CURED!!!!!!! HOW,WHY

[luckysofar]

iv had hep-c for 25 years, iv never been ill exsept when i first got it, never been on any meds, had blood tests every year or so, liver enzimes were always ok,in other words just ok , anyway today i went in for my test results and the Doc  says my hep -C is gone. GONE i said is that possible, he said that it happens sometimes, but didnt know why, has anyone ever herd of this, im exstatic,and wondering if someone is watching over me or something is this a miracal or dose this happen often .id sure like some feedback. luckysofar

[mythoughts]

I don't know about HCv, but with Hep B, you have a .5 of 1% chance of semoconverting and clearing it spontaneously in the chorinc phase per year. So half of 1 person out of 100 will clear it after many years each year. Not good odds, but it does happen.

[orphanedhawk]

I checked luckysofar's profile and they haven't posted since 2008.

If you want to begin a new thread just go to post a new question on the top of the page and click on it.

[Beckylynne]

Ok, but I'm new to the site & not real bright. Do yo know the latest on Luckysofar?

[orphanedhawk]

This is an old thread from 2008.

[rambleon40]

I mean, "Yay!  That's awesome!"

[rambleon40]

Yay! :-)

[rambleon40]

"You don't have it for 5 or 10 or 20 years and live in the chronic stage and then have it disappear for no reason. "

Why could it not happen?  

[Beckylynne]

I, like you was diagnosed with hepC around 1994.  I had dark urine & felt I'll for about a week. No doctor ever suggested any treatment!  So life went on. I had a complete blood test so I could be a bone marrow donor& it showed up then. Last year my Dr. Did a test, it was negative, but he never told me. 2 wks ago another test, thi one says HCV/RNA Quant. No detectable level of HCV RNA. I just found this out today. I'm still afraid something or a different test will show pos. I'm very excited for us & hope we can bring hope to others!
Becky

[Marcia2202]

That's terrible! I'm so sorry to hear about your accident and hope you are starting to feel better. I'm praying for a speedy recovery. Thank you for letting us know why you hadn't gotten back to us. Take all the time you need and take good care of yourself!

Best wishes,

Marcia

[HCA]

Very interesting-so unprececented that I am sceptical.
Have you ever had treatment?
If not why not?
Are you sure your doctor is not referring to a biochemical remission whereby your enzymes have normalised?
Could you please confirm that you have previously been PCR positive post the first six months of infection?
Could you please confirm that you are negative by PCR now.?
Verification of the above would be of great interest to all of us.
Please come back with the answers to these specific questions-don't leave us all wondering!
Thanks!

[luckysofar]

HI  BILL AND FRIENDS    I HAVE'NT BEEN ON THE SITE FOR A BIT AND WAS WAITING TO GO TO THE DOC'S OFFICE TO GET MORE INFO, WELL I DID GET THERE BUT BY AMBULANCE I HAD A BAD WRECK ON THE RANCH BROKEN RIBS TORN KNEE AND A BROKEN ANKLE, MY LIVER AND KIDNEYS WERE BADLEY BRUISED AND IT WAS HORRIBLE UP UNTIL A WEEK AGO THAT THE PAIN IS MANAGEBLE, JUST WANTED YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT IM STILL HERE AND STILL PLAN TO GET ALL MY QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT HOW AND WHY I M CURED OF HEP C ,LUCKYSOFAR   LIKE A CAT I GOT 9 LIVES

[luckysofar]

hey thanks Bill i'll most certainly do that, i was thinking of writing stuff down, but printing the page is so much easier , im quite new to a computer so them things dont pop into my head.  thanks  again to everyone   ( Gloria ) Luckysofar

[Bill1954]

Good luck, Lucky!

Consider printing this page and taking it with you to the doctor so he can address some of the specifcs discussed--

Bill

[luckysofar]

thanks from luckysofar ,ill be going back to my doc in 2 weeks so i can have some of these questions asked. when i was first diagnosed it took 10 years to remeber when i was told the second time. i dont remember because my life was a fog i was in prison and everything was a blur i guess i had blocked that part out of my life like many other things in my child hood,and about 10 years ago i was diagnosed with hep c and it took me about another year to remember because i did not use drugs since the first time. they had me in a quaratine, i was yellow and very sick for about 10 days. and since 10 years ago iv been tested every year or 2 to check up on it.im sure glad to get all your comments because i know now what to ask my doc, i didnt ask much was to exsited

[IAmTheWalrus]

Could it be possible that your original test showed positive for Hep C antibodies but that there was not an active, chronic infection?  This seems much more likely that spontaneous clearance after 25 years. You may have cleared the virus early on and not known it.

The tests that are often used now for qualitative tests are actually a quantitative test that measure viral load rather than just the anitbodies (Heptimax, Quantasure). these tests would show "Undetectable" even if you have Hep C antibodies.

Anyway, it sounds like good news, but I would confirm with the doctor what test shows you are cleared and what it means.

Best luck!

[BelB64]

nygirl-njmjm530 is correct-www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16811757 was a study of an Alaskan cohort of people with chronic Hepatitis C. This was their conclusion:

:Spontaneous HCV RNA negativity during chronic infection is a surprisingly frequent event and is associated with low rna titers"

This makes sense since a person who has spontaneously cleared the virus still has anti-bodies. Noone knows when it was cleared and it's possible it was after chronic stage was reached. Some say as much as 60% especially women clear the virus spontaneously.

[susan400]

Good for you.  Hey, where can I go so I can have your miracle?   The only one who can cure me has already been prayed to.  I've had this for 25 yrs and have not yet had the ability to have my own body clear the virus, so I honestly don't believe that it will happen for me w/o divine intervention.

Susan400

[nygirl7]

Those who clear the virus on their own do it right away while in the "acute" stage.  You don't have it for 5 or 10 or 20 years and live in the chronic stage and then have it disappear for no reason.

I'm assuming you were just never tested again after the initial diagnosis and assumed you still had it all this time and for some reason now you were just checked out for it?

[Kristina538]

A friend of mine in Australia cleared hers magicall after a period of about three years;  I think she's got the immune of an elephant!!  She's definitely not a fence-sitter :-).   They did a PCR on me after my bloods had been normal for some years but it was still there, so it is an outcome that is expected in some.  Congrats - I sincerely hope this is true

[jmjm530]

While spontaneous remission of Hepatitis C is usually seen in the first six months after exposure, there was a study of an eskimo population that showed that spontaneous remission could occur years later. It's in the archives or somewhere on the net if anyone wants to hunt it down. Hard to say if that's what's happening here until viral load numbers/dates are tabulated.

-- Jim

[Bill1954]

If you want to investigate this a little farther, review this site:

http://janis7hepc.com/

Click on any item of interest in the blue box. If your doctor confirms that you are indeed serum HCV RNA negative, get on with your life and enjoy—

Bill

[luckysofar]

thanks so much for your comments and i will be sure  to ask the doc those questions. and your right ; who cares, im having a hard time digesting this news and not sure i believe it thats why im asking didnt get much from my doc he just said its cleared up and i said what do you mean and he just said its gone. and thats it. having it all these years iv been quite ignorant about the disease just what i read in a pamflet in the doctors office is all i know about it. but thanks and hope that its ok.    luckysofar

[Andromedae]

Cured!  How?  Why?

Who cares?  

If you are cured then why waste your time wondering about the hows and whys?   Just count your blessings and move on.   That's what I would do.

Just make sure that you are cured though,  
That would be important.

[Bill1954]

A significant percentage of patients that contract Hep C will clear the virus via their own immune response within the first six months of infection.

The question you want to have your doctor confirm is “am I serum HCV RNA positive or negative”. The answer to this simple question should remove any doubt as to your status.

Good luck,

Bill