Aa
Scared
I have hep c and was just diagnosed with a fatty liver and mildly enlarged spleen. I've read that with a fatty liver treatment won't work. Anybody with the same mess here?
Best Answer
Just to be clear ... I am nor sure what the doctor meant by full blown Hep C. There is no such thing as "full blown" Hep C. A person either has Hepatitis C or he/she does not have Hepatitis C. In other words, the virus is either present or it is not present. Viral load does not correlate with the amount of liver damage. And liver enzymes can be perfectly normal even with more advanced liver damage. A person needs a liver biopsy in order to determine the amount of liver damage that is present. Also, I don't know why the doctor said treatment is not needed. On what did he/she base that statement, I wonder. Hep C is a progressive disease which damages the liver and which also causes multiple extrahepatic disorders and diseases. It is easier to treat Hep C before the damage is done.
(I suppose the doc could mean that you do not have Hep C, but have only the antibodies. But if that is the case, then you would not need a referral to a GI doctor.)
(I suppose the doc could mean that you do not have Hep C, but have only the antibodies. But if that is the case, then you would not need a referral to a GI doctor.)
Got my results back from the Hep C blood test, doctor says I don't have full blown HEP C, and treatment is not needed, but he wants me to see a GI, so Monday I'm going in to get a GI appointment. No idea what he means, I'm guessing I have it but not enough or what?
Hi. A couple of things.
1. You don't have to be overweight to have fatty liver. Fatty liver disease can be caused by significant alcohol consumption, use of steatogenic (ethanol and high-fat diet),obesity, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemiahereditary (an elevation of lipids in the blood often due to diet and lifestyle) disorders.
2. Cirrhosis is not a death sentence. If it was I would have been dead in 2007 when I was first diagnosed with cirrhosis. You can treat your hepatitis C and if cured and your liver is not too damaged it can either partially of totally repair itself. Even if that fails there is always the option of a transplant. Is it fun or easy? No. But it doesn't have to be the end of the world either.
Good luck with your biopsy!
Hector
1. You don't have to be overweight to have fatty liver. Fatty liver disease can be caused by significant alcohol consumption, use of steatogenic (ethanol and high-fat diet),obesity, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemiahereditary (an elevation of lipids in the blood often due to diet and lifestyle) disorders.
2. Cirrhosis is not a death sentence. If it was I would have been dead in 2007 when I was first diagnosed with cirrhosis. You can treat your hepatitis C and if cured and your liver is not too damaged it can either partially of totally repair itself. Even if that fails there is always the option of a transplant. Is it fun or easy? No. But it doesn't have to be the end of the world either.
Good luck with your biopsy!
Hector
Thank you so much!
Thanks u give me hope!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!
Ohhhh u give me hope!! Thanks for sharing.
Hi, I am not fat....have a little belly due to menopause. I am spiritual and meditate. I eat healthy but do not exercise . Gave up smoking 9 yrs ago. Drink only socially.. Chirrosis ? Omg that's a death sentence..
Omg so many things I have to get done.. I only had an ultrasound done. Monday we discuss what we do next. I would like to get everything done as soon as possible.. My hep c type is the most common ..
Thanks so much for all the info, I feel like I have friends here and can things I talk to to nobody else about.
Thanks so much for all the info, I feel like I have friends here and can things I talk to to nobody else about.
Thanks so much for the info! I see my doc on Monday.
Thanks for responding ! No I never had a liver biopsy. That's my next thing, my doc already told me. Does it hurt?
Yes it is a great sight for moral support. Even though we dont know each other pesonally we all have one thing in common so hang in there and you will succeede and get better.
God Bless
**
God Bless
**
Good information here
I finished treating 7 months ago. I used Peg, Riba, Incivek. I am now cured. I had cirrhosis and was told it would be hard to treat. It was hard however now it is gone and I am getting better every day.
This is a great place for support, knowledge, welcome
Dee
I finished treating 7 months ago. I used Peg, Riba, Incivek. I am now cured. I had cirrhosis and was told it would be hard to treat. It was hard however now it is gone and I am getting better every day.
This is a great place for support, knowledge, welcome
Dee
Welcome to the forum. It is a great place for information and support.
At 55, you are in good company. Most of us are in our 40s, 50s, or 60s. I am 66 and just finished 48 weeks of treatment. There are many knowledgeable people on the forum who can accurately respond to questions.
Hector is correct. Treatment does work even if you ave a fatty liver.There are plenty of the people on the forum who have fatty liver disease who are either treating now or have completed treatment and are cured. (And they are not all overweight. In fact, many are bean poles.)
Hector is also correct about the enlarged spleen. You would definitely want to do treatment before your liver disease advances further, especially if it is already at a higher liver fibrosis stage. Treatment is much more successful in people who have a lower liver fibrosis stage than in those with a higher fibrosis stage. Plus, people with more liver damage may have more complications while they are treating, so treating before one gets too far advanced is advisable.
You need more lab work and a liver biopsy to determine how advanced your liver disease is and to determine if there are other complications. Your treatment regimen is partially based on your liver fibrosis stage. Also, the treatments are different depending on which Genotype you ave so it would be good to find out and post what your Genotype is.
Just to be clear about a few things:
*Hepatitis C can be cured only by the currently recommended treatment regimens. Hep C cannot be cured by herbs, diet change, meditation, exercise, yoga, etc. Those are positive and beneficial activities, but they will not cure Hep C.
*Hepatitis C is a progressive disease. It usually progresses slowly at first but the progression picks up speed as one gets older. We have people on the forum who have gone from Stage 1-2 to Stage 3-4 in 3 years (Stage 4 being cirrhosis). We have people on the forum who were diagnosed with cirrhosis and developed decompensated liver disease rapidly, before they were able to treat. They are now on the transplant lists.
*One of the more recent presentations I saw stated that the percentage of people with Hep C who progress to advanced liver disease, liver cancer, and/or Hep C related death, is actually much higher than previously thought (tripled). With the rising number of people who have Hep C reaching their 50s and 60s (in age), the impact of decades of unchecked Hep C infection is becoming much more apparent.
* Hepatitis C causes liver damage, but it also causes multiple extrahepatic manifestions such as diabetes, cryoglobulinemia, lymphoma, skin disorders, kidney disease, auto immune disorders, peripheral neuropathy, vasculitis, arthritis, and higher morbidity and mortality in people who have cardiovascular disease and some other diseases.
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Extrahepatic.pdf
As far as some of the comments (in this thread) concerning long term consequences of untreated Hep C are concerned ...I would disagree with the following statements. They are not based on facts, studies, or research:
1) If untreated the long term consequence would be "very slow essentially asymptomatic degradation of the liver with very high likelihood of death from some other unrelated cause (stroke, cancer, accident, heart attack, etc)."
2) "A dramatic shift in your diet and lifestyle, coupled with a dedication to spiritual growth, is likely just as good of (if not better) treatment than interferon combination therapy, if, at 55 years of age, what you seek is better quality of the remaining time on Earth that you have. "
These statements are unsubstantiated. In addition, I think the people who have cirrhosis, hepatic cancer, end stage liver disease would all beg to differ with those 2 statements. So would those who have died from liver disease.
I think if I were you I would seek out a knowledgeable Hepatologist to oversee my treatment. A Hepatologist is better qualified to manage care and treatment in people with advancing liver disease.
Here is the name of a good Hepatologist in the NYC area. He was recommended by one of the forum members.
Ira M. Jacobson, M.D. | Weill Cornell Physicians Organization ...www.weillcornell.org/imjacobson/Cached
Ira Jacobson, M.D. is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vincent Astor Distinguished Professor of Medicine, The Joan Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, & Attending Physician, NewYork-PresbyterianHospitalCornell Campus.
Dr. Jacobson is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology, andis a world-renownedexpert in Hepatology and Liver Disease. He is the Medical Director for the Center for the Study of HepatitisC, and is a principal investigator on many important trials involving antiviral therapy for both hepatitis B and C. He haspublished twotextbooks: ERCP and Its Applications, Lippencott and Raven, 1998, and ERCP Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications,Elsevier,1989. His special interests include hepatology, and endoscopy.
At 55, you are in good company. Most of us are in our 40s, 50s, or 60s. I am 66 and just finished 48 weeks of treatment. There are many knowledgeable people on the forum who can accurately respond to questions.
Hector is correct. Treatment does work even if you ave a fatty liver.There are plenty of the people on the forum who have fatty liver disease who are either treating now or have completed treatment and are cured. (And they are not all overweight. In fact, many are bean poles.)
Hector is also correct about the enlarged spleen. You would definitely want to do treatment before your liver disease advances further, especially if it is already at a higher liver fibrosis stage. Treatment is much more successful in people who have a lower liver fibrosis stage than in those with a higher fibrosis stage. Plus, people with more liver damage may have more complications while they are treating, so treating before one gets too far advanced is advisable.
You need more lab work and a liver biopsy to determine how advanced your liver disease is and to determine if there are other complications. Your treatment regimen is partially based on your liver fibrosis stage. Also, the treatments are different depending on which Genotype you ave so it would be good to find out and post what your Genotype is.
Just to be clear about a few things:
*Hepatitis C can be cured only by the currently recommended treatment regimens. Hep C cannot be cured by herbs, diet change, meditation, exercise, yoga, etc. Those are positive and beneficial activities, but they will not cure Hep C.
*Hepatitis C is a progressive disease. It usually progresses slowly at first but the progression picks up speed as one gets older. We have people on the forum who have gone from Stage 1-2 to Stage 3-4 in 3 years (Stage 4 being cirrhosis). We have people on the forum who were diagnosed with cirrhosis and developed decompensated liver disease rapidly, before they were able to treat. They are now on the transplant lists.
*One of the more recent presentations I saw stated that the percentage of people with Hep C who progress to advanced liver disease, liver cancer, and/or Hep C related death, is actually much higher than previously thought (tripled). With the rising number of people who have Hep C reaching their 50s and 60s (in age), the impact of decades of unchecked Hep C infection is becoming much more apparent.
* Hepatitis C causes liver damage, but it also causes multiple extrahepatic manifestions such as diabetes, cryoglobulinemia, lymphoma, skin disorders, kidney disease, auto immune disorders, peripheral neuropathy, vasculitis, arthritis, and higher morbidity and mortality in people who have cardiovascular disease and some other diseases.
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Extrahepatic.pdf
As far as some of the comments (in this thread) concerning long term consequences of untreated Hep C are concerned ...I would disagree with the following statements. They are not based on facts, studies, or research:
1) If untreated the long term consequence would be "very slow essentially asymptomatic degradation of the liver with very high likelihood of death from some other unrelated cause (stroke, cancer, accident, heart attack, etc)."
2) "A dramatic shift in your diet and lifestyle, coupled with a dedication to spiritual growth, is likely just as good of (if not better) treatment than interferon combination therapy, if, at 55 years of age, what you seek is better quality of the remaining time on Earth that you have. "
These statements are unsubstantiated. In addition, I think the people who have cirrhosis, hepatic cancer, end stage liver disease would all beg to differ with those 2 statements. So would those who have died from liver disease.
I think if I were you I would seek out a knowledgeable Hepatologist to oversee my treatment. A Hepatologist is better qualified to manage care and treatment in people with advancing liver disease.
Here is the name of a good Hepatologist in the NYC area. He was recommended by one of the forum members.
Ira M. Jacobson, M.D. | Weill Cornell Physicians Organization ...www.weillcornell.org/imjacobson/Cached
Ira Jacobson, M.D. is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vincent Astor Distinguished Professor of Medicine, The Joan Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, & Attending Physician, NewYork-PresbyterianHospitalCornell Campus.
Dr. Jacobson is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology, andis a world-renownedexpert in Hepatology and Liver Disease. He is the Medical Director for the Center for the Study of HepatitisC, and is a principal investigator on many important trials involving antiviral therapy for both hepatitis B and C. He haspublished twotextbooks: ERCP and Its Applications, Lippencott and Raven, 1998, and ERCP Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications,Elsevier,1989. His special interests include hepatology, and endoscopy.
Hi, treatment works, but the probability of relapsing increases if you are gen 3:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
Steatosis is the predictor of relapse in HCV genotype 3- but not 2-infected patients treated with 12 weeks of pegylated interferon-α-2a plus ribavirin and RVR
As Hector has already told you it can be a sign of cirrhosis.
A lot of factors affect viral response, but as you can see in this forum, a lot of people have achieved a SVR even though they had fatty livers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
Steatosis is the predictor of relapse in HCV genotype 3- but not 2-infected patients treated with 12 weeks of pegylated interferon-α-2a plus ribavirin and RVR
As Hector has already told you it can be a sign of cirrhosis.
A lot of factors affect viral response, but as you can see in this forum, a lot of people have achieved a SVR even though they had fatty livers.
Greetings and welcome to the forum.
Sorry about your recent diagnosis ~ Sorry your doctor did not explain things, that is. Grr. When fat is deposited (steatosis) in the liver not due to excessive alcohol use is is sometimes referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
By recent diagnosis I am guessing you mean blood tests (liver function tests, including tests of liver enzymes).
Other ways to tell is by imaging procedures. Imaging procedures used to diagnose fatty liver disease include ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Since Hector was right about the implications of an enlarged spleen, I know if it were me I would want a biopsy - Liver tissue testing. If it's suspected that you have a more serious form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, your doctor may recommend a procedure to remove a sample of tissue from your liver (liver biopsy). The tissue sample is examined in a laboratory to look for signs of inflammation and scarring. Liver biopsy is typically done using a long needle inserted through your skin and into your liver to remove liver cells (needle biopsy).
___________
Do you happen to know how advanced your fibrosis is? What is your genotype?
I know you are worried and scared but treatment does help. You need more information so you can make an informed decision and understand what is happening. I encourage you to see a qualified Gastro or Hepatologist.
Hang in there and please let us know what happens. :)
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease/DS00577/DSECTION=tests-and-diagnosis
Sorry about your recent diagnosis ~ Sorry your doctor did not explain things, that is. Grr. When fat is deposited (steatosis) in the liver not due to excessive alcohol use is is sometimes referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
By recent diagnosis I am guessing you mean blood tests (liver function tests, including tests of liver enzymes).
Other ways to tell is by imaging procedures. Imaging procedures used to diagnose fatty liver disease include ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Since Hector was right about the implications of an enlarged spleen, I know if it were me I would want a biopsy - Liver tissue testing. If it's suspected that you have a more serious form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, your doctor may recommend a procedure to remove a sample of tissue from your liver (liver biopsy). The tissue sample is examined in a laboratory to look for signs of inflammation and scarring. Liver biopsy is typically done using a long needle inserted through your skin and into your liver to remove liver cells (needle biopsy).
___________
Do you happen to know how advanced your fibrosis is? What is your genotype?
I know you are worried and scared but treatment does help. You need more information so you can make an informed decision and understand what is happening. I encourage you to see a qualified Gastro or Hepatologist.
Hang in there and please let us know what happens. :)
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease/DS00577/DSECTION=tests-and-diagnosis
I am afraid you are misinformed about fatty liver disease. Treatment does work.
You should seek the help of a gastroenterologist with your hepatitis C and fatty liver disease. There is treatment for both.
NOTE: Having a mildly enlarged spleen can be a sign of advanced liver disease (cirrhosis). Treatment is not something you should not want to put off any longer, as the more damaged your liver is, the less likely it is to respond to treatment. It is time to treat your hepatitis C now. You are near the NYC area where there are plenty of good, and experienced gastros there that can treat both your conditions.
Good luck!
Hector
You should seek the help of a gastroenterologist with your hepatitis C and fatty liver disease. There is treatment for both.
NOTE: Having a mildly enlarged spleen can be a sign of advanced liver disease (cirrhosis). Treatment is not something you should not want to put off any longer, as the more damaged your liver is, the less likely it is to respond to treatment. It is time to treat your hepatitis C now. You are near the NYC area where there are plenty of good, and experienced gastros there that can treat both your conditions.
Good luck!
Hector
My 20-year-old daughter has Hep C Geno 1a and fatty liver. She is week 24 of triple with Peg, Rib, and Incivek. She was UND at weeks 4 and 12 so yes treatment can be successful depending on your specifics. Have you had a liver biopsy? Best of luck to you.
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Welcome to the forum - we're usually an optimistic helpful bunch and you'll get a lot of support here. Good luck with your choices!