do they treat addicts

If you currently an alcoholic or a drug addict, I’m assuming they don not treat you with hepc treatments. Am I correct in assuming this?  
If so, why should smokers be any different? I mean they are slowly damaging themselves. Like we all know that cigarettes are death sticks… I thought the whole deal with treating HEP C is because you want to live because you want to give yourself that second chance of living a healthy and if possible virus free life…
I was a smoker, I was a drinker, and I wasn’t allowed to treat unless I lost some weight too….so, I had choices, and I was serious about treating , I was serious about a second chance in life, so I lost the weight, dropped the bad unhealthy damaging habits. Only then did it make sense for me to treat, and I did, im hep c free apparently after 6mths of ending the treatments. Go for the 12mth post tx dec’ this yr…
Good luck to u all
Stay healthy!

[debnevada]

wow, that's a little edgy.

[lost39]

I don't understand what part of that to  you is "edgy"  
I would be contradicting myself if I said I wanted to get rid of hepC because I wanted to live a healthy life, only to continue drinking or smoking or taking other drugs, don’t you agree?

[FlGuy]

Not sure if you are the 'lost' that posted here months/years ago. If so welcome back.  Either way, congratulations on svr and I hope you live healthy and large.

[lost39]

Yes! and thanx....as in healthy, well i've kinda relapsed where my weight is concerned. Probably  worser than having hepC really. I need to find that discipline somehow...That's going to be my next challenge, to lose of those 30kilos, lol...i hope it doesnt somehow bring back the hepc, if i have any left that is.....
Hope it's all going good for you too.
good luck!

[debnevada]

i'm sorry, lost, you are right.

i just realized you were talking about the rules you set for your own treatment.

i jumped on you when i shouldn't have.

congrats on your 6 month post and best of luck on your one year.

deb

[lost39]

But i think these rules should be applied to every sincere hepC victim who is dead set in wanting to really live a healthy life
thnx
Frank

[FlGuy]

You make a good point.  Overcoming hcv is a big deal and is hard to do.  We might get lulled into complacency when it comes to other health matters, but some of those are no less serious as you point out.  There's always a challenge in front of us.

[Lady Lauri]

FIRST, congats very much of success and hep free, and for the disipline to quit several things at once.
Your challenge is 'more discipline and loosing weight", while many of ours is beating this terrible nic addiction. We all have our 'challenges'. And as most of us know, once the hep c was here, the booze, etc. went. Unfortunately , in life many of us don't pay real attention to our bad habits until it has caused a problem. I am sure there are many good souls out there that 'deserve' tx and haven't the strength to stop alcohol or drugs. We all have our weakness's and strengths, yours was much to quit alcohol, drugs AND cigs, yet you still battle weight. Others lost weight, quit smoking and still have a few drinks, I quit all social drinking, yet haven't yet beaten nicotine, and so on. If we went into that reasoning or 'rules', than overweight would be brought in there also, ( and I am surprised they made you loose weight, as many overweight are treating??) anyone needing a Valium or a pain pill and on and on. I doubt there would be many that would make it to tx if they had that set of rules. Just my opinion , from a wanna be smoke free hep c patient who has always watched her weight, ate right, drank just occasionally, no drugs yet has ONE bad habit, ....nicotine. For me, the challenge of tx, getting past the next several mths. and all the changes is taking much strength. I have put that 1st and the nicotine battle second.
( no insults here, just a few points in the subject).
                               From a   sorta health nut, wanna be non smoker, LL

[lost39]

i wish all all the best of luck and hope your treatments are a success.

I decided to quit  drinking first, followed by the "death sticks", then my weight came into the equation. (mind you, im not medically morbidly obese, or any where near)
i just need to lose those 30kilos, before i can finally see my 6packs:)..... again, i would rather be that much over weight than have kept that smoking habit, lemme tell ya.
I'm no doctor, but i think smoking would be the first thing they suggest u focus on. i added about 15kg when i stopped smoking (just like that, no medical intervention, just quit). But anyways, i have stopped eating like a king now and am watching what i eat and exercising, its hard though when ur looking after 3 kids and they somtimes want junk food, hehe

good luck with the smoking thing... lemme know how it all pans out for ya

[Lady Lauri]

Bless you doing tx with 3 kids to run after! My are grown and now going to be running after me :) :)

Amazingly....... I found out I had hep c from going to an acupunture/eastern med 'Dr' TO quit smoking! To shorten that story.... been to 'regular' Dr.'s for years saying "SOMETHING is wrong", continual answers of "oh your fine, Oh your depressed (NOT AT ALL) and so on. My wonderful 'ex' (now again current :)...sent me to her to get help to quit smoking. On her 1st exam....."something is wrong with your liver, it is very weak!" Went back, got PROPER bloodwork and here I am, starting tx and stage 3 fib. Would not have discovered it as they hadn't for years already.  Ironic, huh?( she has also been a God send in this, mind and body and going to do my shots for me:).She got me into Shands fast and her and my hep Dr. working together, which is so great. Strangely, in a way these nasty cigs saved my future health !!??
More ironic, my hep Dr. said don't quit right now, going into tx, too much on me, etc. But once I AM SVR (maybe during as many here) it than will be my #1 battle. I am truly a health nut that hates every time I grab one. I have said many times that every day for over 30 years I light that 1st one in the AM and hate myself for it. And truly bothers me that I 'can't' beat them, they beat me.
I would gladly trade 20 lbs extra weight to rid myself of these.... I know I'd loose it :}
You are quite strong to have quit two such things together, especially with the hep, tx going on.
( what type 'were'' you?
You WILL be 12 mths. SVR and thank you for the best wishes in my tx. I'm sure I'll be venting, talking much on here :}
You enjoy every day of your 2nd chance you've struggled to achieve.
                                                                                      LL

[beamishboy]

30 kg is 'plenty' to lose,but it won't bring back hep-c. deciding who deserves to trx is  the wrong question....maybe we should deny people who eat junk food or drive too fast;how about folks who have a family history of heart desease or breast cancer?..i believe everyone must fight their own demons,whatever they may be and No one should be denied healthcare...and let he without sin cast the 1st stone.....congrats on clearing

[lost39]

hey there, what a story ...makes one wonder. I really hope you find it in you to quit, u just really want to, and you will.perhaps trying those treatments they have out there will help u cope with the cravings. My mother and brother tried that alternative and it did pay off. the first week i believe would be ur worse nightmare, then it gets easier the further u start drifting away, u may get the munchies though, but ur one of those gym chicks, right? so you will know how to get back to shape in no time. Never give up always try finding a way of getting rid of those smokes i would hate to see you become a victim of some smoking caused disease... your gonna be on my mind now.. how are those treatments treating you?
Im/was 1a umm
269000 vl before i started
stage 2 i think, but that could have reversed, i say could because i was told its not proven that treatments reverse that.
i treated for 48weeks, was cleared on the 12th week
but the first 12 weeks i was on a double dose of INTF and was and then kept on 1200RIB
i really had no sides, was losing some hair
felt really tired, so i stopped exercising , lost the appetite though.
thats about it, talk soon, need to get these lil buggers to school
good luck, keep us informed

[Proactive]

"More ironic, my hep Dr. said don't quit right now, going into tx, too much on me, etc."
Not nessessary ironic at all.
" The effect of cigarette smoking on hemoglobin levels and anemia screening.Nordenberg D, Yip R, Binkin NJ.
Division of Nutrition, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Ga 30333.

The relationships among cigarette smoking, hemoglobin concentration, and carboxyhemoglobin concentration were examined using data from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among women, smokers had a mean (+/- SE) hemoglobin level of 137 +/- 0.4 g/L, significantly higher than the mean hemoglobin level of 133 +/- 0.5 g/L for never-smokers. Among men, the mean hemoglobin levels for smokers and never-smokers were 156 +/- 0.4 and 152 +/- 0.5 g/L, respectively. No significant difference in mean hemoglobin was noted between ex-smokers and never-smokers.***** Mean hemoglobin levels and carboxyhemoglobin levels increased progressively with the number of cigarettes consumed per day. Cigarette smoking seems to cause a generalized upward shift of the hemoglobin distribution curve, which reduces the utility of hemoglobin level to detect anemia.***** Among women of comparable socioeconomic status, the prevalence of anemia was 4.8% +/- 0.6% among smokers, compared with 8.5% +/- 1.2% among never-smokers. This study suggests that minimum hemoglobin cutoff values should be adjusted for smokers to compensate for the masking effect of smoking on the detection of anemia.

PMID: 2395196 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

So after a 6.6 pt drop in my hemoglogin so far, what are the risks of quitting smoking with 24 more extended weeks of TX to go..I believe I'll wait until after tx to slay the smoking monkey on my back..
;^)Pro

[GrandmaA]

So glad to hear of your SVR. That's wonderful.
From what I have heard in my support group they will not treat anyone who is alcoholic or an addict unless they have been clean and sober for 6 months or a year. I can't remember.
Good luck with losing weight. On Dr. McDougall's diet you could lose so much you might have to put some more back on.  

[GrandmaBRZ]

I could not agree MORE with beamishboy about who should be treated!!!!!  I believe anyone with HCV or any other disease deserves to be treated!!!!  And we all do fight as best as we are INDIVIUALLY able to.  We don't need the extra burdening self-question, "AM I doing it "right"???"  
My doctor has not put pressure on me to quit smoking during tx and very clearly stated "wait until after treatment.

Good luck in all you do.

[lost39]

yes i agree they should be treated, BUT, not if they show no respect for life, and continue drinking, continue being disrespectful to their well being..i think smoking is really pushing it too....smoking KILLS and should be banned. i dont need to give u a documentary why smoking is bad..
good luck and hope you find a way out of this smoking habit

[alagirl]

lost,

I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, and I'm not overweight.  In fact, I hate cigarettes in particular because they have truly ruined my father's health.  All of that said, however; I don't think I would want the medical community to delay treatment of anyone's hep C just because they were dealing with one or more of the above listed issues.  People have different problems they are trying to work through at different times in their lives. Quite honestly, I'm not certain which of the problems listed would be more difficult to stop; smoking, overeating, drinking, or doing drugs.  Probably, its not a walk in the park to reduce one's dependence on any of them.  All I know for certain is that I cannot be the arbiter or judge of anyone else's morality and I don't think its up to me to decide what is or isn't right for someone else.  I do think that the medical community is supposed to treat the sick and injured, though, without regard to that individual's status in the community, or their finances, or their personal habits.  To withhold medical care for any reason, including their status as overweight, or a smoker, or a drug or alcohol abuser, would be shameful in my opinion.

[nygirl7]

My doc said the same exact thing
"More ironic, my hep Dr. said don't quit right now, going into tx, too much on me, etc."


I was very glad he did because honestly I couldn't have dealt with the rage and not smoking for anything in the world.  It was just too much as it was those 72 weeks were the hardest of my life.

I hardly think starting to pick and choose however those who should be able to do treatment is absurd.  Let me know when brown eyed people are ok to do treatment.  Or is it only the blue eyeds that have a chance at SVR?  Or those who eat mallomars are ok but ring dings are not?

We are not talking about people who are drinking a quart of Jack Daniels a day and for some people food is just as bad a disease as liquor.  Since both alcohol and being over weight hurt your chances of SVR greatly....................I don't really wanna here about it.

I smoke, I know it's not good for me, but do I care what anyone wants to say with self righteous pious condesension?  No.

Now put down the ring ding and back up.

[lost39]

thats a poor excuse for not wanting to quit smoking due to you tx...is it not hypocritical to wanna get rid of a virus that MIGHT end up killing you but continually  pufing away on  a death stick (smoking)...if you have a drinking problem, if you ar 2 over weight to go on TX if you SMOKE, you shouldn't be waisting your time...where is the logic in smoking(killing urself) and wanting to treat, do u not realize that smoking will kill u before ur hepC ever will...u need ur head checked gal if ur thinking ur doing the righteous thing because ur F****ked up doc tells you to continue on smoking because ur on TX...thats a poor lame excuse and im not gonna sit here a let that slide...if ur a drinker they wouldnt allow u to treat, if ur 2 much over weight they wouldn't allow you to treat, and i say they should also disallow those who wanna smoke ,why, because they  are killing them self....stop using the tx as an excuse and stop smoking, u should have stopped before u treated if you are so dead set in wanting to save urself....
i stopped, because i thought it was STUPID wanting to continue smoking and treat, what the hell! we are not all perfect, but leading up to the treatments we need to show that we do have respect for our well being.....

so dont feel its okay, i want u to mentally think about what u are doing to ur lungs and body everytime u put that cig in ur mouth... disgusting habit!!

[debnevada]

[debnevada]

oops, pushed the button too fast.

I am overweight.
I've been clear of the virus since week two, now for a total of 25 weeks. So am I wasting my time?

You are running the risk of being an overrighteous reformed Hep C'er. Sort of like, if I may, a reformed smoker.

So you did all those things, I'm totally happy that you were able to. But not everyone is.

Last year, before I got hep c, i ran a marathon in february. I also ran many miles weekly and did boxing training. And my weight is still high. So, who makes the rules? Who judges? And, Lost, there are probably those who judge HOW you got Hep C in the first place. Not me, but I'm a victim of that too.

For what you've been through, one would think you would bring your knowledge back to your fellow Hep C sufferers instead of pointing the finger. There are plenty who have SVR'd who do that right now.
IMHO
Deb

[lost39]

I'm also over weight, but working on it.....nothing a few months of excising and a good diet wont fix.  do they allow you to treat if your a drunk, or heavy drinker? do they allow you to treat if you are 2 over weight, do they allow you to treat if your on drugs? I think NOT? why dont they go on and look at smokers too, they should treat them for that before wasting their time ....see the way i look at it is this, u treat and saying it works for u, then what, ur gonna go out there and find some other means of killing urself?
smoking i think is a lil more dangerous if not alot more than being over weight, u think?
i went into treatment with none of the above, cause i made that choice

frank

[debnevada]

Good for you.

You can only decide what is right for you.

[lost39]

No you are not wasting your time...but my opinion is if you were smoking i would say u were in a way... and u were doing better than me, i cleared on the 12th week the stats would suggest you will remain UND and go on to SVR...
Good luck with that!

ps. whenever i walk past a smoker on the street i freak out, i so wanna help that person, i think if i could just grab them and lock them up in a room so they can detox..lol

[lost39]

im done with this subject im closing this topic and not going to come back to it.....took me forever to find it though, so it aint worth while.
all the best to ya'll.

see you somewhere on those latest topics!

[FlGuy]

Are you a smoker?

[beamishboy]

     lost isa reformed,reborn ex-smoker.....can't ya tell?

[Lady Lauri]

Okay, this has gotten a bit overboard here. FIRST of all, it is never a 'waste' of time to save ANYONES life! Even the over dosed addict or the crack addicts I have personally ran after and gotten into treatment! (who were ALL 'good' people BEFORE the drug took hold of them!) Nicotine, and especially the extra **** they add, IS a drug, IS compared to heroin in quitting it. It IS harder for some, as is loosing weight for others, drinking for others and so on. PERIOD! no one is not getting Hep c treatment BECAUSE a smoker got it first! A liver, altho, will not go to a smoker, it will go to the one that quit! (you can not smoke to go on a transplant list.) It is ludicrous to suggest people are not getting treatment that don’t smoke because a smoker gets it, etc.
SECONDLY, I do not have a F***ded up Dr., I have one of the best who does MUCH to help, study and cure OUR disease, has given his life to it,  but DOES recognize that the body is about to go thru h*ll and suggest not adding more h*ll to it AT THIS TIME, trying to beat a 30 year addiction,  but THAN plans to give me Chantix and push me to quit. And STRONGLY suggest it afterwards. He also stated he wants to know that any changes, depression, moods, problems are from tx, not nic withdrawals. (pull up a list on nicotine withdrawals sometime.)
ANYONE who has smoked or does smoke knows that they are harming their body, but so is a donut, ANY processed, packaged food or that fructose **** in the so called’ juice’ that clogs your veins. Just suger is horrible for your body and let’s not even go into those great hormones‘, steroids in that so called healthy chicken breast!  And not one smoker does not want to quit!
It’s all good to quit something and than try to tell others how great you feel, ‘you can do it’ and so on, but ridiculing, looking down on them is just not right, especially if you were once there. I did drugs 32 years ago, for a very short time in my teens. Than became very anti drug and try to help anyone, many quit, get away from it, but I never look down on them. I understand they are weaker than me in THAT area.
What if they decided that all who got hep C thru past or current drug use were not ‘worthy’ of tx, only those that got it thru transfusions, etc. ??????????????????????????????????????????????
A little more compassion, understanding on a very hard habit would be nice in preaching the quit thing.
NYgirl....I'm with you.... quitting while on tx, while approaching menopause.....Christ, talk about going postal!! I really want to keep a few friends and loved ones thru this :}
                                                                Lauri

[lost39]

I'm not saying they shouldn't be treated, but i really think in most cases( the less sever, hep c victims) should go and get themselves treated for those "life threatening" self inflicted addictive drugs (SMOKES, alcohol, obesity) first, before tackling the virus.  For me it is senseless to treat hepatitis if you are just gonna go out there and smoke ur life away anyway... what is the bloody point? I had to lose weight, i had to quit drinking, i thought it would be absolutely contradicting  myself by further smoking. So i quit that too.
Do they treat alcoholics? NO!
Do they treat ppl whom are obese ? Well, I don't think so!
Do they treat  drug addicts? NO!
why?  that perhaps the meds are not gonna work for ya, or maybe because u reduce ur chances of that SVR
do you not think that every puff of cigarette's is doing urself damage, and is likely to kill you before hep C does? if ur not in desperate need of tx, then i say add the smoking in that equation
lol! i would rather be eating a donut that puffing on a fag!
I know how hard quitting is and how imposable it may be feel like, but seeing we wanna live longer and  how we are trying to get rid of a virus that MIGHT end up being a result of our death...i would think it be more logical to focus on that SMOKE first.

[Proactive]

Slow down lost39, you know what they say about people who place themselves on high pedestals.......the higher the pedestal, the further the fall...........;^)pro

[GrandmaBRZ]

Thought we were closing the subject on 9/25!  Stop all the bickering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GrandmaBRZ]

I obviously had misplaced fingers on the keyboard.  Sorry about that!  

[lost39]

im not far up there proactive, ( even in laughter the heart may ache and joy may end in grief)

doesn't still excuse the fact that smoking is a self inflicted killer

i am closing the subject, so ppl lay off the thread plz
if you think that its not contradictive to be smoking and treating, then by all means it is ur life... just keep it to urself i dont wanna know cause more i think of it the more i worry about u... i have other issues to worry about now.

w/e u do, don't smoke!