newly diagnosised with hep C, how do I break news to friend?

Question

I'm 99.9% sure I got it from my friend. My fear that he will deny it that I got it from him. I do have a couple tats and they were all done at a highly reputable tattoo parlor. I almost positive that it was from him because he was an I.V. drug user and we've had unprotected sex many, many times. I've never done any I.V. drugs in my life but I was around him when he was using. We have been friends for years. He's more of a friend to me than a "boyfriend"

pooh55811 · Accepted Answer

I agree with OrphanedHawk. You don't know how you got it. Better to tell him and then he can get tested.

Here are ways you may have contracted it:
Medical procedures if equipment is not cleaned properly
Dental procedures if equipment is not cleaned properly
(A person can still get it through dental and/or medical procedures. That route of infection did not stop in 1992.)
Occupational exposure
Blood transfusions, plasma, or blood products before 1992-93
Hemodialysis equipment
Sharing drug paraphernalia
Sex only if both people are bleeding
Mother to baby
If equipment is contaminated:Tattoos, Body piercings, Pedicures, Manicures
Acupuncture if equipment contaminated
Sharing nail clippers, razors, toothbrushes (with an infected person)

hrsepwrguy · Answer

The diagnosis of HCV infection can also be made through detection of HCV RNA using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques. HCV RNA can be detected within one to two weeks after exposure to the virus, weeks before the onset of ALT elevations or the appearance of anti-HCV. In some patients, the detection of HCV RNA may be the only evidence of HCV infection.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0101/p79.html

ceanothus · Answer

Yes, there are tests that give results earlier. The standard antibody test only shows your body's own antibodies to the virus, and it can take months to form the antibodies. The HCV RNA PCR test looks for the actual viral RNA, and it can be done much sooner after possible exposure, I think 2 weeks after is considered reliable for exposure.

StealthVirusCCID · Answer

Can anyone comment on the testing window for HEP C and are there any tests available besides standard antibody tests that can aid in early detection?  Thank you..

Alive33 · Answer

also sharing a spoon can transmit it, ive heard the straw a note anything you share that comes in contact with blood to blood basically, so a cup if it was chipped, though you probably more likely to catch Hepatitis B that way which they have a vaccine for.

Dee1956 · Answer

I was told about the straw back in 2008, I am sure many do not know

rambleon40 · Answer

I have recently read that sharing a straw while snorting drugs can also pass it.  I recall reading in journal or govt site - can't remember which, but it was one I trusted.   

Makes sense - a little bloody tissue on the nasal passage from the drugs, a bit on the straw, next fellow "snffff!"

Probably puts a lot more people into the mix.

RainLover71 · Answer

Just tell your friend and at the end of the day you have the HCV so focus on your health and learn how to live with it like the good people on this forum have--All the best.

Dee1956 · Answer

Hi I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis
It is very hard when first diganosed as we oftenwant to know how we got it.  It really doesn't matter.  What is important is that now that you know you can move forward and see how you are doing via liver biopsy and blood work.
I am not 100% sure where I got mine, I did receive blood back in 1977 however I also had a friend who lived with me who had HCV and we did not know she had it at the time.  I could have used her razor.

I wish you the very best
Dee

FlGuy · Answer

You didn't indicate that he's confirmed to have HCV.  Can't give what you don't have.

Idyllic · Answer

The bottom line is some of us will never know. Drinking after your friend was no risk unless you are a vampire. I agree with the others in that contracting it via sex is unlikely. Hepatitis C is actually not even an STD. Sex is sometimes mentioned as a factor but the (small) percentages vary and some web sites flat out and say it is difficult to estimate. Remember HCV is a bloodborne infectious disease. It is up to you whether you tell your friend but either way he should get tested. Plus you might want to get vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B.

I guess the surgery could be a viable option but quite honestly you may never know for certain. I am just saying this since I always just knew how I contracted the virus but the more I have learned over the years and pieced certain things together I realize my initial conclusions were unlikely (or not the only way I could have contracted the virus).

Best of luck to you♫

hippiechic7 · Answer

I did have a major medical surgery prior to 1992, not a blood transfusion.  Me and my friend never shared personal hygiene items.  We did frequently drink out of the same cup.

BoceprevirGal · Answer

I would think you were moore likely to have caught it from using his razor or tooth-brush.
  It's hard to get it from sex, it's not like the penis bleeds, and sperm doesn't carry the Hep C virus.
  Before 1992, it was possible to get it from dental equiptment, or via other sugical procedures~
   For all you know, your Hep c is genotype 1, and his is genotype 2.  I know lots of people who have Hep C~

orphanedhawk · Answer

Hep C is rarely transmitted via sex.
You don't really know where you got it from.
Just tell him you tested positive and it is suggested that anyone you've been intimate with should be tested.

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