Hep C Symptoms

[aamrj]

Hi. I am new here. I spent much of my morning looking through the questions and answers on this site and it has been very helpful. I am a 29 year old female. I used IV drugs, started when I was18 years old, and used for about 6 years with some substantial periods of sobriety in between. I haven't used drugs since January 2012. And I didn't drink again until the end of 2014. I would say I am mostly a weekend drinker, heavier than average. I was pregnant in 2013 when I had prenatal testing and was told I have Hep C. Unfortunately, I miscarried. I became pregnant again in 2014 and again the OBGYN told me that the prenatal testing showed Hep C for a second time. I have 2 daughters, one is 8 and one is 2. When I heard about having Hep C, I was very stupid and tried to ignore it out of fear. Recently, I've been having off and on dull pain around my right rib cage, I'm tired but I don't know that its much worse than any other working mother of 2 children, some days though it is hard for me to get up and get motivated to do anything. I have mild swelling in my ankles that comes and goes and what seems like a spider vein on my left ankle. It has always been in the back of my mind and I knew that I needed to go see a specialist but I was petrified. But now, with all of the new information coming out about Hep C and hearing about it on tv and on radio commercials, i know that I definitely need to start the process of checking this out. I found out today that I am 5 weeks pregnant. This is all very scary and I feel like the Hep C has probably seriously progressed since my last pregnancy if I'm having symptoms?

[Clementine02]

Take a deep breath. Hepatitis C progresses like a turtle on valium. It is very slow and can take a couple of decades to do a lot of damage. Treating hep C is not an emergency. Also, with the newer treatments, people are being cured close to 98-100% of the time. Treatment is of short duration and for most the side effects are minimal. If you have to be diagnosed with hep C, this is a great time. Don't be scared. But do see a gastroenterologist. I do think you will come away feeling much calmer. Hep C is no longer a big deal for the vast majority of patients. Good luck with your pregnancy.