Hep C Discussion Forum

EricChuckFar1 · Veteran Member

RE: Newly diagnosed

Pablito · Senior Member

Hi man

I'm impressed by how you are handling this and you are asking the right questions.

The chances of you passing HCV to your GF even during sex when she had her period are very low. The chances of transmission to your friend via a hair trimmer are even lower.

The mode of transmission (from man to woman) I believe is through blood from micro-pores in the tip of the penis to any potential small breaks in the vaginal wall tissue rather than via semen.

But, really, I don't think this will have happened.

Once you've been successfully treated you will effectively be cured. Chances of a relapse are less than 1%. You will never be allowed to donate blood though as you will always have antibodies to HCV.

Re how you will feel after treatment, a lot will depend on how long you've had HCV for and how much liver damage (if any) you have. The more liver fibrosis you have the better you will feel. However, if you have minimal damage then the relative benefit will be less. My instinct is saying you won't have much damage done.

Alcohol is a good question. If you don't have much damage then you should be able to drink in moderation further down the line. If you have damage it would be wise to steer clear of it for life. But for the moment you should definitely stay off alcohol.

But this is an issue for further down the line. The most important thing now is to get the 2nd round of labs in. To establish that you have HCV present in your viral load test. 20% of people clear the virus spontaneously. An ultrasound to outrule any untoward HCV complication on the liver and fibroscan to establish fibrosis stage. And a genotype test. Once you know that a) you have chronic HCV (i.e. you don't clear it naturally), B) your genotype and C) your fibrosis stage you can then - with your doctor - decide which of the many excellent treatments you can have.

They all have about 90% or higher success rate. If you have good insurance and can get these tests soon and to see a gastro quickly you should be able to get treatment before the end of the year and then be cured by early next year. If you have issues with insurance there are work-arounds that we can discuss later.

Try not to worry too much and hold on the the fact that you will be cured/

Pablo

EricChuckFar1 · Veteran Member

Thanks for the welcome and for the kind words :) I am definitely setting out to get cured. The shock will slowly dissipate I hope. Mostly, I've just had insane anxiety over the possibility of infecting close ones (girlfriend, family, friends). Instead, I will try to learn as much as I can and get an appointment with a GE or hepatologist. Will cross the insurance bridge once I get there :)

One thing that does make me very nervous is that my girlfriend and I did share toothbrushes a few times by accident. We've also had sex during her "time of the month". We've never had anal sex though. I will most definitely tell her within a few weeks. She is out of state as well and we see each other once a month, so that gives me time to learn a bit more about my situation. As far as using a condom, we still do mostly to avoid a pregnancy, but sometimes in the heat of things it is omitted. Does the virus live in semen?

How long does a virus live outside the body? Is it possible to spread it via an electric trimmer? I have had one of my close friends use my electric trimmer last year to trim his beard. Do I have to ask all my friends to get tested to be safe?

All I know is that I've possibly had hepC for more than just a few and haven't really had any symptoms. Or at minimum I haven't had any symptoms that screamed hep C to me. Now that I know I've had hepC for a while, a few things do stand out:

Over the years I have lost general stamina. For instance, when I am outside for a walk with someone (to lunch for example) and we are walking and talking, I find myself getting winded as I talk.
Playing sports, I can generally keep up with people, but definitely no longer have the stamina I used to in my early 20s. I know this can obviously be due to aging, but the difference is huge.
Over the years I have become more injury prone (injured ankles, wrist, elbow, lower back etc.). These would happen at during sports, working out or even every day mundane tasks such as bending down to pick up laundry.
Sexual libido was slightly affected. Not sure if this related to hep C or not? For instance, a glass of wine acts as an aphrodisiac for me. However, anything beyond that and I lose libido completely.
The last few months I've experienced abdominal pain, rashes, etc. (not sure if this is related to hep C or not). Can symptoms randomly start up out of nowhere? Especially now that I know I Have hep C, I feel like I have chest pain, abdominal pain etc. Could just be my brain generating phantom symptoms, or could be real. I don't know.

Also, I did have a few questions that I wasn't able to find non-generic answers to. Once cured, do you go back to normal life? Is there chance of relapse a few years after being cured? Can you go back to drinking alcohol, taking advil, etc? I am assuming since the virus is not detectable, it is no longer possible to infect others. What about donating blood/organs? Will it no longer be accepted?

Anyway, again thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Excuse all the questions! It's mostly the anxiety doing its thing biggrin I will likely become more active as I learn more and follow up with a new doctor.

Pablito · Senior Member

Hi Eric

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about the diagnosis and the mode of delivery therein.

As the others have said, the new treatments are very good so you should be HCV free soon.

Blood transfusions, IV drug use and anal sex are the three common ways of contracting HCV. But there are other, rarer, ones like sharing a toothbrush/razor with an infected person, snorting cocaine through a note used by someone who is infected and unhygienic tattoos to name a few.

It doesn't really matter how you got it though....the main thing is that you can beat it.

Re who and when you tell, this is your prerogative. One thing though is that you will have to start using a condom with your girlfriend until she's in a position to make an informed decision about having unprotected sex. The chances of transmission via regular sex are tiny but they do exists so, now that you know, you really have to think about her. She'll no doubt suspect something is up if you suddenly decide to wear condoms again so I can't see anyway round this one other than to tell her or to not have sex for a while. Sorry to add to your predicament, but she'll no doubt accept the diagnosis after an initial shock; and she'll conclude - once she's had time to read the evidence around it - that having unprotected sex with someone who is HCV positive in a committed monogamous relationship poses a super-low risk of infection.

The chances that you've infected your GF are very low.

Pablo

Cinnamon Girl · Guru

Hi Eric, I was reading through your post and just wanted to say hello and welcome!

I can well imagine the state of shock and disbelief you must still be in after only receiving the diagnosis 2 days ago, and to hear it as bluntly and irresponsibly as you did must have made it so much worse. It makes me so angry and frustrated to think that there are doctors out there still giving out such uninformed and ignorant rubbish, and I`m very glad you got online and starting reading more positive accounts. And even better... that you stumbled across this forum!

You can rest assured that Hep C is very easily curable these days, you only have to read through a few threads in our `Post Treatment` section to see that, and with the newer drugs now available treatments have become much shorter and easier, and with higher success rates, than ever before.

One of the first questions we ask ourselves after being diagnosed is how and when we could have caught it. For some of us it`s relatively easy to pin down but others really have no idea and unfortunately there is really no way of knowing. Frustrating, I know, but the important thing is that the infection has been diagnosed and now you can move forward towards getting rid of it and moving on with your life. And you will!

You`ve found a safe place here where you can speak freely, so please do feel free to look around, join in, ask questions... everyone here is only too happy to help or just lend an ear!! smile

JimmyK · Guru

Greetings Eric and welcome to the family.

I want to begin by saying that the guy who broke the news to you sounds extremely clueless regarding Hep C. Please don't let his approach get you down.

Instead take it from us. We have lived this and I am one of many that recently and successfully treated. The new DAA's are so extremely successful it is becoming not a matter of "IF" you will be cured so much as "WHEN".

You asked about stigma and yes there is some ignorant based stigma still out there. If you do not intend bleeding all over someone, then no need to say anything. Common sense approach.

Keep your toothbrush to yourself, razors and nail clippers bla bla bla and you got it.

How is your insurance?

Again please make yourself at home. There is a lot to learn and the more you do the better you will feel!

Regards

JimmyK

Observer · Guru

Hi Eric,

Sorry to meet you under these circumstances but glad you found your way here. It is a shocker, that's for sure but as you have discovered with your research this is probably the best time ever to get diagnosed with it as they can treat and cure it in 95% of us dragon fighters.

I remember the day I found out, I got a letter from Blood services telling me my donor (from 15 years previously) had tested positive and I should get checked. I knew I had it as I had been sick for years with fatigue, headaches and IBS etc etc etc. In fact I had gotten myself tested for HIV a few times because I was so inexplicably sick all the time.

I made an apt to see " the best guy"....he took a lot of blood then a few days later I went back to meet with the team/nurse. She told me I was getting interferon, blah blah spiel spiel.... (now mind you, in those days we only had slow dial up internet so research was quite different)

anyhoo, I said " well I'm not sure I want to jump right into that treatment, I'd like to do a bit of research. "

her response was" if you decide you don't want to die, come back and do the meds".

I didn't.

My sweetie and our children all tested negative which was a relief. ( I breastfed all my kids for two years each and we all took bites off each other's food and had baths together etc...I was pretty nervous till we got those results).

I did the whole 'food as medicine', naturopathic,meditation,acupuncture route and figured out ways to stay alive for 31 years, alive but not healthy... I developed chirrosis , allergies and autoimmune disorders, so when my daughter begged me to trust the science, try the new meds, I set the process in motion and am now hep C free. The virus has been undetected for about a year now ( since my first bloodtest after starting treatment)

It must be tough not to be able to pinpoint how or when you got it. It is my understanding that it is passed through blood, so from rough sex, not just unprotected sex. I know a few nurses who got it from a needle stick, there could be so many random sources.

I remember hearing/reading on the news, warnings for clients to be tested for HCV if they had used a specific clinic (malfunctioning autoclave) and an acupuncturist (reusing needles) in just the last few years.

Unfortunately, the virus can live outside the body for quite a while, so if you had a small wound and it came in contact with someone else's infected blood ( even if dry) you could have got it that way.

The main thing is you now know, and you can get cured.

As for telling people, I found that the people I told were quite compassionate and I didn't feel stigmatized.

I hope you get a good Hepatologist and get treated soon.

its almost 3am, I must sleep now.

take care

Alison

EricChuckFar1 · Veteran Member

Hi friends,

I am new here and found a link to this forum through another place. I was diagnosed two days ago and the initial shock was devastating. A physician, at the lab where I had gone for labwork, had called me in to discuss the results. He literally walked in and dumped the news on me. I sad there in shock listening as he painted a horrible picture. Essentially the Picasso of death sentences. He failed to mention anything about newer drugs and talked about interferon, and how low chances of being cured are. In fact, he didn't use the term "cure". Instead he kept using "treat".

I walked out in dismay and started doing my research. Found a few very helpful forums and started reading stories of people who have been cured. Suffice to say my mood has elevated since then!

A little about me, I am just under 30. My viral load is around 7 million and the doctor guestimated that I've had the virus for many years. I remember giving blood back in 2010, but never hearing back. Not sure if this means they didn't detect hepC, or they did and the mail got lost? I do recall moving twice that year, so it is possible they didn't have an updated address. I will try to reach out and see if my blood was rejected. This would imply I've had it 6+ years.

The one thing that makes me very confused is how I may have contracted the virus. I have never used IV drugs and I have never had blood transfusion. Only other option (according to the doctor) is unprotected sex. I've only started having unprotected sex about a year ago with my girlfriend (crossing my fingers I that I did not infect her!!). Another possible way of contracting the virus would be at birth. That would imply my mum has the virus and has had it unknowingly for 50+ years now (I'm sure she would've told me if she knew).

Anyway, for now I have followed up with the lab for some more bloodwork (I guess to figure out the genotype?) and am going to schedule an ultra sound next week. I will hopefully see a GE a week after the ultrasound.

For the time being I have decided not to share the news with anyone. Not until I know more about what's going on. I will probably share with my girlfriend and have her tested. I don't even know how to tell my parents yet. They're out of state and I don't want them to worry. I will also probably share with my close friends, although that will be tough! How's the stigma with hepC? It is extremely hard keeping this in and I found it hard concentrating at work. I guess that is why I am sharing here. It helps a lot typing it out. It's almost as if I have a plan and am setting out to beat this thing!

Thanks for reading,

Eric

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