Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
1275696 tn?1349701121

Can your body really heal itself?

I was diagnosed with Hepatits C in 2004. I did not do the right thing, meaning I really have never learned anything about it, all I knew was that I was going to stop using needles and get my act together all around. Well when I later got on Lithium my Doctor said that they often check your liver levels when you are on Lithium. So I told the dr about my previous dx of Hep and he said he would run that too.This was in mid 2006. I cant remember what the blood work said but the Dr said yes you have Hep C but your levels are not at a point of even worrying. So I didn't. 2008 came along and I started feeling run down, no appatite I was always nauseated and so on, so I became worried when my brother said those sounded like Hepatitis symptoms. So back to the doctor I went. The blood work story again, but this time the results were interesting. The doctor said that my "levels" were so low that I was undetectable. I said but I still have it? And he said well test you again in six months, if you are still undetected we will consider you clear. So we did this and I had no sign of it at all! The doctor said it was incredably rare, but the body can be known to clear it itself. Now my antibody test was still positive, so I was confused, but the doc said that now I am what is called a carrier I am not sick. Is this solid? And should I just for knowings sake test again? I have a new doctor now so its kind of a clean slate. By the way, the symptoms wound up being my Thyroid, I am now medicated for that!:) Anyway, any advice will do I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing in taking care of myself. I have my son now, so I have to be around for him. Thank you!
Best Answer
87972 tn?1322661239
Hi  there,

As Diane said, it’s possible to clear the virus during the initial six months of infection; this happens in roughly 15-20% of cases. The test to confirm this is the ‘HCV RNA by PCR’ test; if this yields a negative result, then the virus is gone, and no further action should be required on your part. If the result is positive, the disease has progressed into the chronic phase; this will then require treatment to resolve.

If you like, request hard copies of your test results, and someone here will help you interpret them.

Best of luck to you with your test; let us know how things work out for you—

Bill
12 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
Yes, it is possible!!! And the same thing happened to me. I was diagnosed in  2012 and I was tested a few times over a couple years and my doctor said it is VERY RARE but my count was so low that my body had actually rid of hep c on its own. Now I do still test positive. I’m currently pregnant and i am considered high risk because of it, even though i can’t even pass it to others. I go next month to get my levels tested. They should be nonexistent if my doctor was correct in 2012! I haven’t had any blood work done since then. We are very lucky...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi.. The same thing happened to me. Im in recovery.. I changed my lifestyle drasticlly and my diet.. My body cleared hepc.. But i still have antibodies.. The local hispital said they will want to study me in the future.. Im not sure if im to happy about that.. So weird..
Helpful - 0
444337 tn?1428073510
This is a thread that started in 2010 with the last reply being almost a year old. If you have a question that has not been asked previously, you should have started a new post and not replied to a resurrected thread.

If people sort posts by "Date started" instead of "Last post" your question will not reach the audience it that it could have.

In terms of your situation, once you have HepC, you always will test positive for antibodies, even if the body spontaneously rids itself of the virus. It's not going to "come back" as you put it because there is no active virus. If there is a viral load (active virus), then he would have chronic HepC.

You need to ask him more information about the history of his virus, the testing types, whether he had been treated, etc.



Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
all ******** i was diagnose with hep c nov 2011 viral load 1 million then in feb of 2012 my viral load was 3.9 million i had gotten hep see for blood transfusion in a 3rd world country 2 pints from motorcycle accident in 2006..now when i found ou i had it i did many serious things  and i would love to talk about it but will take forever to type from tumeric tonics to jim humbles mms batch....now in 2013 my viral load was 25 yes jus 25 then doc thought it was an error so took a bbloodtest in jan 9 2014 results came back 2 days ago im negative undetectable this can be cured i would love to tell my story anyone who wants to hear it im not trying to make money off of it free for all mankind the things i did were all legal except smoking pot or making tea from pot every night before bed.....this is no bullshitmy doctor said this was rare we studied about this in school none of his colleuges ever witnessed this he was so awwwwwed in shock.....
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
What was the routine did you do?. What did you eat and drink?
Possible1230

This is a very old post so likely no one will see your comment. Best to ask a new question.

The person you responded to is giving poor advice. Hep c is very treatable today. Treatment could be as simple as 1 pill a day for 8 or 12 weeks and you would very likely be cured.

If you test detected for the hep c virus with the HCV RNA test see your doctor, get treated, and get cured. Stay away from snake oil salesmen.
Avatar universal
Was diagnosed in '96....very high HCV...non-responder to two interferon/riba/peg trials.  In 2002 was told I had no trace of HCV and that my system had cleared the virus on it's own....2 years later it was back.  And today after several times of my viral load "clearing" itself with many repeat blood test to make sure there weren't false/positive results...today I sit here with very high HCV but worse of all Stage 4 ESLD with decomp liver...  Even right now my viral load is going lower and lower...will probably clear again, who knows....but the end results of the effects HCV had on my liver have been devastating....  Think there are no pat answers to some of these questions because each person is an individual....

Every time it there was no trace of HCV I just went on my merry way not realizing the other side effects that had occurred in my body.  We can't donate blood but we can donate our livers if we die...a lot of people don't know that...UNOS uses HCV livers for tp patients who have HCV at time of tp.  I had questioned that point with someone a few months back but as I am going through all this transplant paperwork find out that it is true.  

The worst thing anyone who has every been diagnosed with this virus can do is not retest every year.  
Helpful - 0
1840891 tn?1431547793
Welcome to the hep c forum. You posted your question onto the end of a very old question, so not many people are likely to notice it. It's hard to be sure without seeing all your lab tests, but what this sounds like is you contracted hep c back in 2001 and you've cleared it. Lucky lady! Approximately 15% of all people who contract this virus are able to clear it all on their own, with just their own immune system. The rest of us can't get rid of it without treatment. You should know however, that if you have ever had HCV you will always carry antibodies to it, just like if you have had measles, or a measles vaccination, you will have an antibody to it in your blood. In most diseases the antibody means you are protected from getting the disease, but the HCV antibodies don't offer that kind of protection (not sure why, but its probably because there are too many variations of the virus). Anyway, even though you no longer have the virus, you will always have the antibodies. They won't make you sick and they can't be passed to others, but they will stop you from donating blood because blood banks rely on antibody tests because its cheaper. An HCV RNA (PCR) test will show no virus but the test is expensive. Now this is why your note is a little puzzling, because the second type of test is usually only done to verify results of the antibody test or to evaluate response to treatment medications. If by some chance your recent test was an antibody test and not a HCV RNA (PCR) test, then you may have never had the virus at all but had gotten a false positive on your 2001 test.

Do you happen to have copies of any of these test results? Either way it sounds like you don't have the virus, and that is great news. It's also REALLY great that you got off the drugs, so you won't be exposing yourself to the virus in the future either. Congratulations!
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I was diagnosed 4years ago and i was tested 3 weeks ago and came back negative. So can it come back?
Avatar universal
I  started using iv needles at 28,   2001        i got sick so went and got tested and doc told me i contacted hepc, so let just did nothing about it so in 2009 i went on methodone.... they took my blood work, so last week i went to see a liver doc. and he told me that in 2009 my report came back negative,, NOONE TOLD ME... i seen my meth doc once a week and he had the letter saying, that i was negative. and my family doc had the paperwork also saying that i was negative, so long story short last week liver doc called me telling me that i negative that my body cleared its self...
so i got more blood work done last week and came back clear im so CONFUSED.....
Helpful - 0
1275696 tn?1349701121
Thank you for your information. Thank everyone. I will without a doubt request those tests because I need to be more involved in my healthcare anyway! Since I also just got my 86.6 results on my TSH for my thyroid, I need to stay on top of all of this because Doctors are people too, and even though alot of people put them up on very high pedistal for some reason, they can make mistakes. Thank you again to everyone that responded!
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I'm on here researching about this, because my fiance told me later down the road that he had hepc; then told me last night that they done blood work on him and his hepc test came back negative! Have you been retested? Does it end up coming back, or can the body really cure it for good?
1225178 tn?1318980604
I have read about the body clearing itself in acute cases. To be on the safe side, I'd talk to your new doctor about it and get tested once in a while to make sure you don't have a relapse. Also, what kind of doctor were you going to before that told you you were a carrier?

I hope the best for you, but do know that a lot of doctors don't know much about this disease besides what they learned in med school.
Helpful - 0
1275696 tn?1349701121
Wow that is great! I didn't believe it could be true.... wow ok  thank you and I wish everyone the best of health and good times ahead I will pray for all of you.
Helpful - 0
99052 tn?1270983520
awesome news your body cleared the C on it's own be happy forget about it and have a wonderful life
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis C Community

Top Hepatitis Answerers
317787 tn?1473358451
DC
683231 tn?1467323017
Auburn, WA
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Answer a few simple questions about your Hep C treatment journey.

Those who qualify may receive up to $100 for their time.
Explore More In Our Hep C Learning Center
image description
Learn about this treatable virus.
image description
Getting tested for this viral infection.
image description
3 key steps to getting on treatment.
image description
4 steps to getting on therapy.
image description
What you need to know about Hep C drugs.
image description
How the drugs might affect you.
image description
These tips may up your chances of a cure.
Popular Resources
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.