Aa
Concentration and memory
It is wellknown that the Hep C virus induces neurological problems. For those of you who cleared the virus and finished the tx, do you feel an improvement in your memory and concentration comparing with the situation before tx when the virus was active?
I ask that because I have a very demanding job in terms of concentration and memory.
I ask that because I have a very demanding job in terms of concentration and memory.
I don't know the answer to your question about having symptoms of hep with low viral load and no damage, but I can promise you that the tx sides are definitely medication related. I am almost 7 weeks post-tx and the brain fog is gone.
That paradox is the oddest thing about this disease... some people have VL in the millions and have little or no symptoms, while you and I have relatively low VL and little liver damage and have felt all kinds of symptoms for many years.
I was dreading TX because I thought it might increase my symptoms tenfold or more. I couldn't deal with that very well.
So here is my uneducated, unjustified, unfounded theory; what if the symptoms are relative to the intensity of 'fight' our bodies are putting up against the virus, the intracellular war that is being waged in our blood and tissues?
What if the TX symptoms are not really side effects of the drugs, but effects of the battle? Think about it for awhile... does it make any sense to you?
My main mental complaints are listening to conversations and memory loss. Following plots doesn't bother me too much because in my job, I need to troubleshoot equipment, so I have to gather info and determine the cause of the problem. Maybe everyday usage of the 'paths' tends to exercise them and keep them sharp. I'm not certain.
Anyway, thanks for listening again!
Ampz
I was dreading TX because I thought it might increase my symptoms tenfold or more. I couldn't deal with that very well.
So here is my uneducated, unjustified, unfounded theory; what if the symptoms are relative to the intensity of 'fight' our bodies are putting up against the virus, the intracellular war that is being waged in our blood and tissues?
What if the TX symptoms are not really side effects of the drugs, but effects of the battle? Think about it for awhile... does it make any sense to you?
My main mental complaints are listening to conversations and memory loss. Following plots doesn't bother me too much because in my job, I need to troubleshoot equipment, so I have to gather info and determine the cause of the problem. Maybe everyday usage of the 'paths' tends to exercise them and keep them sharp. I'm not certain.
Anyway, thanks for listening again!
Ampz
I didn't have a clue until I went into complete liver failure. And I had had both emergency and elective surgery in the '90's and everyone came up w/a diff explanations as to the terrible imbalance in my blood.
2 wks after I bled out, icu 1wk discharged, my doc decided to test for hep c. I could have died from any one of those surgeries what w/my non-existant platlet problem, and no one would have known why.
So, if several different docs and hospitals couldn't spot it or test for it, what chance did I have? All my medical records clearly stated that I had had 2 emergency c-sections in '79 and '85. Those always involve blood products.
All my vauge symptoms were put down to age, the change, terrible marriage and worst divorce and on going litagation. Also, I was a women w/teenagers. That accounted for weight gain, fatigue, depression, memory (sever, now I realize as it comes back).
Hope that sheds some light on why this is called the 'stelth disease.'
2 wks after I bled out, icu 1wk discharged, my doc decided to test for hep c. I could have died from any one of those surgeries what w/my non-existant platlet problem, and no one would have known why.
So, if several different docs and hospitals couldn't spot it or test for it, what chance did I have? All my medical records clearly stated that I had had 2 emergency c-sections in '79 and '85. Those always involve blood products.
All my vauge symptoms were put down to age, the change, terrible marriage and worst divorce and on going litagation. Also, I was a women w/teenagers. That accounted for weight gain, fatigue, depression, memory (sever, now I realize as it comes back).
Hope that sheds some light on why this is called the 'stelth disease.'
My dr says that somebody with hepc replicates a trillion copies/day and each one lives about a half hour before the immune system gets rid of it. So even though we can't eradicate ourselves there really is a battle going on. I think the riba/inf tips the balance in our direction. There are other viruses in us, too, like herpes.
HCV mostly inhabits liver cells. Replication has been observed in blood cells called monocytes so maybe what we call VL is the monocyte infection and not hepatic load. That would explain why liver damage isn't correlated with VL but not why the odds of riba/inf working are correlated with the blood load.
He says that viral infections in general are still poorly understood.
I'm waiting for my PCR results at 12 wks post-tx. I was neg at 4 wks. My dr answers (and archives) HCV questions at
http://hopkins-id.edu/index_ask.html
it's not a bad read for HCV info.
HCV mostly inhabits liver cells. Replication has been observed in blood cells called monocytes so maybe what we call VL is the monocyte infection and not hepatic load. That would explain why liver damage isn't correlated with VL but not why the odds of riba/inf working are correlated with the blood load.
He says that viral infections in general are still poorly understood.
I'm waiting for my PCR results at 12 wks post-tx. I was neg at 4 wks. My dr answers (and archives) HCV questions at
http://hopkins-id.edu/index_ask.html
it's not a bad read for HCV info.
I think most people want to blame everything on HepC or treatment(including me). IMHO I think they are not related. Could be you are getting older and your life is much more complicated so you just don't listen as well as you once did. Maybe you're preoccupied with having a baby. I think it is human nature to look for an "excuse". I do it too. If the problem is HepC then I don't have to admit the problem is probably me. I am certainly no expert and this is just my "guess".
See what I mean....there's that brain fog again. I asked if you had a biopsy yet, and now I see that you already said that you did. My "listening" skills stink.
I'm still interested in hearing about your VL, genotype and treatment decision, if you're willing to share. Also, how old are you?
Susan
I'm still interested in hearing about your VL, genotype and treatment decision, if you're willing to share. Also, how old are you?
Susan
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