What did you go to the doctor for when you first found out?

[Diane12855]

Since there are so many extra hepatic manifestations of hep c I'm curious as to what you were going to the doctor for the day you found out you had hep c.

I was going for TIAs. Another friend on here told me she was going to the doctor for chest pains.

What about you?

Diane

[AKHepper]

URQ pain, was drinking a lot at the time.

[Mary4now]

Hi,
I work as an esthetician and a massage therapist I was working with an acneic patient, used a lancet, there was blood, took off my gloves, then I stupidly put the lancet into the trash and then proceeded to stick myself.  Idiot,,,,,, but I went for the usual needle stick injury test and there it was .....
but i would not know to this day it that had not happened, that was 2 years ago

[redish123]

i was pregnant in 1995 and my doctor screened for herC along with the usual STD tests. Everything else was fine but i found out i was hep C positive!

[IAmTheWalrus]

Why guess when there is a definitive, accurate test that is minimally invasive and not all that expensive?

[Diane12855]

I agree 100%

[EyesofBlue55]

It could also give someone a time line as to when they were exposed

[Andiamo1]

Chronic fatigue.

[EyesofBlue55]

Another reason that it should be a standard test when doing bloodwork....People could find out sooner and not spend lots of money on Drs diagnosing them with other things because its an educated guess   .I think everyone would agree here?????

[Diane12855]

It amazes me that everything you read about Hep C says that it is mostly asymptomatic, yet a very high percentage of the above posts mention chronic fatigue or lethargy as the reason they first went to the doctor.

Must not be so asymptomatic after all.

Diane

[Magnum]

Pre-surgery bloodwork...

Magnum

[kittyface]

I visited about 30 doctors over the course of 25 years complaining of frequent low grade fevers, nausea, general malaise.  They all diagnosed me with "allergies" despite my history of blood transfusion and elevated liver enzymes.  Finally visited Dr. Manso (MD naturopath) in Houston who listened intently for an hour and ordered correct tests.  When he broke the news I cried and said, "what about sex?" thinking I might infect my bf.  To which he replied in his Cuban accent, "Cindy I am just your doctor, I can not help you with sex."  

Funny guy and brilliant caring doctor --

[murariji]

Donated blood for the son of a friend who jumped from a 6 storey building.
(he survived, just. But won't walk again)
They didn't like the blood and told me to do a  hepatitis test.
Being an average student in my youth, I scored a C.
(Wish I had studied more and got an A or B).
Never felt sick, but the viral load came back around 7 million.

[his3707]

A dry rough patch came up on inside cheek of my mouth. I thought I had chewed on it in my sleep but it didnt go away.  same patch also came up on the other side.  Smoked for 30 years so I called the dentist.  Dentist sent me to an oral surgeon.  Oral surgeon said I had a very mild case of Lichen Planus.  He acted like it was no big deal and that it would go away in several months. If it became bothersome to take some steroids.  He slightly mentioned it could be caused by an auto-immune thing but that did not register with me. I had never heard of anything auto immune.   He said I didnt need to do anything.  Several months later I had an appointment with my regular Dr and just happened to tell him about the oral surgeon and what he said. (how many people tell their regular doc about any oral dentist thing).  First thing doc says is I need to check you for HCV. Bulls-eye.... Funny thing is on my history(with all my docs always)  I was honest about my prior history with the tried it all drug use and he never said anything about that and also for a couple of years my LFT's were borderline and elevated, and he never said anything about that.   He's been my doc for over 10 years.  

[blondie717]

I read my husbands arrest report. He fought with the police in a neighbor state, and got blood on the officer's shoe. He told the cop " I hope you get what I got and die"  So not really knowing a whole lot. I got checked. We both had/have gum issues and he used my toothbrush too many times. The cop found out before me. Oh he was taken to the hospitol where he admitted hep C. He tested neg for B, hiv. but positive for C.

[IAmTheWalrus]

Chronic fatigue. After a couple of doctors and several SSRI scripts, I suggested that maybe he (current doctor) should list all the things that might cause chronic fatigue, not depression. One of them was hepatitis c, to which he said "no way" I needed to be tested for because I did not fit the risk profile. Amazing what passes for medical practice sometimes.

Note to Goofy: "not in the way I hoped" - LOL!! Really!!

[paleo]

I did routine blood test because of hyperthyroidism 5 years ago. When I went to take the results, lab-worker asked me if I ever have got hepatitis. I was confused and surprised. I answered I haven’t. She advised me to go to hepatologist because of high gamma-GT levels.
Hepatologist did ultrasound to me which displayed nothing. I asked him what is going on and he said nothing. -May I live normally? -May I drink (for example)?
–Of course- he replied.
So I lost precious 5 years because of him.

Than, I moved in another country for few months.
Routine blood check showed an elevated gamma-GT and SGOT. This time I was checked by pathologist and she immediately did the tests for three kinds of hepatitis A,B,C. I was positive on hep-C antibodies. I went for PCR test and it showed 3 million copies genotype G1. So HCV was definitely diagnosed.
Than I had to move abroad and I visited another hepatologist (!!!) asking him for new tests in order to begin the treatment. I had insurance but it was difficult to persuade him. Anyway, unwillingly he did the tests for hep-B and hep-C. My new surprise was result for hep-B too.  I was astonished. The only thing he said to me that it’s nothing and even that my hep-C is gone. He refused to give any more attention to me. He considered my case closed.   So I looked for another doctor.  Similar story; He (again hepatologist!!!!) watched me suspiciously and refused to accept PCR-results from another country. Unwillingly he sent me for a new PCR which I have been waiting for 4 months!!!  Nobody knew to tell me about results for hep-B. I discovered the meaning of test from this site.
See this link  http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-B/Am-I-ill-or-what/show/1246973?personal_page_id=1417273#post_5709957

In the meanwhile I found another hepatologist and he seemed ok.
. Unbelievable!! Isn’t it?

[GoofyDad]

Trish; Not many problem of late, but the rainy season has started and the county workers are showing up out there in their rain gear. It's them healthy gals in hip boots that get me.

Interesting the connection with Orleans: we both had broken bones. So to speak.

[susan400]

I had been having symptoms for quite a good period of time.  During the course of trying to determine why I was having right upper quadrant pain and pain in between my shoulder blades, several tests were run.  At first it was thought that maybe it was gallbladder so, they ran both kinds of test/scans for my gallbladder, there's the normal gallbladder test and then another one that is more detailed, a functional gallbladder test where they require you to eat a fatty meal prior to the test.  Anyway, it wasn't my gallbladder.  They also ran a bunch of bowel/colon tests as well.  And a bunch of lab work.  I had high titers for Ebstein-Barr Virus (showing activity) and also for Cytomegalovirus and/or CMV (showing activity), and elevated LFT's.  So, then, they ran the hepatitis panel and I was negative for Hep A and Hep B but positive for Hep C.  Then, they ran the assay test to make sure that the Hep C was not a 'false positive'.  Anyhow, that's how I actually got the diagnosis for the Hep C.  However, several years prior to that point, back in 1985, I had tested positive for what the doctor at the walk-in clinic told was, "oh, looks like you've had hepatitis, but it wasn't Hepatitis A or B, so, it's probably nothing to worry about".  Little did he know?  Back in 1985, they had no test for Hep C, it always was determined to be a non-A/non-B hepatitis.  So, that's it.  Susan400

[orleans]

gall bladder attack, hadn't been to a DR in 30 years (except for a broken bone) WHAT A SHOCKER!!

[Trish77]

Sooooo....now that you are SVR......do you still have this little (or could be big, I suppose) "problem"?  Just askin......

[GoofyDad]

Certanly not in the way one might hope.

[Diane12855]

Well........I really hope they were able to help you.

Diane

[madbyron]

Fatigue and depression, which led to blood work up and diagnosis of hypothyroidism and detection of elevated enzymes, which led to further blood work up...

[GoofyDad]

What did you go to the doctor for when you first found out?

An erection that lasted more than four hours. I heard on the radio that I should go.