chance of a false negative hep c test

[bertil]

hi im 26 year old male, went to my local health clinic to test for stds about two weeks ago i was notified thurday that i had tested positive for hep c antibodies. I returned to my health clinic friday so the could take more blood to do a PCR test. Now while i was there they were contacted by one of the labs that do the tests for them and was told that i definetly do not test positive for hep c antibodies. The nurse explained to me that when they take bloods from people they send off two samples to two different labs to confirm results. Now one lab says i test positive for the antibodies and the other lab say i do not (the nurse told me this is the first time she had personally seen the two labs not agreeing which each other) . So now both labs are going to do a PCR test on my bloods to find out if i definetly have the hep c virus or not.

Now for some back ground information on me, i had a full health screen in november 2009 and tested negative for all std's. Since then i have slept with 3 people an ex girlfriend who i saw for two months, a one night stand, and my current girlfriend . None of them are drug users!

I use injectable steroids but ive NEVER shared a needle or re-used one! my injection proceedure is flawless. I live with my parents none of which have hep c, come home from the gym have a shower, use fresh needles and syringes EVERYTIME swab the injection site with alcohol swab and never take the cap off the needle until im absolutely ready to inject, and then dispose of safely in a sharpes bin. I heavily researched injection proceedures and hiv/hep risks before i started to take steroids.

I have to wait another 7 days to get the results and i have to say im very scared and dont know whether to tell my girlfirend or not. In the meantime im going to make excuses and avoid sex with her until next monday. But if i do have hep c i dont think i will ever find out where i got it from since last november?? as i said my injection prodceedure is flawless and i dont know how i could become infected through that route.

Now i have afew questions

what are the chance of of a false positive in my case of the two labs not agreeing?

Is it possible that all the steroids and T3 (thyroid hormone) im taking could mess with the results as ive read that taking steroids increases different antibodies.

Thanks for your time.

[bertil]

thankyou people im thinking of you all

[Bill1954]

Sweet!

[meakea]

I'm very happy for you!!  And...thank you for coming back to let us know.

[bertil]

hi everyone, ive just had a phone call fone my health clinic the results have come back early. It seems that a whole batch of tests have been messed up so not just mine!
All my tests have come back negative!! :) Im soo releaved

[meakea]

My experience was the same as that posted above me by Diane12855.  My specialist was not at all concerned about my positive antibody test because of the potential for false positive, etc.  Of course, my subsequent PCR results were another matter.

[Diane12855]

When I first got the call that I had the antibodies and was sent to a specialist, he was very laid back about the whole thing. He indicated that those tests aren't the most reliable tests in the world. His attitude changed when I got the results of the PCR. That detects the presence of live virus in your blood, not just the antibodies.

Diane

[bertil]

hi everybody thankyou for the replies, yes i am aware of all ther dangers of using steriods, i thoroughly researched the side effects (both short and long term) and get regular blood tests done by my doctor to make sure im in good health. At the end of the day bodybuilding is my passion and i accept what may happen.

Just in response to nygirl 7 i asked to be tested for hiv, hep c etc and they thought it was a good idea as i told them i injected steroids.

My mind it abit more of ease now, so it appears that the lab may some how produced a false positive or mixed my results wioth someone elses does this happen often??.

I would have though if one lab picked up hep c antibodies then the other lab would definetly have!??

[Trinity4]

I'd be more worried from the effects of injecting steroids than I would be from your false positive antiobody test.

[nygirl7]

HepC is not considered an STD and rarely do they test for it with an STD panel without a good reason to do so.

Chances of getting HCV via sex are almost nil. Your girlfriend doesn't have to worry about it.

[carol411]

bertil

I'm sure your PCRs will come back showing no virus.  Hep C is very rarely sexually transmitted.  It is transmitted by blood to blood contact.  I'm concerned about the steroid use though.  You do realize that has long term health consequences, don't you?

[bertil]

***PS in title i meant FALSE POSITIVE****