside of Me calm down quick,hell,i even felt better! I thought so here is the key for Me,I have to be in a Methadone Clinic. But I was so far out in the Western-most Part of the State in Cherokee County,where there was no Clinics near by. I was in a War I didnt know how to pull out of,I didnt know if I could Win or if I would even walk away from it alive!
That War caused alot of casualties for Me,lost alot of real-friends,lost My Wife,Children and even the Dog! My Wife made Me move Out after My 3rd or 4th Rehab visit.
I got off the needle almost 2-Years ago,and have never questioned the deciosion to stop.I knew what I was up against if I ever went to War again! The bad thing to Me is,that all that I loved and cared for and loved so much,now wants nothing to do with Me!
  I have have a disease and an addiction problem. Somedays when I have the nightsweats set in I think back and I wonder how good it would be to get high just one more time with Morphone or Moprhine.But I know whats happening I am fighting with it and it is usually over within a few minutes! But I the thing that I cannot get past is the Casualties of My War with Drugs! Now I have 2 fights HEP C and Addiction to Narcotic Pain Meds.
  I am not in recovery because I still use Hydrocodene or Oxycodene whenever I can get it because it relieves alot of the fatigue from the Hep C. I know that it is doing damage at the same time,but what am I to do to fight the fatigues,night-sweats,day-sweats,Blood-pressure increases!?
   I occaisionally use Marijauna when I can afford to,and believe Me or not,I swear by it,it does help with My sweats!
   The only problem is when You are so sweaty even in your hands that You cannot roll a joint or break up the bud without drenching it as well,and smoking it in a pipe for some reason does not have the same calming effect on the sweats!
I am lost,I miss My Wife and Children,and I stay depressed alot,so the codene and marijauna help in that area as well,they qwell the pain to a manageable point. Sometimes I feel like hell,since I have already lost everything that matters to me,why should i care now,when caring is too late to save a marriage or be a parent!?
Depression is a ***** to Me at times,I guess it means I am much softer inside than I wanted to believe about Myself!
My Wife hasnt divorced me yet,but it has been over 2-years so I feel it will come eventually!?
  But I kinda get stuck wondering to Myself,what the hell is the use now,to be drug free and take treatments that May save My life!?
  I am on disiabilty,but I went back to work a short spell back last summer at a Captn D's where I would work work work and eat pain-killers for energy instead of eating.Eating was a waste of time,i wanted to torture Myself so I did so.
  After 6-Months I went from 215 lbs to 165 pounds, I felt that I deserved to have to work myself to the death,so My wife and children would get My SS Payments!?-I guess thats part of being bi-polar,i have up days and down days! Part of My philosophy was that since I was the cause of Our Family breakup that I deserved to die in a ditch someplace with a needle in my arm! After all,in one of Our last aruments 2-years ago,my wife made the statement that She hoped that I hit rock bottom. I went back to see her after all the weight loss.She asked Me if it was the drugs or disease,I said what?She said You have lost too much weaught,i broke down like a baby and said well,you wanted to see me hit rock bottom so here you go!
   I dont know what to say to anybody out there except that I assume that if You have Hep C You most-likely got it by a bad needle!  And You in   that realm know what I mean,when I say it has been a War!
I feel at times hopeless,suicidal,and useless.
   But in an attempt not to be useless I want to put something out there to all of You who have this Virus, and caught it in any fashion,it doesnt mean You are a worthless piece of **** that deserves to die!
   We Too,Are People!
   We are just People!
      But if You are aware of having this Virus and are passing it to others for cruel intent,I deem You unworthy of Your next breath!
  This was certainly lengthy,especially for a first-timer posting...but The events that happened to Me happened over a 3 or 4 Year period!
I hope I offend noone...and I pray I have in some small way aided Another!

[jeannineH]

Hi there

A friend of mine died recently. she had been ill for two months with flu-like sypmtoms and complained of very bad nightsweats. she had been going to the doctor and had a bunch of tests, which all proved inconclusive. Could he have had hepatitis c without knowing it or without the disease showing up in tests? Can hepatitis kill that quickly?
Thank you for any answers that you might shed light on this.

Jeannine from South Africa

[WriteItDown]

Hepatitis C can cause end stage liver disease or liver cancer, either of which can result in death, but tests would certainly show it.  So, even though your friend might have had Hep C that wouldn't be what caused it.

So sorry for your loss.

[puppiepaws]

Iam a relapser 1a stage 2 grade 2 non responder.. i use to have night sweats alot and now after i went thru 48 weeks of tx i no longer have night sweats.. unsure why... any suggestions????

[14cheri]

I don't know if your friend was a iv drug user or not. I was. I had the flu-like synptoms and very bad nausea. TThe nights sweats were almost unberable, I would have to get up and change clothes sometimes 3 or 4 times a night, Like your friend I kept going to th doctor. They kept putting me on antibiotics and running tests and finding nothing. Finally my white blood count got so high they could not get it down. I was then sent to the hospital, they addmitted me saying I was in congestive heart failure. I was 49 . With more test they told me I had indocarditious a blood infection. They told my family I probally not make it. The infection was in my heart valves and spleen. They removed my spleen then replaced my defected heart valves with pig valves. I just turned 51 yesterday. If I had done nothing thinking I just had the flu or something I wouyldf not be here. The docs said they were surprised I was still alive. There could have a posibility your friend had the same infection. I also had hep C but that is not why I was so sick

[Bender16]

Find an alternative healer who uses IV treatments. Vitamin C or hydrogen peroxide...