Unusual Bruising

[sister sister]

My sister recently began to notice large bruises on her body for no apparent reason. I know these can be symptoms of an illness, but am not sure what illness. I do know that she was diagnosed with Hepatitis years ago, but it has been "dormant" for years. Could these bruises have anything to do with this, or are we way off base??She has gone to her doctor, and I assume blood work is in progress, but thought the Internet might offer some help??

[flyinlynn]

Daisy

This is a very old thread from 2005 10 years ago.

Please post a new question by going to the top of th epage and selecting the green "Post a Question" button and ask a new question so more people will see your question and try to answer as best as we can.

When you post your new question could you please give a little more detail for your question.

"with Harvoni for the Hep C???"
Do you mean you are taking Harvoni, waiting to get harvoni, or something else?

"Now what??? ."
Now what, what? Can you please be more specific?

Good luck
Lynn

[daisytrixie]

with Harvoni for the Hep C??? Now what???

[sister sister]

Thanks cuteus...I think I will hook this info up with my siblings..

My sis has until very recently been a prescription pain med abuser, also..Vicodin..really was a struggle, and I suppose becuase she can't drink, it has been easier to justify that..she recently stopped, but I recall hearing something about kidney or liver damage with that drug...she says the bruising stoped. She had a very bad bout with this year's flu and even though has mostly recovered, she says that the last 2 mornings has woke up to vomitting...no, no chance of pregnancy!!Sometimes docs don't connect the dots, either, so am tyring to help..thanks again..

[cuteus]

unfortunately, blood work is not an accurate indication of liver damage. you need a biopsy. if neither your brother or sister know the condition of their liver, they might be playing russian roulette with their health. Symptoms are also not indicative of damage progression.  The virus is in the blood making the body react to it in every tissue, the liver is for replicating, but the virus and our antibodies are constantly affecting other organs.  They need a complete work up that include a biopsy.
NOt knowing can cost them their life.

[sister sister]

Thanks, guys, for all the advice. I really appreciate the patient advice from most of you. This is the first time I have gone on a site like this, other than 5 years ago when my Mom was diagnosed with Inflamitory Breast Cancer, which is very rare, and mostly deadly. I know next to nothing about Hep, let alone what type she has, but I can tell you she got it from needle use years ago. My brother also was diagnosed with it, from needles also. My brother, though, thinks it might have been dirty tatoo needles. Because I am "green" I don't know the terms. I can tell you that neither has had active symptoms or treatment for it. They routinely check liver functions, etc, so I think as a rule they are on top of it. My sister has been a recovering alcoholic for 19 years, ever since she blew the fingers off her left hand with a sawed off shotgun, so alcohol hasn't been an issue.

The thing is, some people are truly crying out for help on these forums, and when folks give rude answers as if they should know all the "stuff", as if they are not welcome, it hurts feelings and drives them away. I felt really badly for the poor guy posting about his penis; most folks were very kind about his being on the wrong forum, but one was particularly unkind. Thanks again.

[barryd]

basic rule of thumb with hep c "when in doubt, check it out".
Its apparent that there is some kind of rebellion going on with the signs showing up, the body is letting you know that there is some thing wrong to check it out. hep c always attach's the weakest spots first, this is some thing that will be an every day part of life with us till we are clear of this, it never hurts to be cautious, always ask, you cant go wrong that way, i have been the biggest pain in the neck since i found out i have it, but at least i get answers so i can check them out..

[holding_on]

Sis needs a biopsy.  Bruising can be symptom of cirrhosis, and as she has Hep-C, I would not ignore the implication.

A biopsy will determine whether her liver has been damaged and to what extent.

[donAlfonso]

It's time for a visit to the MD.  Low platelets can cause bruising, and can be a result of cirrhosis and/or liver cancer.  Not to panic, it could be many other things, but needs to be checked out.

dA

[new-sojourn]

Excessive brusing is a sign that something is very, very wrong.  Hep C is never, ever dormant!  Dormant?!  what the hell is that?  A virus is always growing and doing damage and the brusing is a sign of that damage.

Anyone w/hep c has an active infection, an active body wide infection that screws up most if not all body functions.

I had excessive brusing before I was dx and tx for hep c.  Now I don't, living the exact same lifestyle. It was the hep c and low clotting factors and that almost lead to my death thru an abdominal anurysim-sp?.

[cuteus]

which hepatitis was she diagnosed with?
Hep c does not classify as "dormant".  hep c, if that is what she has, is always at work as long as there is a viral load. It seems that she needs to pursue more testing to come up with better answers.

[missgerib]

I can only speak of my own experience.  I always had the usual bumps and bruises.  But a couple of years ago I really started to bruise.  It could be low platelets due to attaching to the spleen and also a sign that the Hep is starting to damage her liver.  Hopefully she is having blood work done and they will run the whole gamit of tests including a scope. Geri

[layla]

Does she take a lot of aspirin? This can make you more suseptible to bruising. There are medical reasons this can happen but I am not familiar enough with them to comment other than the aspirin thing. Hopefully her blood test will give you some answers. LL

[Laika]

I've always bruised easily, most of the time don't know why, and I have hepC too.  Mine's not dormant, but the bruising has been going on for a long time--back before my hepC was active, or at least before it was causing my liver enzymes to be elevated.