Help me please!

[Becca77]

I just saw my doctor and got the type of hep c and the hcv pcr qt. I'm scared to death...

He said its severe and that this is the highest numbers he's ever seen. Please someone tell me what these numbers mean!

[Catfishjumpin]

What kind of doctor is he? That could explain him scarring you. Which geno type do you have. How long have you had it. Then I can give you some info as I had it 43 years. There are good treatments now. Theres lots of hope, don't get too worried. Its all new to you.

[Becca77 in reply to Catfishjumpin]

He is just a family doc and said that the specialist would have all my answers. He said it was 1A and the viral load was 1.2 million.

I'm put myself at risk for 7 years. Oct 12, 2008 I got sober. That puts me in a range of 14 to 8 years having been infected.

He did say the since my Ast~ alt were 52 and 55 that gave him hope that the liver might be to damaged.

I hear that if your viral load is to high treatment won't work for you. That my friend frighten me.

Becca

[jennyjolly in reply to Becca77]

Hi Becca

Mine is 4,000,000 and I've had it 35 years

I'm same genotype as you

My liver is fine.

Viral load is not a sign of liver damage

You can have treatment and be cue

Don't worry at all.

[jennyjolly in reply to jennyjolly]

Meant cured not cue

[Catfishjumpin in reply to Becca77]

The thing about the viral load is that it is the virus in the liver that causes cirrhosis. You can live with a lot of cirrhosis. Its much like a web of fingers that get tighter and tighter gnarled around each other. I am into cycling to push oxygen and blood thru the tight mass of cirrhosis I have. My hep c did not effect me so much until I had it almost 40 years. 1a is a difficult geno type to driver into undectectable but it happens for many now because of the new treatment drugs. The virus can eventually wreck so much damage it causes cancer, that happend to me after 42 years. I now am living with liver cancer for over two years. I still cycle. I have to as long as I can. The doctors are amazed and tell me they can do nothing but I am somehow keeping myself alive. Its the cycling and my diet. I turn 65 this year. You will be ok but I feel its best to kill the virus. But thats your decision. Good luck. We are all finding our own way but it helps so much having this community, its full of helpful stories and offers ways of dealing with the mental stress of this disease no matter what the cause of the liver disease.

[adminhepbtrust in reply to Becca77]

your liver results are actually normal and those of a healthy hep free individual a load of 1.2 million is about normal basically hep c is dormant for the first 10 to 20 years and you are fine. well done for choosing to quit and if ever the hep c gets active use the treatment that eradicate it

[Jestar]

what is your viral load and what is your genotype find out from your doctor and get copies of your Blood tests to keep your own records of everything . eat foods that inhibit the virus and foods that help the Liver work. Start with Milk thistle and lecithin granules my doctor says they are the king and queen of the Liver. P.S, ask your doctor for a sonogram of your Liver and your fibroscore . We have to Parent ourselves research get info Check out the Ketogenic diet for Hep C. And stay in the present moment and get out of your fearful thoughts. that's all they are thoughts not reality. Live in the now what can i do now. New things happen not by doing old behaviours but new behaviors. Start with little steps at first. Love yourself unconditionally at all times .

[Becca77 in reply to Jestar]

Jester,

1A is the type, viral load 1.2 million.

This doctor says I'm out of his hands now. Said to save all my questions for the specialist. They are sitting up an appointment. All he said was that the load was (very very very high) and that he has done a few others but they were only in the 600,000.

I've been taking the milk thistle and wheatgrass daily. I'll look up that diet.

It's going to be two or three weeks to get into a specialist.

Becca

[Jestar in reply to Becca77]

Great you are on your way ask for the sonogram to see the liver from that perspective to check for cirrhosis or anything else and fibroscan to see how much of the liver is good . my doctor says the liver is an organ that grows itself . Get on Harvoni or the new one i think it's called Epclusa from the Gilead people. google Support path Program if you need help paying if you qualify. Finally check out the website Hepatitis Central.com for more help from peers. Good luck you can turn this around with the proper care. Live one Day At A Time. Do the next right thing.

[Becca77 in reply to Jestar]

Looking forward to treatment

[hcvadvocate in reply to Becca77]

Be strong and aggressive when you ask insurance to cover it. They will deny you but keep at it. If and only if they deny you reach out to Melissa at [e-mail], call 1-858-952-1077 or visit their site at soulofhealing.org. You will get through this , so don't worry and be hard too hard on yourself.

[Becca77 in reply to Jestar]

Thank you for all your help

[jennyjolly in reply to Becca77]

There are contraindications with ketogenic diet

Not right for everyone

Google the contraindications Becca

Be on the safe side.

Your Doc can't have seen many hep c patients

Viral loads can go over 30,000000 and the persons' liver still be ok.

[TwinklingStar]

Stay strong Becca. The AST and ALT are only slightly higher than normal as far as I know. The viral load is high but that can surge up and down like a yo-yo depending on what you put in your mouth and whether you are getting enough rest and exercise. I know people who have a viral load very much higher. It is important to get this reduced if you can. I have also heard that if you intend to have treatment that it has been more successful on those with lower viral loads too. So work with it and just do your best. Give up any drinks which have sugar in and don't replace them with pure fruit juices either. Also don't replace them with things like flavoured waters which are full of damaging sweeteners!

I was 18 years old when I had a 6 pint blood transfusion. It was very clearly the date of being infected as I had no other risk factors at all. So I am now 60 and have had the virus for 42 years. During the WHOLE 42 years I have had very active symptoms. I was extremely fragile at the time and so quickly developed symptoms which caused me to be actively seeking a diagnosis of Non A, Non B Hepatitis within a month of having the transfusion. At the time my ALT was around 79 and my AST was also slightly raised. Over the years I have managed to keep these levels stable. My viral load is really very low and for almost 40 years remained below 100,000 and usually around 75,000. The only time it went higher was when I stopped taking my supplements around 3 to 4 years ago and within 3 months it shot up to 168,000 approx. This is also still classed as generally low.

I can only tell you how I have dealt with my condition and that will not guarantee that if you follow my routine that you will have the same results. But HEY......I am still here and that is what counts!

I am geno type 1A, infected September 1974 by Blood Transfusion and developed some cirrhosis during the last 4 years. Strangely enough this also tied into when I stopped my supplements! I have made sure I get plenty of rest. I have as far exercised as much as I possibly can - this has been restricted because of my underlying genetic condition. I was fully aware of what was wrong and just needed to rule out a few other things to be certain. This was helpful as I was able to make a plan to look after my body and attempt to do all the correct things. I drank plenty of water, I never drank ANY alcohol whatsoever, I was unable to tolerate fatty foods, and I ate plenty of vegetables and fruit. I basically followed the advice for those infected with Hepatitis B. Later when the condition was given it's current name during around 1991 I was tested and it was officially confirmed. By this time there was a lot more information available. I later followed what was referred to as Dr Berkson's Protocol taking various supplements: Milk Thistle, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid - prescribed in low amounts, Vitamin D with Calcium (Adcal) - prescribed, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin B, Selenium and Vitamin E. I may have taken a few others but these were the main ones.

DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT FORGET THAT EVERY SINGLE THING THAT GOES INTO YOUR MOUTH HAS TO BE DEALT WITH BY YOUR LIVER SO GREAT CAUTION SHOULD BE TAKEN. TREATMENT WITH SUPPLEMENTS DOES NOT SUIT EVERYONE. EACH PERSON IS DIFFERENT AND SUPPLEMENTS COULD ACTUALLY CAUSE YOU A GREAT DEAL OF DAMAGE. PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND SEEK ADVICE.

You MUST also try to avoid stress. This is not going to be easy during these first months while this is all so new to you and while you await full assessments and test results. However, it is essential. Dance, sing, read, mix with positive people, talk about this with someone you trust, watch funny videos - there are plenty on You Tube. Do anything you can to keep your anxiety under control. If your body is suffering with high levels of stress all your energy which would be keeping the virus under control will be taken away to deal with the stress. Your body will end up with none of its natural protection and the virus will be left to do its nasty work on you.

I strictly avoid the following items: all foods from the deadly nightshade family which include red and green peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and any foods which contain any of these things. I totally avoid all artificial sweeteners, sugar and any ingredients which are sugar, fructose, lactose, etc. I drink fresh water with one slice of lemon, several chunks of fresh pineapple and sometimes add some cucumber slices. (It has taken me a very long time to find a drink which I found enjoyable to drink and am so pleased to have now discovered this. Just be careful - cutting up a pineapple is no easy task. Try and let someone else do this for you.)

When you have Hepatitis C it is very easy for your sugar levels to be affected and many people who have Hep C to eventually develop Diabetes Type 2. This can be avoided by adjusting your diet. Mine recently became very worrying but after some research I purchased Cinnamon Supplements - "Cinnamon Bark Extract" 2500 mg from Nature's Best. DO MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE CORRECT TYPE. The other type of cinnamon is extremely DANGEROUS!! When I get the feeling that my sugar levels are not right and I was repeatedly falling asleep I now take one of these cinnamon supplements and this appears to have solved the issue. I will not be sure until I have repeat blood tests.

I have never had treatment because I was never allowed it because of my genetic condition. Even the new anti-virals are not looking very promising for me. Many people are taking them and seem to obtain SVR but PLEASE do carry out your own research and make sure the decision you take is YOUR DECISION based on your own circumstances and RESEARCH!!

The situation regarding the use of supplements MUST be exactly the same advice........check out every single thing and if your not sure don't use it. For instance, I was previously taking Soya Lecithin but this has now been deemed as EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! So do be very careful.

Start by drinking water daily with a couple of slices of cucumber and see if that gets your viral load down in time for your next blood test. Try to be calm. Don't rush to find solutions for everything all at once. Deal with one food or drink at a time. I feel the fluids should be the first thing to tackle. Remember everyone is here to support you. There will be others along who will probably object to some of my comments or complain that something I have said is really bad advice. There will be plenty of people along to give you their own thoughts and opinions. So take things slowly. Do your research. Make your own INFORMED decisions!

Love and hugs to you all. Special hugs and love to Becca.

*Keep Smiling or in my case Keep Twinkling*

Love from Twinkling Star. Xxx

PS: I hope someone will be along to share their own advice and/or story. In my case I have not been able to consider treatment. I am sure Becca would benefit from someone sharing their own story especially if it involves the anti-viral treatments such as Harvoni, etc. and there is already an even newer one which is already available in some countries I believe.

[Becca77]

Yes of I'm getting treatment. I feel as if it lice and I want to kill the bug and be done with it. Thank you for all your love. I to have a shine and can't wait to see it again. Thanks for all your help