Thank you so much! I appreciate your insight Dr. James. Will update once I know more.

Hello joy2world,

Welcome to the forum.

Don’t sweat it. You are still early stage, there is no damage evident yet, and you will probably get 8 weeks Mavyret which is an awesome treatment.

Your husband should get tested. Sexual transmission is just about impossible but the razor sharing is a real risk. If he’s infected he just needs treating. Either he is or he isn’t. Not testing won’t change that but will probably just remove the worry.

Great news that the kids are fine.

Hello! I’m new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself and give a little background, post my VL and LFTs. I’m a 33 year old female, in the US.

I was first alerted to the possibility of infection 5 years ago. I had some routine bloodwork done during a yearly well woman’s exam. My ALT was around 42 at the time, and the nurse practitioner (bless her) said that I should look into getting a Hep panel done. Even though it was only slightly elevated.

I looked at her in astonishment and said “well didn’t they do that during my pregnancies (2)?” She shook her head no, and told me not unless I gave them reason to believe that they should.

I didn’t divulge to my OBGYN that I had used drugs when I was 17 years old. It was embarrassing. I figured if anything was wrong, surely they’d catch it. Wrong.

I went on to have the antibody test, and sure enough... tested positive. I was devastated. I had been living on the straight and narrow... moved away, turned my life around, got married, and had two beautiful children. My children!!! I panicked. Got them tested immediately and by the grace of God they were negative. My husband still hasn’t been tested, which scares me. Even though I know the odds are low, there were 5+ years of me NOT knowing and us sharing razors, and just not even thinking of the possible risks.

I didn’t have insurance at the time, and couldn’t afford the RNA... so 5 years later, here I am.

I am now fully insured (after being uninsured for 10 years) and told my brand new doctor EVERYTHING. He ran a full metabolic panel, CBC, and Quant RNA on me. Sadly, I am indeed infected with HCV and I have been living with this for 15 years at the minimum.

Strangely, my bloodwork is perfect. From all appearances, everything looks good. Except for the viral load of over 3 million!!!! I wasn’t expecting that. I’ll go ahead and post the bloodwork and let you be the judge, because I’m freaking out at this point and would love any positive words:


WBC
Your Value
5.76 K/uL
Standard Range
3.90 - 12.70 K/uL

RBC
Your Value
4.19 M/uL
Standard Range
4.00 - 5.40 M/uL

Hemoglobin
Your Value
12.3 g/dL
Standard Range
12.0 - 16.0 g/dL

Hematocrit
Your Value
40.4 %
Standard Range
37.0 - 48.5 %

Mean Corpuscular Volume
Your Value
96 fL
Standard Range
82 - 98 fL

Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin
Your Value
29.4 pg
Standard Range
27.0 - 31.0 pg

Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Conc
Your Value
30.4 g/dL
Standard Range
32.0 - 36.0 g/dL

RDW
Your Value
12.2 %
Standard Range
11.5 - 14.5 %

Platelets
Your Value
288 K/uL
Standard Range
150 - 350 K/uL

MPV
Your Value
10.9 fL
Standard Range
9.2 - 12.9 fL

Immature Granulocytes
Your Value
0.2 %
Standard Range
0.0 - 0.5 %

Gran # (ANC)
Your Value
3.9 K/uL
Standard Range
1.8 - 7.7 K/uL

Immature Grans (Abs)
Your Value
0.01 K/uL
Standard Range
0.00 - 0.04 K/uL

Lymph #
Your Value
1.5 K/uL
Standard Range
1.0 - 4.8 K/uL

Mono #
Your Value
0.3 K/uL
Standard Range
0.3 - 1.0 K/uL

Eos #
Your Value
0.0 K/uL
Standard Range
0.0 - 0.5 K/uL

Baso #
Your Value
0.03 K/uL
Standard Range
0.00 - 0.20 K/uL

nRBC
Your Value
0 /100 WBC
Standard Range
0 /100 WBC

Gran%
Your Value
68.1 %
Standard Range
38.0 - 73.0 %

Lymph%
Your Value
25.3 %
Standard Range
18.0 - 48.0 %

Mono%
Your Value
5.7 %
Standard Range
4.0 - 15.0 %

Eosinophil%
Your Value
0.2 %
Standard Range
0.0 - 8.0 %

Basophil%
Your Value
0.5 %
Standard Range
0.0 - 1.9 %

Sodium
Your Value
136 mmol/L
Standard Range
136 - 145 mmol/L

Potassium
Your Value
3.9 mmol/L
Standard Range
3.5 - 5.1 mmol/L

Chloride
Your Value
101 mmol/L
Standard Range
95 - 110 mmol/L

CO2
Your Value
25 mmol/L
Standard Range
23 - 29 mmol/L

Glucose
Your Value
77 mg/dL
Standard Range
70 - 110 mg/dL

BUN, Bld
Your Value
10 mg/dL
Standard Range
6 - 20 mg/dL

Creatinine
Your Value
0.8 mg/dL
Standard Range
0.5 - 1.4 mg/dL

Calcium
Your Value
8.9 mg/dL
Standard Range
8.7 - 10.5 mg/dL

Total Protein
Your Value
7.9 g/dL
Standard Range
6.0 - 8.4 g/dL

Albumin
Your Value
3.6 g/dL
Standard Range
3.5 - 5.2 g/dL

Total Bilirubin
Your Value
0.4 mg/dL
Standard Range
0.1 - 1.0 mg/dL

Alkaline Phosphatase
Your Value
67 U/L
Standard Range
55 - 135 U/L

AST
Your Value
20 U/L
Standard Range
10 - 40 U/L

ALT
Your Value
28 U/L
Standard Range
10 - 44 U/L

Anion Gap
Your Value
10 mmol/L
Standard Range
8 - 16 mmol/L

eGFR if African American
Your Value
>60.0 mL/min/1.73 m^2
Standard Range
>60 mL/min/1.73 m^2

eGFR if non African American
Your Value
>60.0 mL/min/1.73 m^2
Standard Range
>60 mL/min/1.73 m^2

Here’s where it gets a little hairy...

HCV RNA Quant PCR
Your Value
3,148,265 IU/mL
Standard Range
<12 IU/mL

Yikes.

So there it is, folks. I’m awaiting an appointment with gastroenterologist on the 19th and hope to celebrate 2020 on treatment. I have no idea what genotype, or what damage has been done over the past 15 years.

I’m hopeful, and I’m forever grateful to have this forum to read success stories, and understand more about my new journey.

Thank you for reading!

I've heard that some of the treatment meds can cause cancer (Harvoni). Is that true?

Also, at the stage I'm at now can I get liver cancer if i don't treat?

I contracted Hep C from a transfusion in 1978. I am Genotype 1B.

Biopsy 2004 - Stage 0
Biopsy 2010 - Stage 1

FibroSpect Tests:
2010 - F0-F1 - Fibrospect Index II "16"
2014 - F0-F1 - Fibrospect Index II "25"

Fibrotest Actitest:
2019 - Fibrosis Stage - F1-F2
A1-A2


I'M SO SCARED! IS THIS BAD! :-[

Can i get CANCER now from this?

Has anyone had same results or similar and treated? Do I need to start treatment? Or do I have time??

Do I need to start treatment? Or do I have time??

What treatment is best for me?

What medication did you use (Harvoni, Mavyret, Daklinza, Epclusa, Zepatier, etc.)?

Side effects?

Please Help! Thank you in advance

Hello Paul2018,

Congrats on the cure result.

In terms of other tests, it depends on how sick a patient is and what has been done previously.

So, say I treat a patient who is not cirrhotic and relatively well and 4 weeks into treatment their LFTs are normal and PCR negative. I would not do any more tests until SVR12 and then just do a PCR and LFTs.

At the other end of the spectrum a patient with cirrhosis who was taking ribavirin would get a CBC and CMP (FBC, UEC, LFT) every 2 weeks during treatment and lots of follow up testing including AFP and ultrasound to check for HCC.

Other tests just depend on the patient and their problems.

It has been a little over nine months since the time I underwent a 3 months treatment at a local Community Health Centre. I was on a Sof + Dac regimen for 12 weeks. The doctor advised HCV RNA test a week ago. Virus was not detected. He has not prescribed any other tests and asked me to come back after six months.

Apart from a LFT what are the tests that are normally done after treatment?

Hi Dr James. Sorry about the late reply.
The nausea is getting easier to handle and the headaches usually occur at the end of the day so early to bed is a goods way to deal with them.
I'm still getting some horrendous lows, so I can't wait til the treatment is over.
I have just over 5 weeks left so I'm gritting my teeth and persevering with the treatment until the end.
Thanks for the interpretation of my results too Dr James. The specialist nurse told me that my platelets are not really in the ball park though. Not sure what that really means but hopefully its nothing too dire.
Are there any results on my bloods that are abnormal in some way that I should be worried about? I feel that there may be scores that are glossed over in my appointments and that the nurse seems overly positive and may not be giving me the whole story.
As I have no people supporting me through this treatment I find it crucial that the specialists and doctors tell me the truth even if its something I don't want to hear.

g

Hello ale2271,

Sadly not all doctors have seen the dramatic improvements that occur in patients when treated for Hepatitis C with the new medications. The vast majority of patients who are treated show significant improvements.

With your questions:

1) No stem cells are unlikely to help. The liver has lots of liver stems cells in it already - given the chance repair will start from these stem cells. In fact, cirrhosis is just where the repair process driven by liver stem cells can not keep up with the damage so instead of new liver we get scar tissue.

2) Provided normal quantities of protein are eaten (meat, chicken, fish, milk cheese) ie not vegetarian there should be enough protein building blocks to make albumin. If albumin is low this is because liver is not working well at making albumin AND the albumin is diluted by extra fluid (which can be removed by diuretics mentioned earlier)

3) This is good news. Early-stage is expected to get much better with treatment. The reason is this:

a) Cirrhosis is 2 different things. First it is bands of fibrous tissue like a 3-dimensional net like mesh. Second, "trapped" in this mesh are swollen liver cells.
b) When we treat the cause of the liver problem, the swollen cells un-swell so despite the fact the fibrous mesh remains we see much better flow though the liver
c) Over time the fibrous mesh is know to regress = repair

So it is entirely possible that

1) Cancer will be cured, and if a new cancer happens we can cure it again
2) Liver function will improve
3) So, your mother will not die of this problem and may live for many more years before some other different problem crops up (we all must die one day of something)

We should treat because then we know we have done our best. Sometimes our best is good enough, sometimes it is not, but if it is not, I think it is important to know we tried our best.

While stem cells are both unproven and (to me) a complete waste of time (because the liver contains lots of liver stem cells) liver transplants can be, and are used. With so many patients now being cured the demand for liver transplants is at a historic low so they are more available.

Hello ale2271,

If the hepatocellular carcinoma has been fully treated with radioembolisation then this should be cured. Your mother will continue to have a 3-5% annual risk of a new tumour so will require regular review but this is manageable.

Depending on your mother's genotype the Epclusa has a 90-95% chance of delivering cure. This allows some degree of recovery of the liver. Not back to 100% but if you think about it, your mother is alive now with her current liver status, so any improvement will make her quality of life better than it is right now.

The basic approach to liver cirrhosis is to stop the damage. Hep C is one cause and this is being dealt with so we are heading in the right direction. Alcohol should be avoided at the moment as this adds to the problem.

A good diet with a variety of food is fine for cirrhosis and for health in general. Please don't stress about this too much.

Often people with cirrhosis will be on medications like furosemide and spironolactone (diuretics), lactulose (normal a laxative but used to help remove toxins), and rifaximin - an antibiotic to prevent spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

There is a brief outline of this at the Mayo Clinic here: www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/c...eatment/drc-20351492

There is a much more detailed one here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4017060/

Hi Pablo, thank you for your very kind words. It's our pleasure to help patients get treated, and it brings us a lot of joy when we hear news of their cure. This is especially true when the patient has been living with this nasty virus for so long, 5 decades is a very long time, and we're really looking forward to good news from you after finishing treatment. Please keep us updated, and let us know if you need any advice during, Dr James and the awesome forum members are always delighted to help.

I am gonna start the hep c treatment pretty soon. I have already done the labs required for getting prescription from fixhepc Dr. Which I am very grateful for. Everyone knows the state of the health care system in the US and it is beyond horrible. But I will not wait for this system to help me out, I have decided to take control of my health and life. So I uploaded my labs to my GP2U online account and will book the appointment to see Dr. Freeman very soon: as soonest there is an opening. Shortly after that I will purchase the meds. My fibrosis score is 0, which is good but my liver enzymes are very high. Which I was told that that is normal when you are infected with hep c. I do have vaccines to protect from hep b. My labs werent terrible many things were normal, some, a small number were elevated. Those highs are from my hep c. I have had hep c for almost 10 years; genotype1a. I have noticed that I am always tired and I get sick very easily. I am sure all this is related to hep c. I can't wait to have the medicine, life changing and life saving medicine in my hands but I must be patient and not worry. Because thank god I am in good hands: FIXHEPC.

HI.Sorry for the lack of answer to your query Dr James. I haven't been on the internet for awhile as I have been off work to help me relax and rest for the last stretch of the treatment. I use Daivobet for my psoriasis which is breaking out at the moment.
I am now almost 9 weeks down and its been pretty hard so far but I'm soldiering on. I have been losing weight at a steady pace and have lost almost 10kgs according to my GP over the last few months which I have not even noticed. My belts are peppered with new holes and Ive dropped from a 38 to a 30 in waist and have had to buy new pants as I'm starting to look like a tramp according to my elderly mother! lol
The cognitive changes and depression have been intense so far, esp the depression and I'm probably going to sign myself off work till the end of the treatment mid Jan. My Dr asked me if I wanted to stop the treatment but it's my last stab at it so I politely advised him Ill power through. He has offered to sign me on a temporary sickness benefit and rest asap but the drop in money will drive me into a hole esp over Xmas. I'm also unsure because being alone at home for almost two months will make the depression so much worse so I need to keep something going where my colleagues can keep an eye on me.
Wow its been a ride so far and Ill get bloods done on Monday and see my specialist at the end of the month so Ill upload the results and update you all then.
Its like being on the back of a Rodeo Bull who is sitting in the first car on the worlds most intense roller coaster with your hands tied behind your back! Win or lose I will not forget this in a hurry!

g

Hi Jerry,

I can see you are about a week into your treatment. Some of us had side effects (especially the delightful insomnia thing) and a lot of people had minimal or none. I wish you the latter over the next weeks but either way it will all be worth it when you have vanquished the virus.

Wishing you well. Drinks lots of water, eat well, a bit of exercise and take every single pill......

Coral

Hi G,

Sorry to hear it's not smooth sailing.

Insomnia, specifically the can't get back to sleep one is a well known and quite common (20%) side effect of sofosbuvir. Unfortunately, you need that drug so the general approach is to use some sleeping tablets to tide you over while we wait to get to the end of the medication.

Hep C is a neurological disease and some people do get neurological things on treatment but it's more likely the balance stuff relates to the inner ear infection.

The chest infection and psoriasis are probably not related at all other than psoriasis tends to play up when people are stressed. What do you use to treat the psoriasis?

For the cramps you should try taking 2 magnesium tablets a couple of times a day, or just at night if that's when then main problem happens. Generally, that will settle cramps down.