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Avatar universal

Newly Diagnosed -- hi, my name is Kaley

OK. I'm 28, female, and in the past was a heavy IV drug user. I've been clean for years, and always assumed I was one of the lucky ones who didn't catch anything because after 3 successful pregnancies and all the testing involved, no flags had ever been raised. I recently went to a doctor to address lady-parts issues, and bilirubin was found in my urine, prompting bloodwork. Liver enzymes came back elevated, ALT at 87 and AST at 129. More bloodwork came back with these results:

Hep B Core Ab, IgM - Positive
Hep C Virus Ab - >11.0

I have a doctor who, while sweet and mild-mannered, isn't very informative. This bloodwork was run on the 29th of February (Happy Leap Year! haha) and here it is, the middle of march, and I still know nothing. I had an abdominal ultrasound yesterday, and the little tech had a lot of false cheerfulness and when I asked her, she said "All I can tell you is that your insides are all there. If they paid me more I'd tell you everything you wanted to know." Seemed a little bitchy to me, 'scuse my French, but the kid couldn't even give me a "Looks okay."

I have no idea when I'll see a specialist...my doctor's office has been "actively scheduling" the appointment everytime I've called for the last week and a half. It took 5 phone calls to even get the ultrasound scheduled.

Is there anything anyone can tell me about this? Is this timeframe normal? Does everyone get this same brush-off, or do I need to gather up my medical information and find myself a new doctor? Also, what do the test results themselves mean, since no one has even bothered to explain that to me either? I realize that I am positive for both hep B and C. I do not know anything else. I'm hoping someone with more experience can give me some insight.

Thanks, Kaley
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Avatar universal
Thanks. I probably contracted them both together, last spring. After my wicked little slip, I put down the needle for good, but I drank pretty heavily. I'm not drinking anymore, obviously, but I worry about the damage to my liver from last summer's binge.

On a positive note, my HIV results came back today, and I'm negative there. Excellent news. Silver linings everywhere, I suppose.
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Avatar universal
There is no need to panic. Hep C is typically a slow moving disease so there is no need for urgency.
Since you tested positive for antibodies you will need to get a PCR test done to confirm. Sorry to say there is only a 5% chance the test was a false positive so hopefully you cleared it on your own. I don't think they test for HCV when pregnant, only HIV & Hep A & B.  

Best of luck to you
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the welcome and support. I hate this. I fought tooth and nail, felt like I was dying, just to get clean and now, years later, the karmic fallout is still going strong. Hep B is commonly tested for during pregnancy, and I was negative in '05, '07, and '08 when my babies were born. I was also neg in '09, when I had a miscarriage. I'm fairly sure I know when and where I contracted the viruses, I'm pretty sure I even know who I got them from. I never shared needles...except for two shots, same day, same person. It was a small relapse on my part, about a year and a half ago. We passed the needle back and forth like a couple of morons. Had to be him. I've never gotten a transfusion or anything like that, and all my tattoos have been done in shops, the first being in '02.
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Avatar universal
It took me 1 1/2 months to see the specialist. The waiting is very hard. You will learn a lot on this board.
For the lab results, I Google or Yahoo "lab test _______ ". Put WBC (white blood cells) as an example in the blank and you will get lots of places to look and learn.
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Avatar universal
Hi welcome.... The process is slow it took a couple of months for me to get to the liver clinic.   Then had to see cardiology for tests. Then the eye Doc.   Just so you know the ultrasound teachs are not allowed to give you information they can get fired. Take this time to learn all you can about treatment.  Congratulation on staying clean. I was clean 15 years before I found out I had hep C. I had tested for HIV... It was neg... I thought I was home free. Thank God I was not drinking and doing drugs all that time.  Good luck to you.  
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163305 tn?1333668571
Your story makes me so sad. We go to doctor's for help.
A technician is not trained in diagnosis. So her comment may just reveal how little she knows.

Go to a specialist. Ideally a hepatologist, a liver doctor. If your doc doesn't recommend or schedule for you to see one, either ***** and moan until they do, or better yet, do it yourself. Be proactive. Take control of your health.

The number one thing is to focus on keeping your liver healthy. That means no drinking alcohol. Having hepC and drinking is like throwing gasoline on a fire.

Ask for copies of all your tests. You have a right to them.

BTW: Many of us have had kids, going years before finding we are not only infected but also have liver damage.
This happened to me, none of my kids were infected despite my ignorance.

Good luck and welcome to the forum,
OH
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Avatar universal
I was diagnosed in Oct 2005 when I was 24 and didn't see a specialist until either the end of Dec or Beginning of Jan.  I know I didn't have a biopsy until mid Jan and then started treatment in Feb.

It is scary..  I have been through treatment and it didn't work so I am going to try again soon with new drugs!  I have a son and he was not born with it so that was good.  However, I did have a scare this week though.  My son got a hold of my razor and cut himself so I am soo stressed to the max about it.  I will get him tested and be more careful from here on out.  From most of the people I have spoken with, they seem to think the risk is pretty low but nevertheless... people with HCV and HIV need to take extra precautions.  

If I were you I would have all of your kids tested and make sure they don't EVER use your toothbrush or razor.

Just try to relax.  I know it's a lot to deal with!!!
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Avatar universal
everything seems to take so long with disease...i found out the day before Thanksgiving and started treatment on jan 20th and that was really pretty fast....but felt like an eternity.

I know nothing about hep B protocol, only some of the Hep C things.  for hep C, once you get a  specialist, they should do  PCR to see if you have active Hep C (about 25% of the people with Hep C clear it on their own in the first 6 months).  If it comes back that you have active Hep C, then they will do some other tests, find out what genotype you are, standard blood tests, maybe a liver biopsy.  Although if you also have Hep B, I have no idea how that affects what tests they do, or any treatment plans that may be discussed.

I would find out who the specialist is and start working it from both sides, maybe you will get a quicker response, or maybe start looking for a different doctor all together....

Best of luck to you and welcome...

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