Scared about hep c.

[hairyfairy]

In 1974 I was diagnosed with with hepatitis. The doctor wasn`t clear about what type, but he told me that it was an Australian virus. I recovered very quickly & have had normal liver function tests ever since. There is one other thing that`s worrying me, I had a blood transfusion in 1983 after an operation & have been reading that transfusion given at this time may have been contaminated with hep c. I have yearly blood tests to put my mind at rest & so far they have been clear. Would I still be at risk after all this time?

[GrandmaDylan]

I also had blood transfusions. Mine were in February 1990 and I have been worried about hep c tpo as i have had spider naevie for at least 18months but increasingly massively in the last 6 months or so. I had a blood test for hep b, hep c and hiv last week which thankfully came back negative. So I still don't know what has caused my cirrhosis.

[kurtymac in reply to GrandmaDylan]

Was Auto-Immune Hepatitis investigated?

[GrandmaDylan in reply to kurtymac]

I have been referred to a gastroenterologist which could take up to 18 weeks! I assume that he will do tests to investigate the cause. I had graves disease in 1992 which is autoimmune and I'm type 2 diabetic which has now been reclassified as autoimmune. I know that if you have one autoimmune disease you're more likely to have others.

[Garyvh]

Hi, just an idea but based on the circumstances I.e your quick recovery etc. I'm wondering if it may have been Hep A, the one that's transmitted through poo...

[datsoon1]

sorry my e mails are going all over the place ,i dont know why.but my thoughts are with you and this hep c

[kurtymac]

As long as you had multiple help antigen or antibody blood tests come back negative then you should be clear from hep c. I know of A and B, there are some odd ones out there like D, E. Which, I need to brush up on. If you feel good and your AST and ALT are in range with a healthy in range albumin and a good Globulin/Albumin ratio. You're liver is most likely in good standing. Remember, hepatitis is a fancy medical term for hepat = liver and it's = inflammation. Therefore, it could have even been a virus like Epstein Barr that caused liver inflammation and the doctor called it viral hepatitis.