How did you you got HCV 20 or 10 years ago.

[cierra2007]

Hello friends, my question to all is how do you find out how long you have been infected with HCV.
My doctor can't tell me, she just said that the liver has minimal damage and that maybe from a tattoo
some 21 years ago. I guess at this point it does not matter cuz I got it and need to treat it.
Thanks

[zazza]

You think back what risk factors you have been exposed to and when.

[sfwandwow]

yep risk factors the most  

[HARRYBEADS]

   There is resent studies in Canada that conclude: the number of quasie species and mutants form at a predictable rate so dating of infection is possible. But I have not heard of testing being done out side the lab.


Harry

[Yellowfin]

I could of got it from shooting drugs, tatoos, sex, or a number of other sources.  I suspect I have had it for 30 - 35 years.  I don't know that matters how I got...just how to get rid of it.

[Harry Potter]

I've had it at least 14 months, at the most 3 yrs.  I consider myself somewhat lucky, if that's the word, as I was getting vaccinated for A, B, C 3+ yrs back, and was tested then for all (negative) prior to the vaccinations.  A year or so ago, right after experiencing a bunch of night sweats out of left field, I went to the dr. & tested positive.

[Willy50]

I doesn't matter that much.  I sometimes think that some of us incorrectly assume where we got it.

I actually respect the doctor that say they don't know.  In this case I'm not aware of any such test that ould be able to telll you.  IF you have a doctor that says that they can tell you...... I would be interested in understanding the proof.  I think the most that they can assert is likelihood.  Few of them are aware of the multitude of possible exposures one may have had in ones life.  I don't think we are even always aware of them as they occur.

best,
Willy

[l-horn]

girl scout cookies.

[nygirl7]

I could have gotten it from drugs, sex (not likely hard way to catch it), nail salon (didn't go to often), dentist, innoculations, transfusions ('88 and '93), razor or toothbrush of my exhusband, old boyfriends etc. etc. etc.

I don't have a tattoo but the doctor was POSITIVE I must have gotten it that way until I finally convinced him no...don't have one.

I'm just trying to say there are so many many different ways you can get this disease and a lot of people have none of the tell tale big things that have happened (Ie: IVdrug use).

So I'll never really know and it doesn't matter a bit anyway.  As long as you know you have it so you can treat it it's all besides the point.  I THINK I got it in the mid-80s snorting coke cause I did like a fiend back then and the time line matches up.

PS Have a biopsy to determine how much liver damage you have otherwise you are just guessing - might as well toss a dart at a board. It's quick and relatively painless.

Good luck.

[Myown]

There are many ways to contract hepc as mentioned in other posts, but unfortunately when doctors hear that you shot dope once or more 30 years ago, they automatically tell people that that is when they believe they contracted it. When doctors tell people that - "the 30 year theory," they then believe that it took them 30 years to get to a stage 1 or whatever they are at. This can cause many problems (IMO) cause then the person says to themselves 'well I drank like a fish for 30 years and I am only a stage 1, so alcohol isn't really as damaging as thought, when in reality they might not be carrying the disease that long at all.

So what can happen is when a person finds out they have HCV and the doc says "you got this 30 years ago, lets do a bx." Then they find out they are a stage 1 and doc says to wait as far as tx and then 5 years down the road they get another bx and now they may be a stage 3,,,,THEN the doctor says "oh wow, you really progressed in 5 years, it took you 30 years to get to stage 1 and now it only took 5 years to get to stage 3."

What a joke, they don't even consider that the person may NOT have gotten it from shooting dope a couple times when they were a teenager and that maybe - just maybe, they got the disease 6 years ago from a manicure or something else. And so it wound up really only taking 6 years to get to stage 3. Yes granted some know when they contracted it (non A- non B) and it did take time to progress - but thats not everybody.

But the 30 year theory seems to be a favorite. It's easy- no thinking involved.
I agree when others say it doesn't matter HOW we got it,,,,but I TOTALLY disagree when some say it doesn't matter WHEN we got it,,,cause it does matter,,,,, time line is important, but very hard to determine,,,,but still and all- we shouldn't be just thrown into the "30 years ago is when you got this disease." That gives people a false sense of security to wait as far as treating goes - IMO.

[Deb_c430]

How you got it has no direct reference on if you go svr,  How you got it to me only matters as a matter of curiosity.

it is slow moving and the reason most people I think waited so long to treat, is that till the 90's it was not even diagnosable,  So for many of the past eras, they did not know they had it.It is a fairly "new" disease,

With blood testing and so many other advancements people are finding out sooner.

Whether from shooting drugs, transfusions,  tatoos, what ever,  the point is to svr, or learn to live with it if you can't.

Deb

[Cindy10]

Well I know hubby got it from a tatoo because he was sick as a dog about a week after getting it and the doctor at that time told him it was hepatitis. At that time they didnt know it was C. 25 years later he found out he has hcv. They tested him for a & b and it was negative (no antibodies) so it was HCV all along. As for me could have been a tatoo, a straw (doing a line), dentist, using hubby's razor who knows. We treated and hopefully we are done with it.

[Myown]

How you got it to me only matters as a matter of curiosity.
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How does matter IF a doctor is using that as a time frame for "WHEN". It throws off the equation 'how long does it take for the disease to progress"IF their prediction of 'when' is off by 25 years:)

So 'WHEN" is important if they want to continually tell people they have time to wait for new drugs.
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"How you got it has no direct reference on if you go svr"
Of course it doesn't.  I didn't say it did.

MO

[Deb_c430]

wow testy..

Point is that it is a virus, viruses do not move at the same rate for everyone.  A VERY loose  assumption of scale can be based on time.

It is not on a sliding scale,   for some of us MO there is no choice BUT to wait!

Wether it is for reasons of insurance,  or there are NO OTHER choices,  

There is no guarantees and putting out there you have to Know when were and how serves no purpose!  

Bioposy can tell you the damage your liver has sustained, why confuse the issue?

DEB

[Myown]

wow testy..
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wow judgemental.< isn't that a favorite word of yours?
Explaining what I meant when someone directs a post to me is not what I consider testy. It's called "explaining"-when they didn't get it the first time." Not testy though. You'll know when I'm testy.

And really, don't get into the "some can't treat because of insurance" - do you really think that I would be refering to that? Of course people who are in that unfortunate situation would have to wait.

I don't follow the crowd to be popular Deb. I have my own opinions and if nobody agrees thats fine -they have a right to their opinion. You even have a right to yours.

Have an nice night Deb.
MO

[Deb_c430]

How you would know  my favorite word is sort of amazing since I do not know you.

I see the only opionion here that matters here is all bow to mo.



don't follow the crowd to be popular Deb. I have my own opinions and if nobody agrees thats fine -they have a right to their opinion. You even have a right to yours.


How totally beneficent of you.  


Then you should think before you make such comments about waiting. Your way or the highway huh?


You to Mo and and hope you clear  with an easy tx.  

[Myown]

Hi Deb.

[Deb_c430]

now that was funny! made me laugh,
hi mo

[R Glass]

  I have been thinking the same thing lately and I agree 100%. My Dr. assumes I contacted it from “High Risk Behavior” 30 years ago. I have been what some would consider a Heavy Drinker for most of the last 30 years. I am a Grade 1. I don’t buy the 30 year old “High Risk Behavior” explanation.

[l-horn]

Now cut that out...if anyone is going to insult and piiss people off around here it's going to be me, thank you very fuucking much. I will not have anyone knocking me out of my spot of being the board assshole. So just fuuck right off, both of you.

[Forseegood]

there has been a point or two left out...firstly, they did a few studies on this years ago...about a phenomenon that presented itself as ex-hippies from the 60's and 70s, who might of experimented with drugs, shooting up, whatever...then they went on to be nice, upstanding yuppies with their own businesses or professional jobs, etc, come to find out they had this disease around 30 years later...it was an interesting phenomenon to medical-historians...front page covers of magazines, etc...but the interest seems to have waned...Also, many blood transfused people from that era and hemophiliacs have it....if you look at those numbers, it's a pretty compelling reason to think it's a blood borne disease....

also, mostly, the way they get these statistics as to *how* a person got it, is from questionnaires, and not everyone wants to be honest on these things..even with themselves...

Many people can have this disease for decades, but it doesn't really start raising it's ugly head until many people ARE older, when our bodies are slowing down and are immune systems aren't like they used to be when we were young....

If you're still drinking and having a bad lifestyle at an older age, say mid-forties and up (as a contributing factor) there's a very good chance you can accelerate a virus which is already taking hold because of one's relatively advanced age...many people don't start presenting with symptoms, raised lfts, raised viral loads, higher liver damage stages....till they are in their mid to late 40's, 50s....it's a weird disease that way...just look at this board or other hep c boards, what's the median age, one would think?

I'm pretty darn sure I got it from stupid drug experimentation, wanting to be with the crowd - with these quasi-Kennedy rich kids from Pasadena, I didn't even like heroin...I remember getting sick in a strange way a few months afterward, but I'm not sure of the time line...yeah, I could of gotten it later, but I doubt it...so any thing's possible, but I like to look at statistics as well...

[l-horn]

sorry...but...lol !!

godDAMM Pasadena...

[l-horn]

You are a piece of work FSG...'quasi-Kennedy rich kids from Pasadena' gave me the hep and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

I'm liking you more all the time.

[nygirl7]

Point is that it is a virus, viruses do not move at the same rate for everyone.  A VERY loose  assumption of scale can be based on time.
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This is exactly correct.  Liver damage does not develop in any linear way that can be measured at all.  One person could go from infection to cirrhosis in ten years - another never will develop it.  so you really can't use it as a basis of anything much at all. Since the only thing that can give you a hint of how much liver damage has been done is a biopsy (or the fibro) - knowing how long you've had it really doesn't matter except in an active case perhaps where the person still has a chance to beat it on their own.

It definitely is more of a curiousity factor other than that and serves no real purpose in treatment other that at all.

[Myown]

Now cut that out...if anyone is going to insult and piiss people off around here it's going to be me, thank you very fuucking much. I will not have anyone knocking me out of my spot of being the board assshole. So just fuuck right off, both of you.
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Heyyyy!! Dems were cussin' words. You be nice nowww. And, I didn't insult anyone - so I guess your not talking to little ole me....don't forget to open a thread with your results,,,waiting to hear your good news - fingers crossed forya!