Scared

I am 49 years old, diagnosed with Hep. C since 1998.  I have put off the follow up due to my job and concerns of medicine that really makes you sick.  Feeling a little preasure in my right side and seriously thinking about a follow up with a doctor.  Don't know who to trust on the right procedure.  How long do people live taking the drugs and would you have to take them the rest of your life.  Just got to many questions, there is breaking news drugs out there, how do you get the best treatment.

[WriteItDown]

I can relate to being scared -- I think we've all been there -- but having knowledge of your condition will make it much easier for you to do something constructive for yourself.  

Go to a hepatologist, they will know much more about hepatits C and be able to counsel you much better than a regular doctor or a GI.  If you already have been diagnosed you should be able to get a referral to a hepatologist. An experienced hepatologist will be up on the new treatments (there are better drugs for Genotype 1 coming out on 2011), and will be able to help you decide if you need to treat of not.

The drugs (interferon and ribavirin) are a treatment to help you get rid of the virus for good.  They are NOT taken lifelong.  Depending on your genotype, some people take them for 24 weeks, some for 48, and a few of the hardest to treat have to take them longer.

There is a lot of good info out there for people with Hep C.  This board is also great, you will find many knowledgeable people here to help.

Good luck with it, and remember, it's a treatable disease, and not a death sentence!

[Bill1954]

It sounds like you’d benefit from some good general knowledge about HCV. Take a look at the following page; and be sure to review any items of interest in the sections titled ‘other HCV information’, located in the right hand margin. Remember to bookmark this site for future reference:

http://janis7hepc.com/have_you_been_just_diagnosed.htm

Welcome to the discussion group—

Bill

[nygirl7]

Believe me - if I could do it you can do it cause I"m a big chicken baby and I managed to only miss three days of work.  It was not easy but by the time I was diagnosed I was already stage 3 out of 4 (4 being cirrhosis) and I had never had any symptoms at all...so it was shocking but I knew I had to do it.

Depending on which strain of the disease (genotype) you will only do treatment for 24 or 48 weeks most likely then be done with it.  It sounds like forever but it's really not.

The great thing is that there IS a cure for this disease and medicine it getting much more advanced now and more and more people are getting cured every day - the odds have gone up drastically from when I started on here in 2005.

Learn all you can.  The more you know the better chance of success.  And remember - the treatment is not forever and although it's not fun it's certainly "doable" for most.

Good luck and welcome to the group.

[chuckles333]

When I first found out I had hep C I was not scared at all. i thought it was a food poisoning I had picked up in some restaurant. i knew absolutely nothing about it and I figured I would be OK in a week or so. My wife, who works in the health care field and who reads a lot more than I do, questioned me about it when I told her I had hepatitis. "What kind is it?" I told her I didn't know I thought it was B but I'm not sure. She made an appointment with the GP for the both of us. My day of awakening was at hand. Well ten years later I've completed my treatment for HCV-2b and I know a lot more than I did then. My treatment wasn't without side effects. I probably had 2/3 of the sides on the list but none were so severe that I  couldn't function the way I normally did. I didn't miss a day at work due to treatment but I did drive my wife crazy with my grumpiness and my constant whining. Most people get through it and a bigger and bigger percentage are finding treatment successful. I cannot stress enough the importance of consulting with a good doctor who is well versed in treating this disease, a hepatologist or at the very least a gastroenterologist.