what now? please help...

my boyfriend came home earlier from the plasma center and told me he has hepatitis c. i froze, my mind started racing thinking of him being sick, if our 2 daughters could contract it, (but thanks to this forum i know that wont happen). he is 25 yrs old, and a 2 yr recovered intervenous drug user. the thing i dont understand is that he has had many blood tests taken in the past year, even months, and even donated plasma about a month and a half ago. why didnt he test positive THEN? he has no insurance, i am trying to locate a clinic that will test him, and am ready to go out and buy the milk thistle, selenium, etc. tomorrow. im just wondering if hep c can really "become active" within a month and a half, they gave him the exact same test then, and it was neg. any help or suggestions on this matter would be greatly appreciated thank you  

[fretboard]

Sorry about your bf but his HepC positive status should not be a health problem for quite awhile seeing as he was negative a month and a half ago.  Seriously, it is normally a very slow moving disease.  I am not trying to diminish the fact that it sux to have HepC but I want you to know the truth about it.  Many of us here on this forum have been HepC positive for over 20 years and some people do not have any serious heath issues yet.  With that said, there is alot that goes on  in a mental sort of way, like depression, anger etc. just for having HepC.  In answer to your question, your bf could have been negative 6 weeks and now he tests positive.  There's a 6 week lay around with this infection, I know I didn't say that right but other people will be around later.  Also, there was recently an article posted that basically said that Milk Thistle did not work to help us but it's your choice whether you spend money on it or not.  I still take it but that's only because I have some left over, when it's gone I will not buy anymore.  Oh, your bf really needs to stop all the high risks behavior especially slammin' dope.  It will only create problems for him, especially since he is now HepC positive.  Read around and learn as much as you can and if you have anymore questions, ask away.  More people will be here later.  

[Advocate1955]

When my husband was first diagnosed with Hep C in 2007, his doctor first had to determine what genotype it was, and then determine how long he had it, before he could recommend treatment.  In the meantime, my doctor also tested me, and my children's pediatrician tested our children.  None of us had it.  My husband is now very careful to make sure that there is no blood to blood contact, that anything with his blood is ziplocked in a baggie and marked as containing blood and disposed of properly, he has a sharps containers for all syringes that he uses for medication and for blood sugar testing, and that is kept on a high shelf, his razor, nail clippers, and toothbrush are all separate and away, etc. to prevent any blood to blood contact.  It is really important that your boyfriend does not use any IV drugs or drink any alcohol.  He will need to have further labwork to determine more information about his Hep C virus (genotype, viral load, etc.).  If he is currently using drugs or drinking alcohol, his doctor may not treat him.
Advocate1955

[EyesofBlue55]

Dont waste your money on milk thistle-It will not work.The only thing that will get rid of the virus is treatment.
  Your bf is young so he probably doesnt have any or very little liver damage.The only way to determine this is a biopsy.
  Maybe needs to find a clinical trial in your area that will take him-all his medical care and medicines would be free and he would get excellent care.There are very good trials going on now.If he doesnt have insurance now this is probably his best bet  since the meds alone are around $8000.00 a month-not pocket change.
  And he should NOT drink alcohol!!!!
Get educated on his disease-read and read and read.Come here with any questions they will get answered by very educated people.
What tests did they give him.If it was the antibody test and it came back positive does not mean that he has the actual virus.A PCR test would determine the actual virus.Some people clear the virus on their own and will always test positive on the antibody test.So a PCR test is important-
good luck cindy

[EyesofBlue55]

Go to  Clinicaltrials.gov and search for trials in your area.They are usually located in the bigger cities  cindy

[Debra100]

Its so very important to get educated on HEP C. Just as a fyi: Some current studys will not allow you to take "milk thistle-It"  read read and more reading. Its so helpful.

[lsnow]

My husband was told he had HEP C in 95 after donating blood. We were also shocked. He had never used alcohol or drugs. We traced it back to a dentist office or him giving cpr to a person, We are still not sure which. I researched everything I could find on hep C and the treatments that where out there.   He took interferon/rebivirian treatments for a year in 98 when they where listed as a trial treatment. He was fine until this year. We where told this April he had cirrhosis of the liver. Once again we where shocked because it had been so long and he had no symptoms or illness due to the Hep C.  other than the labs. Now we seem to be going to a different specialist at least twice a month because of the complications of the cirrhosis The most important thing I can tell you is find a good hepotologist. After getting all of his medical records we found out he had relapsed in 2000 and the GI doctor failed to inform us. His hepotologist has put him on a diet and he takes milk thistle to promote good liver enzymes and vit. E for his immune system.  I can tell you since he has been taking these his ALT as went from 308 to 144 and AST 254 to 143.
It will not cure the HEP C but it doesn't hurt. Your boyfriend is still in the early stage of HEP C. It's not to late.
We are waiting to start a new medication in Jan. That came out this past May. DO NOT GIVE UP.
lsnow

[Aaron57]

If your husband had the Elisa antibody test .. It's quite possible to get a false positive .. Try not to jump to conclusions ..

What he really needs to do first is have a PCR test run & see if he really has any virus in his blood ... hopefully not , as he has been testing his blood & donating blood recently ,

It seems quite possible it could be a false positive , but he needs the PCR follow-up ..

Only after the PCR test will you really know what's going on , if anything is ...

Best of luck & I hope it's just a scare , nothing more !