Hep C Discussion Forum

Excellent advice, Canuck! How thoughtful and thorough.  

Annie, I would touch bases with the liver specialist and scheduler to make sure you don''t slip through the cracks.  They should also be able to tell you how far out they are booked. It helps if they know you're ready to roll.  If someone cancels, they are aware of you. 

Waiting can be hard, but we just face each step at a time and hang in there.

Your attitude is good, Annie, especially being proactive enough to set aside the 12 weeks to focus on your care. We could all give ourselves a better break sometimes.  

Annie,

So, that is clearer for us now - diagnosed very recently (just this last Oct 2018) but you have actually had the hep c some 40 years since a transfusion in 1974.

You have not had much time to learn all the ins and outs about having HCV, nor about the good new treatments, nor about all that is done in the workup/preparation for treatment.

NO WONDER you (and all lot of us here have also) found it confusing. There is a lot of information to process in short order, sometimes with very little other helpful experience or background to assist you. Some people have had so many health issues at least they are somewhat familiar with lab "language".

Not to worry about things you run into that are not clear, they WILL become clear as you go along, your doc will make sure you understand and we here will all try to help where we can too.

There are MANY of us who did not have a clue we had been packing HCV around for many, many decades - you are certainly not alone there in that category - and, you have already gleaned correctly that sometimes there are few and subtle symptoms, fatigue and some of the other things you referred to depression and/or brain "fog" are all suspect HCV symptoms, and there are many more that can be had/experienced. Everyone is different, if we are lucky, we might not have suffered much with bad symptoms while we were unknowingly packing this virus around, and again if we are lucky (after packing HCV around for a long time) we might accrue liver damage very slowly. Lack of symptoms and little liver damage are good things! Kind of a double-edged sword though, for if HCV was not quite so "silent" in us, as far as symptoms and obvious damage, we might get diagnosed and cured a little sooner!

Just concentrate now on getting the required assessments and tests completed to your hep docs satisfaction.

Like I said before - ask for a fibroscan and an abdominal ultrasound (if you have not had these done recently).

Good they determined you do not have Hep A/B or HIV - they would standardly test you for all that quite routinely - what I meant before in my first reply to you was - that it should be confirmed that you currently own "sufficient immunity levels" to hep A/B, ask if you do, or, whether you may need some hep A/B immunization. Same for flu shots (regular or pneumococcal) ask if you need any of those too. 

The new DAA's are so effective nowadays, treatments are so short now in comparison to the past, high viral loads do not mean as much nowadays as they might have in the old days. Now, generally, a higher load is anything over 6 million - and a high load does not really make much difference to treatment (aside from maybe not being able to get a short 8 week course of Harvoni) if your load is over 6 million.

We have had quite a few here get epclusa, and all have been very well-cured!

Sorry to hear about your house flood damage/repairs, that would be hard anytime! I am glad you are retired too! You can try to spend and conserve your attentions and energies as best you can without having to deal with a "job" job at the same time as well, whist additionally prepping for treatment and doing treatment.

I certainly was glad I was a retired person when i found out I had HCV and then went through the process of getting ready for treatment and then through treatment. Although, we have also had quite a few around here who worked right through everything.

I consider taking care of me a fulltime job now, heehee! 

If you want, you can always just post actual labs (but with private info blacked out) and we can help you interpret the language/results.

Stay calm, be methodical and thorough, you may fear sides or that it may all just be too overwhelming, but you will likely end up seeing it will be easier than you may be imagining, step by step you will get there, cured and free of this harming virus.  : ) C.

Reads like the lab noted HCV viral load in exponential format so that would be 2.95 times 1,000,000 (E6) or 2,950,000 IU/ml.

I will get the lab results from my doctor.  The secretary called and she said something about VL 2.95+E6?  Not sure if that means anything to anyone here.  I'll confirm next week and post here.

I'm just finding this all really confusing.  I've probably had this for over 40 years.  The likely suspect is a blood transfusion in 1974.  It was only caught when I tried to donate blood.  I've been checked for Hep A and B and HIV, which are all clear.  I'm going to ask my family doctor for the paperwork because they could only tell me that the VL is "not low".  I've been referred to a liver specialist but don't have an appointment yet.

I just don't understand how I could have this in my body for that long with no real symptoms and, as far as I can tell, no liver damage.  I have suffered from mild depression and fatigue for a long time.  Is it possible those are symptoms?  My body has been fighting this off for a long time.  I'm hoping that once I get through the treatment, my energy level will increase.  Right now I feel like some days I'm pushing it just to get through.  Then, to add to the stress, my basement flooded last spring and I've been going through all kinds of digging, renovations and way too many decisions.  I just want to sleep and some nights are good but some are really bad.  It's a good thing I'm retired.

Oops, sorry Annie.  I see have provided info in your signature already.  Anyway, still glad you're here. You should do well on your treatment.

Welcome, Annie!  I am new too,  (to this forum) I, unlike you was diagnosed a long time ago,  back when interferon/ribavirin was the only option.  I remember when my family doctor actually asked me not to take treatment at the time, assuring me that someday soon better options would be available, and he was right.

I'm glad you decided to take care of this ASAP instead of waiting SO long as I did.  I am also  glad you found this lovely group of people, I have only been around here for a very short time and they have already been a comfort to me 

Hi Annie,

Welcome to the forum! You found the right place for support. I notice you have Genotype 2 which is the most responsive to treatment with the new DAA drugs like Epclusa. In the ASTRAL-2 study patients with Genotype 2 took 12 weeks of Epclusa and 99% reached SVR12 meaning no HCV virus was detected 12 weeks after end of treatment. That is what I took. Your gastroenterologist will determine which drug is best for you. It will either be Epclusa or Mavyret. Harvoni is not used to treat Genotype 2.