Hepatitus C

[free2bedee]

Hi, my question is....Can a Physician track down the exact time and place a person was exposed and infected with Hepatitus C?  

[BoceprevirGal]

So it looks like "5 to 20% will get cirrhosis" not ESLD ...
   Thanks for the link, HorsePow~ gotta run, kids, school

[BoceprevirGal]

Ooops, good point willb, I will post this imfo, from a link, but my 'puter is but I'm not the greatest with keeping various windows open on this 'puter, so I will have to go back, and repost, form the link I got this imfo from;
    "Of every 100 people infected with the hepatitis C virus:

75 to 85 people will develop chronic hepatitis C virus infection; of those,
60 to 70 people will go on to develop chronic liver disease
5 to 20 people will go on to develop cirrhosis in the next 20 to 30 years
1to 5 people will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer

   Will is right, I was referring to ESLD ( end stage liver disease)..
  So, if the OP's ex was cranky, it might have been from the Hep C,  not sure, has anybody else noticed themselves being abusive to their spouses, as their Hep C progressed?
   Looking back, when I origianlly contracted Hep C,in the acute stage, I was thrown in jail, for knocking out my spouse.  But I had a bad temper as a child, before th Hep C, and as I have gotten older, (and my Hep C progressed) I have gotten better with my domestic violence issues, so, the bottom line is a person can change their behavior, despite having chronic liver disease, from Hep C~
    And thanks again for The Pull Up, Mrwillb

[hrsepwrguy]

What is hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a liver disease. Hepatitis * means inflammation of the liver

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hepc_ez/#1

[willbb]

Many people who test positive for Hep C don't have any problem at all with their livers, only 25% get liver disease
-----------------------------------------------------
Where did you research this information??  The fact is that " 100% of people with HCV have liver disease.

Bocep ..I believe you have been asked many times .to please copy data for any important comments like that to substantiate .

There are many new folks that have just been diagnosed with HCV reading this forum and one may infer by a statement like that ..there would not be no need to do treatment if only  a small number like that  "get liver disease"

Please be careful with such wide generalities ...
Best ..
Will


free2beedee; Goodluck...

[BoceprevirGal]

Oh, no problem. I discussed your question with my husband last night, (we have four children, as well) and him and I both agreed that one of the main reasons we dont mention needle transmission, is because of our children.
    I actually used the "my  ex-boy-friend was a drug-user, and I used his razor or tooth-brush" line on them, and since they are only 10 and 11 yrs, they seemed satisfied with that. Of course, today, I noticed my the older one (almost 12 yrs now) making a needle joke, when I said I was doing the "Hep C dance", when my alarm went of, to take my treatment meds :(
    I never did tell my 28 yr old how I got it, and he never asked. I did finally mention it to my daughter, when she was 19 yrs, as a warning, when I saw her hanging around the wrong crowd, and because I thought maybe my dishonesty was contributing to her mental problems. Well, looking back now, I think it was a big mistake, because, even though I have 13 yrs clean, she ended up "trying out shooting meth", and I had to have her tested, it was terrible. I live in the S.F, Bay Area, and tons of  kids are  doing meth, and other new drugs, that I havent even tried~
   It would depend on what stage your husband was at, with his liver, for it to affect his moods. Many people who test positive for Hep C dont have any problem at all with their livers, only 25% get liver disease (guess I'm just unlucky). At any-rate, your sons are old enough to google up Hep C, and decide for them-selves if they find their Dads' imfo accurate~

[free2bedee]

Thanks, for the input everyone, I appreciate it.  No, I do not have Hep C, my ex-husband does.  We divorced and 6 months later he tested positive for Hep C.  I was tested, and I do not have it.  I was so relieved.  We have sons, they are both graduated from High School.  Our marriage consisted of alot of partying, although I never used needles, the thought of them made me sick to my stomach.  I cannot say the same for him. He first told our sons that he got it from sharing a straw to snort coke.  Now he has told our sons that the doctor pinpointed to the exact year and it led to a dentist that he went to.  That is why I am asking, I hope the best for him and I suppose his diagnosis explains why he was always so tired and mean at times.  I could not handle the verbal abuse and sometimes physical abuse so I left him.  I was just hoping that he was telling my sons the truth.  Now, I know the truth.  I thank you all again, and I appreciate the knowledge you have shared with me.

[BoceprevirGal]

Ohhh, oops, didn't mean to freak out the OP...can you imagine if a Doctor actually COULD pin-point the exact time and place of transmission?
   My Doctor would've been saying, "it was mid-night, on friday night, on april 3rd,  1989, in your ex-boyfriends' ware-house".....

[BoceprevirGal]

Yeah, I hadn't noticed anyone mentioning this method of transmission on here, I always thought if a person had their own brand new syringe, then they were safe. It never even occured to me, about equiptment. I do remember someone telling me about "draw water" and HIV contamination though, but there seems to be more publicity about that virus. There seems to be more silence, associated with the Hep C virus, and less education about it, in my personal opinion.

[adamben101]

No problem.  I thought it might be that but just making sure.  Thanks.  :)

[willbb]

adamben's first post was the best answer you recieved for your question.
Do you have HCV?

Will

[Idyllic]

Ha ha you are freaking this poster out. She means the paraphernalia IV drug users use when they shoot up. The OP was asking about detection not necessarily how the virus is contracted. :)   :)

[BoceprevirGal]

Oops, me and Pooh were typing at the same time~

[pooh55811]

I am pretty sure she means IV drug paraphenalia when she says "spoon, cotton, water."

Often IV drug uses use other people's IV drug paraphenalia. So if an HCV infected IV drug user took a spoon, put the water in, put the drug in, mixed it up, put in a tiny bit of cotton into the spoon and solution in order to "filter" the soln., withdrew the solution into his/her (infected) syringe, injected the drug, then a second person coming along who uses the same spoon and cotton can get infected with Hep C (because the first person had Hep C and the second person is using all of the same equipment even if they do not use the same syringe). So the second person is actually injecting the Hep C virus into his/her bloodstream.

[BoceprevirGal]

Oh, whoops, misunderstanding maybe:  I was talking about a spoon, cotton, or water, that is used when someone is injecting drugs. The water is contaminated with blood, when a used syringe is dipped into a cup of water, and the person draws water into their already used syringe. The water can still look perfectly fine, but be contaminated, same as the wet cotton or spoon. Hep C lives on these surfaces, and when the next person uses the contaminated water, cotton, spoon (that drugs such as meth or coke) are put in,(by dipping their syringe in),  Hep C is spread.
   I didn't mean an ordinary house-hold spoon, or drinking water after someone from your family, or cotton that you use for cosmetic purposes, of course.
  After one year of using I.V. drugs, about 95% of drug users have been exposed to the Hepatis C virus.
   I know this, because I just took part in making an educational video
about this very subject, my Hep Doctor specializes in Addiction Medicine, and Hepatitis C education. When the video gets posted to YouTube, I will post the URL on this website, so others can check it out~

[adamben101]

"it can be passed by using someone elses' recently used spoon, cotton, water"

Uh, what do you mean here?  Hep C CANNOT be passed by using someone's spoon, cotton, or water.  It's blood to blood.  Period.  Even if a HCV infected person bled all over you, you would need an open wound of your own to receive the virus.

[BoceprevirGal]

Many people notice there Hep C cropped up, after  using  I.V. drugs.  It doesn't have to be passed thru a needle, it can be passed by using someone elses' recently used spoon, cotton, water that is used, etc~
     Now, if you've never touched I.V. drugs, then I would then ask you if you had a blood transfusion, before 1992, because the blood supply wasn't tested, before then, and many people who had surgery, or hemophiliacs, caught it then, unfortunately.
   If those two situations were not in your scenario, then I would look at if you used someones' razor or even tooth-brush.
    

[James10500]

This would be impossible.  There is no identifier on the virus that says been in business since 1990.  It's one of the toughest things to deal with the "how" and "when".

[Idyllic]

Unfortunately no. Hepatitis C can remain dormant for many years and not display any symptoms for equally as long. Even decades. That is the reason many of us are stunned when we find out we have it. Mentally trying to back track every possible moment & encounter you have ever had where you could have contracted the disease is total guess work for most of us. I read somewhere that almost 80% of those infected to not even know they have the disease.