Hep C Discussion Forum

Hi Joseph,

Welcome here. I'm sure glad you found us and came here. Right place for some info, opinions, and just some companionship as we here can relate well to most of what you and your wife are going through.

You ask good questions!  And good you are confirming things for us, makes it easier for discussions.

One of the first questions from us has often been clarifying whether new people coming here actually have chronic hep c, or, whether they merely carry the hepc antibody (evidence of having been exposed to the virus at some time in the past) - but you have already confirmed that well for us, by explaining with history that your wife was "diagnosed" 15 years ago, and, you about 2 years ago, and that both of you do carry a viral load (VL).

So nice that your wife will soon be seen to try to get her treatment underway, and that you will be next - I hope you both have any easy time to get access to the drugs you need. It IS getting easier these days to get to treatment and, nowadays, we have the best drugs we have ever been SO lucky to know! There are some really excellent drugs that have come to the market now. Excellent cure rates and few sides! There are new direct-acting-antiviral (DAA) drug treatment choices for both of you, that will be really quite easy to take - do not be afraid of sides, if you experience anything like a side (headache is one that can be possibly reported as common), they are generally not severe at all and can be managed and minimized very well.  Fear and stress can sometimes be the worse things we might experience while on treatment, and not "sides" - so, you are doing the right thing to inform yourselves about what to expect, that will help her and you to be feeling confident and less fearful entering treatment. Approaching treatment is still a stressful time for most of us, fear of the unknowns, unfamiliarity, etc., those alone are enough to stress us out - nice you show such concern for your wife, and for her as she gets ready to start her therapy - you will be of great support to her, and that always helps. Know too, that we will also offer whatever we can in way of help as well.

Funny thing that (VL's), I did not know much of anything about viral loads until quite late into approaching treatment. I just had never heard/thought about how VL's could rise and fall and fluctuate (all on their own) according to how our bodies were battling and dealing with the chronic infection we were having (over time). I had no idea, had never really entertained the thought, that VL's could do this, and fluctuate quite widely in a person. I had a 10+ million VL, which, on a subsequent test showed up very low in the 300,000+ range (if memory serves me correctly) and nothing to do with treatment, just what my load was doing at that time. The viral load measurement is but a pinprick moment in time, replication rates of the virus can be amazingly quick and great, and, VL can also drop downward on their own, it is possible to fluctuate in both directions, from one VL test to another VL test. For others, it seems they do not fluctuate so much! go figure!

VL (whether it be high or low) is not really quite so important nowadays, with a few exceptions, if over 6 million, that may have a bearing on how long or what drugs are chosen for you. If you had a very high VL you are (just by virtue of owning more virus to offer) then possibly (technically) you could be more infective than a person is who has a low VL (just by sheer numbers of virus). The bottom line is not sharing blood to blood contact, not likely we would be offering up our blood for tranfusions, and the like, anyway!

It would be rare to acquire hep c from your wife's menstrual blood, you would have had to have a cut or bloody opening on you, you have to share "blood to blood" contact with another person. Rarer still, to acquire a second bout of a new hep c on top of a hep c you currently have. I guess scientifically it is within the realm of possibility, but rare as hens teeth! (to possess 2 bouts of hepc at the same time, or acquire it from menstrual blood).  Same goes for normal familial contact, mothers to babies, husbands/wives, family contacts, friends - rare incidences and kind of in that order of risk too, and there has to be an exchange of blood from one to another. Still any person who has chronic hep c must take precautions to minimize putting another person at risk of blood to blood contact, just in case. Keeping (possibly bloodied) toothbrushes/razors/objects, to yourself, for yourself, not sharing needles etc., as a preventative caution. You could avoid intercourse during menses, or wear protection, but like I say it takes two to tango, you would have to possess a open sore or cut or opening that would allow blood to enter your wound and body to allow a chance of infection. If it makes you both feel more certain, you could avoid sex during menses or use protection. I suppose ... as rare as it would be, if a person ever acquired a second (mixed) GT, then that person's "mixed GT" VL would be fluctuating perhaps up or down, just like anybody else's VL might fluctuate up or down who possesses just one GT. 

What gentotype (GT) is your wife and what GT are you, and how high or low are both your VL's? Like I say, it is very rare for one person to own a 2 different GT's at the same time. GT1's are prevalent in the U.S, if you both have the same GT, all you may ever know is that you both picked up a common GT, not where when or who you might have got it from. 

Many people NEVER get it figured out, for certain, when where or why they got hepc (just like you were outlining). 

Tig and the others will be along shortly to meet you.

Tig has a good link in his sig line (I will paste it here) just in case any of the drug funding assistance info could be of help to you before your insurance changes.   Signature Line Set Up/Abbreviations   Payment Assistance

Please do keep firing away if you have questions, or just want to talk.