my upper right side sometimes hurts, is it hepatitis or gallstones?

[travisthescared]

hey guys im back..need some help before i go in, i guess just for comfort

i was wondering if this sounds like hepatitis or gallstones? acouple of weeks ago, i started getting pain in my right upperside of my body, i think near my ribs but not sure. i did drink alot and eat fatty foods for a while, cause its summer. i decided to go to the doc, i told her i think i might have hepatitis, and she said i couldnt have it, because i dont have enough symptoms. she said it could be my gallbladder

symptoms...pain in the upper right near my ribs, having to go pee alot, and regurgitating my food. it feels like its really gasy in my right side too

do these symptoms sound more like hepatitis or something wrong with my gall bladder? ohh yeah goin to get an ultra sound so im pretty excited lol.

[ggreg]

I am glad your GI is taking an interest in your situation and is working on a diagnosis.  I am also glad you already have been tested for other STDs.  That explains to me why you've been focusing on Hep.  I assume your GI has ruled out an ulcer or H.pylori.  And a urinary tract infection should be ruled out, too.  Drinking can really screw up your liver, not only in the short-term, but years down the road.  Find something else you like to do, if that is an issue.  From now on, depend on your GI for information and assistance.  It's good you have him to go to now.  Bye bye and good luck.

[travisthescared]

i forgot to add, my gi doc may think i have hemocromatosis..sorry for the spelling

[travisthescared]

hey hows it going, im not peeing anymore, but the pain is still there. im afraid its my diet. i eat terribly, i was wondering if that could also affect my liver? i seem to be really gassy near my right side where its painful. i got checked a while back for HIV, and most of the stds. the only one i didnt was herpes. youre right though i sholdnt focus on it, just have to wait and see and hope for the best.

[ggreg]

Yes, Hep C can come from unprotected sex, although it is not common.  I am glad you got some tests done and glad your ultrasound eliminated gallbladder problems.  If you are still peeing a lot, you might have a urinary tract infection, which a simple test can determine.  Pain to the right of the belly button suggests indigestion, too, so eat extra fiber, drink extra water, and exercise regularly.  It could even be a pulled muscle.  But without knowing how bad the pain is, anything I say is just guesswork.  That's what doctors are for, and you should always tell them ALL your symptoms if you are in a lot of discomfort.  It just sounds like to me you are more worried about unprotected sex.  As I posted before, there are a bunch of really awful things that are also contagious that you could have besides hepatitis, so I'm not sure why you are focusing on that one thing so much.

[travisthescared]

hey greg, thanks for getting back to me again.
just went in for my ultra sound, they said everything looked good in terms of gallstones, and i asked them to check my liver. im getting the liver biopsy in a couple of weeks, and am scheduled to have hepatitis tests done for b and c

ive read that hep c isnt sexually transmitted, is this true?

[ggreg]

Travis,
Hep A comes in 2 doses, a recommended childhood vaccine in the U.S.
Hep B comes in 3 doses, a recommended childhood vaccine in the U.S.
***but Hep vaccinations only DECREASE incidence of infection, they do NOT prevent it.
(CDC)
(Nemours Foundation)
(UC Irvine Medical Center)
While Hep B is deadly serious, you previously posted you had unprotected sex, so here are some more diseases you can get:
Syphilis...if untreated you can go blind
Gonorrhea...if untreated you can become sterile
AIDS...if untreated you can die

Your shot record doesn't count for anything when it comes to finding out if you have a disease.  You have good reason to go to a health clinic and get tested.  Clinic care is basically anonymous.  It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or how much money you make, because no health care worker in America wants someone walking around with a serious contagious disease.  Do me a favor and do yourself a favor and quit staring at your shot record.  Get tested as soon as you can.  

[travisthescared]

thanks for getting back to me. can you help me out one with one last thing?

does the hepatitis vaccine come in 3 shots? im a diplomats kid, so i couldve sworn i got vaccinated for both a and b

[ggreg]

Dear Travis,
In an earlier post, I failed to put the link to a vaccine website we were talking about, and naturally I can't remember what it is now, sorry.  

Anyhow, if you are worried about hepatitis, go to the county health center this week, and they can draw blood and test for hepatitis.  You don't need to tell your doctor.  You don't need an appointment.  You just walk in.  They can run a blood test on anything you want, and they can do it the same day you come in.  People go to county health departments all the time and get tested for AIDs and all sorts of stuff.  

And since you're peeing a lot, you might want to also ask the health department if you've got a urinary tract infection, too, which they can test for by having you pee in a cup.  I go to the clinic to get my flu shots, so I don't have to pay for my regular doctor's visit.  And anytime there's a big breakout of ANY infectious disease, especially getting sick in a restaurant, that's where EVERYBODY goes.  When people are going to travel, they go there to get shots.  It's perfectly normal to go in there.  

If you don't know where the place is, look in the phone book in the white pages, under the county you live.  Let's say you live in York County.  You look under "Y" and find "York County Government," and it should list "Health Department" and the address below that somewhere.  

By the way, an ultrasound is noninvasive and doesn't hurt at all.  They squirt an ointment on your tummy and slide a small device over your skin, and there's a TV monitor there, and it shows what they see.  No big deal at all.