pruritis

[fari]

hi

i'm 34, have hep c, diagnosed about 8 years ago.  i've never had tx.  i've had progressively worsening pruritis for the past 2 months.  i've also recently had a bout with seborrheic? dermatitis (at least my doc thought that's what it was), and several bouts of poison ivy.  all my labs are currently normal, altho' my ggtp has always been higher than norm (117 at the most) and i haven't had it tested in a while.  how do i deal with this (the pruritis)?  by the way i also have chronic neutropenia, last lab values were 1310 - norm 1500+.  people  always seem to flip out when they see my wbc count which has reached 2.3 at its lowest.  i'm hiv -ve.  i'd like to have a baby but i don't think i can deal with this without pharm. aids for 9 months!!  with my last pregnancy i had cholestatic pruritis in the last trimester.  it was kinda rough.  

any ideas would be most appreciated.

thanks

[MajNeni]

Hi, Fari,
First, don't expect too much of us; this is a patient to patient forum dealing with Hepatitis, mostly HepC.  Your doctor knows your situations best.  
If your problems seem to be primarily skin related, perhaps a dermatologist could help you.
If you want to have a baby, consider whether you also want to do something about the hepatitis c.  HepC virus does not go away by itself, or with any naturopathic/homeopathic remedies.  There is a very small chance that a baby would get it from you at birth.  
You must not become pregnant while treating, or for six months after, as the meds (ribavirin) can cause severe birth defects.  Outside of that time frame, you should be fine.  34 is not prohibitively late to have a baby, you have a bit of time there.

To become better informed about your Hepatitis C,
1)find out your genotype (blood test) and
2)have a liver biopsy to determine how much, if any, damage is present in your liver.  
This information would help you make an informed decision about treatment options, and how urgent it would be to treat.  Of course, the younger you are, the less damage in your liver, the better the treatment's chances are for the cure.

Genotypes 2 and 3 have over 80% SVR (cure) rate, usually after 24 weeks of treatment; genotypes 1 and 4 require 48 weeks of treatment, somewhat higher drug doses, and have around 50% SVR rate. As you see, treating the HepC with pegylated interferon & ribavirin would quite likely free you of the virus; if you're free and clear, you can go on with your life free of this disease.  Parenting a child may be easier under those circumstances; and who knows, your skin miseries may improve, too.  On the other hand, as long as you are HepC positive, the disease will march on; slower at times, faster at other times.  Your high GGTP indicates that you have "chronic active" HepC; it is indeed active, showing ongoing inflammation in the liver.  You may not experience symptoms from Hepatitis, but it is active, and can progress to disaster.

Good luck with your decision.  Educate yourself; Keep reading here; ask questions; then act.  

Maj Neni