hi to any ladies trying to get pregnant but hep c positive

[sky16]

hi
Me and my hubby have been together for about 10years, we are having fertility treatment and had some blood test  done and mine came back that i am positive to hep c, but my husband is not.  I have never tuck any kind of drugs.  How could i have got it? please help

We have been longing for a baby for about 5 years and this makes me really worried:(
Is anyone in a smiliar situation would love to talk..  Feel so alone, feel like i cant talk to anyone about it
love sky x x

[Bill1954]

Hi Sky—

I’ll let the gals go over this in more detail, but for starters, it’s very rare for a mother to transmit this virus to her child. I believe the odds are less than 5%; I don’t know if that helps at all.

As far as contracting the disease, there are lots of people that just simply don’t know where it came from. Some risk might exist in dental procedures; or anything that can involve a situation where your blood can be exposed to other other’s blood.

Others will be along momentarily to discuss this with you; stay tuned for more :o).

Take care—

Bill

[orphanedhawk]

Like Bill  said many people have no idea how they got HCV. It's a strong virus and even sharing a toothbrush that hasn't been used for days can spread it via little bits of blood.
Don't worry about how you got it.

I'm sure I had it before my kids were born and neither has it and they are now adults.

The main thing is be careful  when you are breast feeding that you don't get cracked nipples.
Its all about not mixing blood so just be aware.

Do tell all your heath care providers. Get a yearly liver function panel done.
Relax and enjoy your life. I would advise not drinking alcohol for your liver's sake.
Many people have HCV and never have any problems from it.

I hope you two have a happy, healthy baby.
Good luck,   OH

[meakea]

Sky, unless you have other medical problems, you should be able to have as many babies as you want.  I unknowingly had Hep C when I gave birth to my 3 sons (who are now 29, 28 and 26) and they are all negative for Hep C.  Two of my sons were delivered by C-section.  As Bill stated, the risk of passing Hep C to the babies is so very small.

Be sure to tell all your medical providers about your Hep C and let them help you make your decisions.

As far as how you got it -- unfortunately many people never know how they got it.  By the way, I'm 54 years old and I traced my medical records back far enough to have determined that a blood transfusion that I received when I was 2 DAYS old was the culprit.  I didn't find out that I have Hep C until last year.  So...it is possible to live to the ripe old age of 54 without having any symptoms of Hep C and still have a fairly decent liver and have 3 adult children who do not end up with Hep C.  

Good luck to you and try not not worry == it will be okay.

[jelise]

And your husband should not really worry about contracting it from you.  The chances of getting it from sex are really low.  My boyfriend and I have been having unprotected sex for 12 years (all of which I'm sure I was infected) and he does not have HCV.  

Just be sure to keep an eye on your liver and have lots of babies :)

[sky16]

Thanks for all the kind words and information , you are all so lovely:)


I just feel i cant talk to any one about the hcv, as I am worried they will look at me different.

I have only told my hubby and a good friend.  Do you think its good to tell or not?

love sky x x

[newleaf09]

Don't tell anyone but closest family.  There is a stigma attached to the disease since one way to contract it is by sharing needles.  You never know how other people will react and I've read several accounts from people on this forum who told co-workers and friends and later regretted it.  

[meakea]

Personally, I did tell my co-workers and all of my family but I did it in such a way that each person was told by me personally so I could explain Hep C to them.  I have also told all of my doctors, dentists, etc.  There definitely are people that I chose NOT to tell.  

It's pretty much up to you as to who you tell or who you don't tell.  Personally, I did not have any adverse reactions from telling people but others on this site have.

[jelise]

I agree with meakea.  I told family members and have told certain co-workers why I never donate blood at the blood drives.  I even gave my boss a heads up before I started treatment.  I've gotten nothing but care and support.

[nygirl7]

I tried to use widsom in who I told.  Generally you can tell which people are smart enough to get it and those who will not and will gossip endlessly.  There is no steadfast rule though.....just as I usually advise it's better to err on the side of caution at first.

It is a very isolating disease but in here you'll find that we all know that fact first hand.  Which is why we 'talk' so much! :)

I've had it for probably 20-25 years and both my children are negative.  I finally treated in 2005 and I've been cured over two and a half years.  Believe me we shared plenty of toothbrushes and bandaged plenty of boo boo's  and just about everything else you can imagine and they never got it (they are now 18 and 21).

You'll never know how you got it but knowing that you have it is actually a blessing.  This way you can keep an eye on it and make sure your liver doesn't get too damaged before you decide to treat or not.  Some folks don't find out until it's way too late - that is the sin. Everyone should be tested for this disease since it often takes so lonog to show any if at all symptoms!

The one thing  we can advise you is if you do get pregnant you cannot treat.  You cannot even touch the medications.  Doctors advise using at least two forms of birth control at this time because the meds are so poisonous to the unborn child.  Doesn't sound like any issue to you right now but thought I'd mention it while it was on my mind.

I wish you the best of luck with both situations........boy life doesn't through enough at us already right?

[mpace6983]

Dont start Interfon/antiviral treatment after you get pregnant or get pregnant if you start treatment. While the risk is very low of passing the HCV virus to the fetus. The  mortality rate for  babies conceived during treatment is almost 100%. Good Luck on having a baby!

[Trish77]

"The  mortality rate for  babies conceived during treatment is almost 100%."

Can you include a link to this information?  There was a thread awhile back about this and no statistics posted.  It would be helpful to have hard data.  Thanks.

[mpace6983]

Sorry I dont document everything that I post.  I got this information from the HCV nurse practitioner in my gastroenterologist's office. I emailed her and asked where I could find this data. The website is www.ribavirinpregnancyregister.com but to access the website you have to be a registered medical provider who works with ribavirin treatment on a regular basis. Althought the FDA has scheduled riba as a class x med "NO medical benefit can outweight the risk of prescribing ribavirin during pregnancy" Trish, would you feel comfortable getting pregnant while taking this med? That was my point to sky16,its really dangerous to get pregnant during or 6 months after treatment with riba. Sorry I cant access this website, I will try to get the nurse to make a copy of the data. There is 411 on the FDA website showing that  animals that got pregnant while recieving ribavirin never delivered a viable fetus.

[mpace6983]

I cant find the results of any studies where the father was recieving ribavirin when the mother got pregnant. Athough in the warnings and contradictions section of the prescribing info for riba,it says if the man is the one taking the riba he shouldn't get anyone pregnant. Maybe this was the thread you were referring to.

[Trish77]

"Trish, would you feel comfortable getting pregnant while taking this med? That was my point to sky16,its really dangerous to get pregnant during or 6 months after treatment with riba."

I'm not in any way suggesting that it's okay to get pregnant while on ribavirin.  I'm aware of and agree with the warnings not to get pregnant while on riba and for six months after.  In fact, I recall posting in another thread that I'd wait for a year after treatment if it were me simply because there isn't enough data on it and I'd rather be safer than take more risks when it comes to this.

You came out with a very unequivocal statement that "the *mortality* rate for babies conceived during treatment is *almost* 100%" - that's pretty specific and if you had a link to specific data to go with it, I wanted to bookmark it for future reference.  

You've explained where you got the information from.  Thanks.

[mpace6983]

I quoted the nurse worh works with HCV patients as saying "nearly 100% of women being treated with HCV/RIBA had miscarriages/stillbirths. I misquoted her,what she said was: Women who had miscarriages/stillbirths while recieving INF/riba,the death of the fetus was almost always due to the tetrogenic effects of the meds and not because of a direct infection of HCV that was passed from mother to child. This % excludes other reasons for termination of pregnancy(CAR WRECK,heart attack ect.) The death or birth defects from maternal HCV infection to child is less than 5%. Trish77 is correct, there are no statics on termination of pregnancy due to INF/ riba.  The ribavirin preganacy register is collecting that data now and is scheduled to release a report in the fall of 2010. I sincerely apologise for any unnessary worry I caused to you or anyone else who read my incorrect post. Again I sorry,folks have enough to be concerned with,without reading incorrect postings. GOOD LUCK MIKE
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