Dating someone with Hep C

[Doggie]

Hi there,

I am having difficulty communicating to my lover that my Hep C that I have had for 18yrs is not a sexually transmitted disease.  I explained how it is transmitted but he is still concerned.  Has anyone else had situation.  I could your support in how to make him feel safe?

Thanks.

[annieCinMD]

I only tell them if it looks like it's going to get intimate. For casual dating, it's not necessary.  I haven't been that interested in anyone in about a year, and now that I'm treating, I have no interest whatsoever in dating. Hopefully the treatment will work, and I'll have the option to not have to tell anyone ever again.

[serena_235]

During the dating scene....at what point do you share the fact that you have hep C with significant other?

[rita863]

ok just for the record....  i have never used iv drugs, (but was married to an iv drug user)
i never had a transfusion, and i do not have tatooes,,,,, so what i have read and narrowed down to is this:  either from getting poked from his "works"  ( most likely since i was the wife from hell when my husband was using and would rip apart the house searching for his stuff) or toothbrush - nail clippers..or SEX...those would be the only way i got it.  

[meki]

http://hcvets.com/data/transmission_methods/published_articles/did_shots_cause_hepatitis_c.htm

[meki]

"
HOW SAFE IS RhoGAM® ULTRA-FILTERED PLUS?
RhoGAM® Ultra-Filtered PLUS, the brand of anti-D immune globulin manufactured by Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. a Johnson & Johnson company, is prepared using a patented ultrafiltration technology that is proven effective in removing enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. RhoGAM® has an excellent safety record. Since it was introduced in 1968, millions of women around the world have received RhoGAM®, and there have been no confirmed cases of virus transmission."

There were a group of women in Ireland who won a major lawsuit from gamma globulin and got HCV.

Also there are thousands of hemophilliacs who may have contracted HCV through this.

You'll need to dig very deep...

Try Googling lawsuit - hcv - gamma globulin ---- or other ways of locating the info.


Meki

[FlGuy]

googled Rhogam and found this on their website:

HOW SAFE IS RhoGAM® ULTRA-FILTERED PLUS?
RhoGAM® Ultra-Filtered PLUS, the brand of anti-D immune globulin manufactured by Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. a Johnson & Johnson company, is prepared using a patented ultrafiltration technology that is proven effective in removing enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. RhoGAM® has an excellent safety record. Since it was introduced in 1968, millions of women around the world have received RhoGAM®, and there have been no confirmed cases of virus transmission.

RhoGAM® Ultra-Filtered PLUS combines the proven effectiveness of RhoGAM® with the Viresolve® ultra-filtration process. The patented process removes potential viruses such as HIV, HCV, HAV and Parvovirus B19 to protect newborns and their mothers from potential viral infection.

[meki]

Rhogam...

Google it.

It's for RH negative factor women who are giving birth to pos babies... It stops the body from rejecting the opposite RH factor.

I don't even know how to explain it -- but it's made from Donor Blood products.

It's the ONLY transmission route I can find for me.

Meki

LMAO - Hector = you too funny.

[Mary4now]

Can you elaborate on the gamma globulin?  I had that shot in the early 70's myself, how is that a transmission?

[HectorSF]

"And use protected sex.
Again - let me repeat this USE PROTECTED SEX.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Prophylactics.
Condoms, umbrellas, rain coats, plastic paint coat, slick shiny, rubber love glove, latex bucket, drain cage...
I thought I'd heard it all. I guess not. Thanks for the laugh Meki! You have got a way with words!

But wait a minute, hold everything..."hep c found in saliva"??!!!!
I guess that means no oral too.
Reminds me of the movie "Booty Call". Yeah the French Existentialist film classic of the New Wave movement...
Not really. I think Jamie Foxx was in it...anyway my point is(????) Oh yeah now I remember.
In the movie Jamie, after preparing himself for his "first night" with his woman, comes bounding into a room completely wrapped from head to toe in plastic wrap!...Saying he needed "protection" in order to be with his women. Is it really coming to this?
But then again it sounds like a lot of people never heard of "safe sex". I know a lot of young people don't know where the North Pole is, but they should at least know the difference between their a$$ and their elbow. IMHO

"Protected and Secure"
Hector

[Andromedae]

"In my humble opinion - I am of the belief that HCV may only be transmitable through transfusion or transfusion like interaction. (ie: gamma globulin shots,"

gamma globulin  ??  WTF ?!  I was given one of those after a needle stick when I was working in the operating room in the military in the late 70's.  gamma globulin can carry HCV ??  I thought that it was supposed to protect me from whatever I got stuck with?

Can gamma globulin really carry HCV?   If so the I got a double wammy when I got that needle stick and then was given it to "protect me".

[Kaizor]

Hey all I'm going crazy, I just found out a few days ago my brother had Hep c. I know he has probably used my razor I dont know if he cut his self shaving but I always end up cutting myself. I'm going to get checked tomorrow I wont get a wink of sleep tonight because of me worrying, But I was wondering the chances of me getting it, I've heard it's rare but can happen. I always wash my razor before I use it with very hot water but im just scared :(

[meki]

Memac - yanno... Just for kicks and giggles, I would find out what genotype your ex has.

If it is not the same genotype then you know you got it from something else.

Also - any dental work - any surgeries - any blood sharing incident could have caused it.

I just can't believe sex causes it.

No one I know that I have had sex with has it.

My hubby after more than a decade with me doesn't have it --- and my daughter whom I gave birth to does not have it.

I just can't see it being passed "that" easily.

Otherwise the whole world would have it the way we hop beds like bunnies these days. (LOL! --- ok --- think of it like that Clairol Commercial... I boinked 2 guys and they boinked 2 girls and they boinked 2 guys and so on and so on...)

You'd think the entire world would have HCV then.

But I believe in protected sex.

Especially if you are not monogamous.

I believe I got my version of the HCV through a shot of rhogam.

No one I have had sex with in my lifetime (yeah I know - pitiful I can actually still name them and call them up - LMAO!) has the HCV virus. So I know I didn't get it from my sexual contacts.

And yeah - I told them to all go get tested.

*blushes*

Meki

[Myown]

I did not understand your statement or did not read it right?
So if your viral load is over 1 mil. the virus is ded. in saliva? therefore
you can transmit it to another?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I forgot to put quotation marks. The above are exerpts from the articles, not something I said. The articles aren't long. You may want to check the articles out when you get a chance. I found them interesting. So many people have hep and haven't any idea how they contracted it, so I believe everything has to be taken into consideration. The one article stated that the virus wasn't found in the saliva everytime they tested. Maybe because (IMO) the way the VL fluctuates all the time that on days that the VL was under one million it didn't show up in the saliva, yet a week before that same persons saliva was found to show HCV- who knows?


Good to see you too btw. Hope all is well with you and Nick.

[Myown]

yeah I thought it was interesting too.

That was nice to say you missed me. Summertime I am usually on the go. I was away, that is why I wasn't around lately. I'll be going away again for a couple of weeks soon again, but I'll be back.

Well time for me to hit the sack. Have a good night Elaine.

[hightrekker]

I have had 4 long term relationships while infected, and none of my wives and girlfriends have contacted it (two of these were open relationships with multiple partners living in Hollywood in the 1970's, boundaries were unheard of)--
I think sexual transmission is very difficult--
I use protection during sex now that I have been diagnosed-
I think that is the wise thing to do-
Best
hightrekker

[Memac]

I think that no one really knows for sure all the ways to get Hep C, but all the info I have read here in this forum is good advise. I can tell you that When I married my ex husband back in 1985 it was common knowledge among his family and friends that he had non infectious Hep B. He was told by his Mother (whom had passed away in 1982) that he was born with Hep B.... I was told by Doctors that I could not be infected with it from my husband no way no how, and that it was not a treat to any forthcoming children. Then 10 years later in 1995 he was reclassified as having Active Hep C. He has Severe Cirrihosis and is now undergoing Chemo for liver cancer. (The man is an alcoholic and drinks like a fish to this day)
When he told me that he was reclassified as having Hep C, I contacted my Dr. and told him that my ex's Hep was C not B and that I needed to be tested. I was told that there was no way I could contact it sexually, and for me not to worry, that unless we had shared needles or he had given me blood etc that I was in no danger. I remarried and was living a healthy life style and during a routine well woman check up my blood test came back saying my liver enzeimes were elevated, they told me to modify my diet and eat less fat. I again state that my ex had Hep C, and again I was told not to worry. In 1999 our family moved to Ft Campbell KY (Yep I married a soldier)and upon my initial medical appointment I shared my last physical info with the Dr. and stated again that my ex had Hep C. My blood test again showed higher enzieme levels that my Dr. said indicated a "Fatty" liver Syndrome, and said to again modify my diet, exercise, lose weight and we would recheck it every 6 months. Well here it is 2007 and we are at Ft. Bliss Texas (Hubby still a soldier, now in Iraq) and during my "Well woman exam" my liver enziemes still showed "Fatty Liver Syndrome" and the levels were much higher. I really made the fact that that my ex had Hep C, and is dying of liver cancer WELL known to this new Dr. who said, "well then let's test you for both B and C" a week later he called me back with the results and I have Hep C. The Dr. immediately scheduled me for a "Liver Scan" to see if I had liver damage and if so to what extent. The scan did not really show a lot of damage, but did show my live in riddled with "FAT" The Dr said he was at a loss for an explanation, so I have been referred out to a specialist. I have since had all four of my children tested and my hubby, thank God all of them are Hep free. I can assure you that I have never used drugs let alone shared a needle with anyone. I have never received a transfusion. So the only way we can figure I was infected was through my ex husband. Was it sexually? or from bandaging one of is cuts? Sharing a razor? who knows. But I can tell you that in our home now, we take no chances in a situation where my blood may come into contact with anyone else. No one uses my razor, my tooth brush, drinks after me, I put my own bandages on, and I use bleach and water to clean. No we aren't paranoid...just cautious, as I would not want anyone to be infected with this, and it is very easy to avoid, just by good cleaning and health habits. And YES When my hubby gets home from Iraq we will be having PROTECTED sex..... (I was diagnosed while he has been gone)
On that note anyone have any suggestions or dare to share a personal preference for a good condom? lol have been out of the "NEED" circle for a long while lol. Good luck to ya'll and God Bless.

[Myown]

http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2007/03/can_saliva_tran.html

In September of 2003, evidence that saliva contains the Hepatitis C virus was disclosed at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle concluded that while saliva may be infectious, the strongest predictor of viral presence in the saliva is serum viral load. Researchers found that Hepatitis C was not found in saliva if the person

[livindabest]

    Yes the interesting part is why now .  I bet since I enjoy history I will be looking at this point from now on.   One thing that is obvious to you , me and all ,is human contact was very much smaller in past as it is now but there must be more.     Meki been enjoying your style on here , mahalo.
                                     Aloha  R.  

[meki]

Aloha - and thank you.

Hmmmmm Wonder if it's just history - repeating - at different intervals. I'll have to think that one out. OK - this insomniac is going to go toss around in the sheets - kick them off - stand up... lay back down --- and play the kid's Gameboy boring games... something might work.

Have a lovely night/day... uhm... what exactly is it now? LOL!


Meki

[l-horn]

Cocksparrow and doggie talking sex. Ironic.

[meki]

I've always wondered the same thing.

Like are there diseases that were programmed to happen in specific instances...

You know --- kind of like the Lemmings - LOL!

We have our own deconstruction set up ahead of us.

I've done some studies - but there are so many out there. Everyone has a differing opinion, but no one knows for sure. All I know is that in my lifetime, we won't understand diseases completely - or how to stop the human race from obtaining them. Because as we kill one disease, another emerges and takes its place.

However - I know this disease and I'm out to eradicate it from me - forever... And to help others do the same.

I believe each person is responsible for stopping the disease at themselves. That we all need to NEVER pass it to anyone else.

Because if it can stop with each of us - then it can be stopped.

LOL! Fatalistic thinking on this insomniac night for me.

Meki

[livindabest]

     Recorded don't work for this one, I think.    I have no idea exactly where or when I got this only sometime 20 or 30 yrs. ago.  I think common sense does make a case for ANY, Blood to Blood contact, which we have all had many.
      Enjoyed you pondering on Pre-1800.  Will be trying to figure that out.
                Good post all.
                                         Alohas     R.

[CockSparrow]

I agree with Meki. If you don

[livindabest]

   Hey, Meki  that was well done ! applause !   To doggie, good luck. You are doing the right thing.
                      Alohas,   R.