starting treatment soon...got palmar erythema

[niceguy2007]

hi everyone..

i've decided to start interferon and ribavarin treatmetn as soon as possible.

i'm 25 yrs old, been infected with HCV genotype 3 for less than 4 years...

in this past month i've developed a singular blotch of palmar erethema under my little finger on my left hand..it throbs with a glass slide placed on it.

i've also developed what appear to be the early stages of terry nails, though that is debatable cuz my entire family thinks thats not so.  but i've emailed my pics to a doc.  i'm terrified!


but i thank God that i have no spider angiomata.

my latest liver ultrasound shows increased echogenicity, though it was perfect 2 months ago.  docdtor suspects fatty liver.

i've ingested about 1 gram of alcohol per day in homeopahic milk thistle , so maybe that has somethign to do  with it? cud i have deverloepd fatty liver , or worse, cirrhosis, in 2 months time?

riht now i feel really bad:(

[copyman]

after much research biopsies are being performed much less now then ever, even on geno 1's. the exception is if the labs & other markers indicate there may be damage then it will be done. it is being said that the "gold standard" biopsy is not all that accurate after all. i think some of the articles i have read said they may be only 38% accurate for the "whole" liver, just that part where the sample was taken from.  also considering size of sample & how good the pathologist reading the slides. i think the new non invasive tests will be the gold standard in the near future and biopsies will be the thing of the past. like many top doctors are saying now, if you are gonna treat anyway why do the biopsy. a good hep doctor that has seen 100's maybe 1000's of liver patients can tell by your labs and other noninvasive tests what your liver status is. if they do not suspect any damage or minimal damage why put you through a biopsy. this is just another one of those procedures that docs order automatically when most of the time it is not necessary.

[Myown]

Thanks for info. I also had a ultra sound at urologist and the tech said my liver looked good, but who knows? But at least he didn't say it looked bad.

Sometimes those feelings and negative thoughts we have are just in our minds, we imagine the worst. Hopefully, you are worrying for no reason. I have a feeling your fine.

When I was going to a holistic doc, she did a parasite test, standard test with holistic doctors.

Well, forget it,... I then started checking my stool before results came back and I swore I had parasites,and baby orphan worms (didn't see big worms which would have been the parents, so I figured I only had the baby microscopic ones,ya know, the ones that only me and possibly Superman could see with our naked eyes.)lol

I shouldn't put a "lol" after the above paragraph, because I was telling the doctor up and down that I had parasties. Of course, the test came back negative and I gave the doctor a Rosanne-Rosanneadana, "nevermind." lol

So sometimes we worry so much and then find out it was for nothing. I think the diagnoses we all received with having hep c changes our view on the "what if's" in life.

We found a "what if" that came true. But alot of the "what ifs" never come true, its just our fears.
Some days we are strong, other days everything gets to us and we think the worst. We all do it.

I thank God we have this forum to come to and let it all out when we feel that way. Who else would better understand.No one.

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Kalio..glad to hear you starting to feel better.

[Myown]

Thanks, your info makes me feel better since I haven't bx. I've been reading the same.

I watched the slide presentation by Dr. Shiff(?) and he also said that if your "not" planing on tx, you SHOULD bx....but if you are going to tx, don't necessarily need one. I don't remember his exact wording, but that is the jist of what he said.

[sfbaygirl]

Yes, that makes not getting a bx a little easier. I think that Cat Scan can give good info. on your liver.

I know I shouldn't worry, but that is sure easier said than done. When I hear about dx like cirrhosis, I wonder if I have it too. My dr. said he won't do a cat scan because I am curious. Dang!! LOL But my Ultra Sound says I have swollen pancreas ducts? Perhaps he will do one now. I hope so. I don't feel much pain, but it would be nice to know. I am a curious george!

[Myown]

Swollen ducts.. Could that be a stones? The only way you'll feel better is to get the cat scan, insist. I don't uderstand these doctors, they aren't paying for the tests, why is it like pulling teeth sometimes to get tests ordered?

[GrandmaA]

Dr. Zhang says we should not take any treatment that has ANY alcohol in it as the alcohol will just aggravate the liver and cause further damage. Take the milk thistle in caps.