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Are these symptoms part of the HCV??

I had a blood test last week for an update on my viral load, in January it was 2.5 million I am a Geno type 2, this new blood test should tell me if I
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Avatar universal
My have just learned that my blood work showed an iron defiency...is this a symptom of my hepititis C?
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Hi there!
I, too, am menopausal (will turn 50 in January) and have HCV.  I have found that most western medicine docs are very single minded and don't connect much of anything that goes on your body.  I know you want to start treatment asap, but I just wanted to suggest that you check out Dr. Zhang's website before you begin interferon.  You can google him to access his site.  He is a physician and modern chinese practitioner who has had excellent results with his herbal regime treating HCV and HIV patients.  I am currently taking his herbs and feel good overall, with the exception of a disturbing skin problem.  The main thing is that you do plenty of research on ANY treatment you choose.  Best wishes to you!!
brynn
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Avatar universal
I had & still have your same symptoms & more, although I finished treatment about 2 months ago.  I'm 50 yrs old, & will be 51 on the 10th (What day is yours??Happy birthday & be proud!!)   I did 48/48 with  peg. & rebetol. Type 1a, viral count 750,000 ( I think, I still have memory problems) and at 48 wks I was undetectable, yet they won't concider me "cured" until December's test.  My liver was slightly scarred & swollen, but they said it wasn't too bad.  I had really bad fatigue, I tried hard to keep painting, but I was useless, so our artists had to take over for a year.  I feel MUCH better now, but I have to approach getting back into the "swing of things" with caution, because if I over-do it, physically, I pay for it the next day.  

And noooooo, you are not a hypochondriac!!  I'm usually tough as nails...I've been told that I work hard as a man, but when TX pulled the rug out from under me, I fell pretty hard.  Looking back, I realized quickly that I needed to do whatever it took to get through the next year, and here I stand - on the other side....still sane (??) and a bit foggy-brained.  Celebrex helped some...nexium too.

All my joints ache, but especially my wrists & fingers - probably because I use them so much on a daily basis - I'm a muralist & stay booked.  I don't perspire like a lady...I sweat like a dog!  I have to wear a Rambo sweat-band  on my forehead daily, so I can see, I sweat so much.  What helps my wrist/hand pain is sleeping in a a wrist splint-like thing...I'm not sure what they are called, but I wore them during TX & also now...whatta difference!!

They say that excersize helps fatigue....HA!!  My trouble was making that first step, so I blew that off!

I also developed Hyper-thyroid (not hypo) and I'm on meds for that for the time being.

But, honest, Astrolady, the time went by slow at first, but then all of a sudden, my 48 wks was here...I thank the fog-brain for that & surrounding myself with loving people too.  I believe that God changed my priorities & showed me many things that I used to take for granted.  I appreciate the small stuff, cuz I know the big stuff.

And, again, whatever it takes to get through this stage of our lives called HCV, through the pain & sickness & hard life-situations ---- there's plenty of warm fuzzies - ya just gotta look!  Keep your eyes on the goal & be a squeeky-wheel to the doctors!!  This will all be a memory someday.

With Love & Prayers,
Penny

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Avatar universal
Long before tx, I saw a Hep guru at an MTC (major teaching hospital) for a 2nd opinion.  He asked if I'd been very tired.  

He explained that my immune system was effectively fighting off my high viral load (probably 40 year infection, moderately high VL with low stage/grade at the time); there was a battle going on throughout my body at the cellular level, and so far I was holding my own.  However, this battle took a lot of energy, so ----> fatigue resulted, and memory/concentration problems, aches and pains, and a bunch of other problems... because of the "diverted resources and overworked immune system."
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Avatar universal
You've gotten some great feedback here, and I just wanted to add one little thing.  Since there's been talk about SAM-e lately, I have to admit it's on my brain....  so I just wanted to add that it's a really important addition to the arsenal of anyone who's dealing with liver disease.   As someone said on another thread, it's useful not only for liver health, but for also for joint pain _and_ depression -- not a bad 3-in-one.

Y'know, the hormonal changes that occur at menopause got magnified hugely when you're dealing with liver problems.  There's an excellent article in the April-June 2004 issue of Hepatitis Magazine by Tina St. John, M.D., on "The Estrogen Connection: Women and Hepatitis."  Menopause may not be the end of the world, but it's an intense physical and mental experience and with HCV it can be a real rollercoaster.   Any doctor that tells you that you're not experiencing what you're experiencing needs a good....  oh, just fill in the blanks!

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Avatar universal
I suffered quit painful join pain in different joint for about 7 years before dx. I also was finding it much harder to run and exercise though I kept it up. I am sure this was part of my HCV infection. The joint pain stopped within 2 months after starting tx. Luckily I did not have that as a sx from the tx. I did complain to docs and they just kind of blew me off. After dx my GP did test me for RA and my test came out with a positive RA factor. I saw a RA doc and he said I definately did not have RA and he saw this in other HCV patients. My hepatologist he will test me again for RA at my 6 month post labs but I should wait as it might take that long to normalize. I've read HCv can cause autoimmune problems and to me this is just one of them. I don't think this is in your head at all. I had almost no liver damage. The only thing that helped was aspirin which I got pproved by my doc and din't take too often. It actually worked quit well. Motrin and tylenol for some reason did not do the trick. LL
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Avatar universal
Hey!   Let me rry to be of a little help, although I am no expert.. I have cirrhosis already, and even knowing that, it took alot of pushing to convince my doc that I was retaining fluid..  It is not enormous amounts, and  is not abdominal ascites..  MOSTLY,if I stand for too long,( I was trying to help a friend with somethings and would be on my feet for several hours in one spot)..I'd have a fluid build up in my thighs from my knees up.. enormous amounts of fluid.. some in the lower legs and feet but not that much!!  But my knees and thighs would swell up two  times their normal size..to where my skin would be tight and I couldn't bend my knees..  I have very muscular thighs..not fat.. I also have varicose veins.  Of course, when I'd get to the doc, most of the fluid would be gone, pressure would still leave an indentation, but nott as bad...
Finally one of my doctors gave me some lasix to use as needed.. and realized, after awhile, that when I used the lasix, my blood pressure was 40 points LOWER.. than when I didn't  My normal bld pressure has always been in the 95-105-/60-70 range.. suddenly it was always in the 145 range.. AND, I do NOT add salt to food and eat only fresh or freshly prepared by me food, so I am not getting sodium from prepackaged foods..  I drink 1/2 gal distilled water every day..
  SO .. My Inf Dis guy finally put me on a low dose of aldactone 50mg/day  It is potassium sparing, unlike lasix.. .. now I only use the lasix  if there's a problem, as an adjunct.
It works great..  standing or sitting for long periods at a time aren't good.., but if I have to do it, the 50 mg of aldactone is already at work..   (normal dosage is 100-400mg/day)
  Try This..  MEASURE different parts of your legs, with a tape measure. when they are NOT swollen...make a chart.. then when they start to swell, measure and record it..and the time.. then measure say every hour or couple hours....  Take this to your doctor   Tell them you want something done..demand it..
Drink lots of water, and quit adding salt at all..If you eat canned or prepackaged foods, check out their sodium content..you might be surprised!!!
  Doctors have a really bad habit of NOT LISTENING to us..and it SUCKS!!  so we have to be persistent.. we have to MAKE them listen.  Point is, that while there are standards of when certain symptoms may appear.. that isn't written in stone.. we are each different, so we are each going to have different symptoms at diff times for diff reasons..
Good Luck!!
Hope this is of some help ..
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Avatar universal
Only kiding.
SH
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Avatar universal
I want to ditto everything Silvermoon said and add that you probably need to be taking a multi-vitamin for seniors (no iron in them). Also B-complex wouldn't hurt. If for any reason you or anyone else starts to notice you getting forgetful, or spacy, or if you notice a yellow tinge in the inside of your bottom eyelid when you pull down on it, address these to your Dr. immediately. Those things don't usually happen w/ little or moderate liver damage, but there are no written rules. Also, if your abdomen stars swelling, tell your doc.     Joni
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Burning the carpet sounds ok, but please don't burn the cats.
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You have no problem wiyh short turn memory,that's for sure! As it happens it has not got that much better. Following various sprays ya know real yukky isectercide stuff the little unknown fathered beasts have returned. Though i might make light i still think, there's me changing razors toothbrush everything annd there are blood sucking mfs loose in the pets/carpet. Mybe i should make a fire with the carpets and throw the cats on top?
S Hall
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Avatar universal
Hi Astrolady,
I have been through the same sort of things with so many docs and realistically he should be taking notes from you as far as what symptoms are being caused by HCV. Your GI is like so many others and relies on what he thinks he knows! Since he doesn't have HCV he will know very little and sounds like he has a closed mind. The disease is very individual just like we are. Docs don't know much about how HCV affects the body in respect to all symptoms. The variables are almost infinite!
I look at it like this,-your body is in a constant fight with the virus causing elevated alpha interferon levels. Alpha is what makes us feel bad when we have the flu or a virus. I don't know how long you have been infected and there are no studies on long term exposure to alpha or even a test available to measure levels of alpha interferon! But I think most would agree that weird stuff happens on treatment with interferon, it over-shadows the effects of the naturally occuring alpha kind and it should, but it may be the cause of a lot of unexplained stuff!  I feel most of the time like I'm regulating and deregulating with most of my body functions and think many things may fluctuate a lot including blood tests. I have had the best results with trial and error with diet for a host of problems that always got the weird look from the doc and that same response that you got! It's a diffucult situation but one thing for sure that everybody seems to agree on is lots of water! But you are retaining water already and have sore joints, my wife does that and she doesn't have HCV. I have read about some relation between HCV and fibromyalgia but I don't believe anything or trust many studies as being worth a damn as so many parasites are trying to make a buck off someone who is hurting but thought I'd mention it anyway. Be well Astrolady, take care.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for responding to my questions, I guess I'm hoping they are related to the HCV so that after TX they will go away, being dx and getting older is a double whammy.

So Sam -- how is the flea problem??

Lou -- I think you I will probably state TX around the same time.
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Avatar universal
It,to my mind, is not of that great importance what your GP says but if you look around the sights  it will become clear that the way one  responds to hcv is often unpredictable. I was/am? non one and the focus of attention, brought about by the discovery of infection, can lead to some thouhts about previous niggling pains etc. In my own experience i am now conviced that prior to treatment i had been fatigued,some arthritic pain, depression etc. All these may or may not be caused by hcv but evidence shows that they can. However what cannot be shown is that theses conditons would not of occured anyway for "other" reasons. What really matters is head down tx "did it work".
All the best...Oh yes...
Salt=not to good(Blood pressure etc)
Age= Now!
Respoding to posts from Lou=(Blood pressure etc)
hypochondriac='scuse me I do have hep c?
Being concerned about hurricane= Still prepared to think of others,brilliant in my books!
S.Hall
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Avatar universal
Hey Astrolady!.  Unfortunatly I do not know the answer to your questions. I think I do but I will wait for others with more experiance to answer. What I do know is that I am so glad you are questioning the actons and words of your doctors. That I like. They are human, they make mistakes and many have limited knowledge in this area. They are consultants to you and I. Just like the people here at MH. Question Authority! Always. (that comes along with the music you and I like Astrolady!)

LOU
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