Hi! Recently diagnosed. 1st of many questions

[byevino]

My doc tells me I have cronic HepC, AST 238, ALT133. Been there since my teen days. I'm 53. I have 2 children and am wondering why I wasn't tested then. Should my kids be tested?

[patra_]

If I read your question correctly, you are wonderingwhy you were not tested as a teenager.  HepC was not - and still is not, to my knowledge - something that is routinely tested for.  Usually testing is done IF something comes up to indicate the need, and it is a very slow developing disease.  Most people don't have that kind of symptom until they are - or are near cirrhosis.

Now,  blood tests can trigger follow-up, but I expect that as a teenager, your Liver Function Tests (LFTs) were normal, or so near it as to not trigger any concern.  ALSO, depending on when you were a teen, they didn't pick it up on blood donations, etc, as they didn't have tests dfor that until 1991? 92?  one of those, I think.  So even donating blood or getting a transfusion wouldn't have picked it up before then.  No need to fret about it, one way or the other.  As all above have said, there are excellent, treatments, for relatively short periods of time and few, to no side effects, so just move forward.

I agree with DWBH, getting your children tested would relieve your mind, and theirs, come to that, so it would be a good thing to consider, even though the chances are extremely low that they have it.

Jimmy has given you some excellent resources.  So educate yourself, HOWEVER, never hesitate to ask on here about what you don't understand.  We have all walked in your shoes, or have spouses or family member who have so we have a good perspective on things.

Good luck and good treating!  And, welcome to the Forum!

Pat

[dontworry_behappy1]

Should my kids be tested?
___________


Welcome to the forum.   I don't think its a bad idea to have your kids tested.  Just remember that many with Hep C have children and don't pass hep c to their children.   It's only a five percent chance of pass hep C to your children in child birth.   Also,  many have hep C and live with children who never get hep C.   Both of these a relatively low risk.   You should take the time to keep your personal items to yourself.  Best not to share razors, toothbrushes, nail clippers etc.  

I hope this eases your mind.   Also, the treatment for Hepatitis C has progressed to easier treatment with a high cure rate.

Best to you

[JimmyMose]

Welcome new member. First don't worry as there are new treatments that can remove the HCV virus from your blood that have a very high success rate with less side effects than in the past.  Excessive worrying could cause more health problems that the HCV virus for some.

I had HCV for 34 years and successfully treated last year.  AST 238, ALT133 shows inflammation similar to mine be fore I treated. But doesn't indicate how well your liver is working.  I was F4 cirrhotic but my liver was well compensated and still working well.

\My non medical comments
Option if you want to is to provide some more info some of us may be able to offer our partial non medical opinion.  You can ask your provider if you don't have the information.

blood tests
GenoType,  HCV viral load, Platelets, albumin, hemoglobin, creatinine, INF (international normalized ratio), bilirubin, are some if available. Provide reference range and they may be different for some test.

Doctor's impression after physical exam

Direct or indirect markers of amount of fibrous could be from special blood test, biopsy, ultra sound, CT or other  F4 is cirrhosis

Symptoms and other related health problems

Your liver doctor should be able to tell you about your fibrosis
F0 F1 little or no fibrosis
F2 middle range
F3 F4  close to or cirrhosis
It could be their best guess based on the evaluation of sum of some of the above mentioned.  The F2-F3 are the hardest to diagnose.  

Fortunately most with chronic HepC will not get to this stage
Specific problems if disease has progressed from compensated cirrhosis to decompensated cirrhosis (it's strongly recommended then to be evaluated by hepatoligist preferably at a liver transplant center.

Hepatitis C Information for the Public
http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/C/index.htm
(copy link or select and right click to open) more links on left side

This may be too technical for some but maybe helpful for understanding, reviewing and asking your provider questions and here.
Expert recommendations for health professionals.
AASLD/IDSA/IAS–USA. Recommendations for testing, managing, and treating hepatitis C.
http://www.hcvguidelines.org      Accessed February 3, 2015.
go to full report link lower center of page select
then menu on the left

HCV TESTING AND LINKAGE TO CARE
WHEN AND IN WHOM TO INITIATE HCV THERAPY
INITIAL TREATMENT OF HCV INFECTION

Online course and info for health professionals free to view
http://www.hepatitisc.uw.edu/

NOTE: These professional links may not be suitable for some. They are technical and you need a good reading skill and understanding to make some sense of it.  It may cause some more anxiety and worry.

[Ekkiemom]

Welcome Vino....ask away!, you have come to the right place. This group of people are wonderfully caring and have a wealth of knowledge and experience.
I have had the virus for 30+ yrs and just finished treatment in Jan. I am GT1a and treated w/Sovaldi/RIBA 24wk and was Undetected in 21 days. VL 11.5mil to 17 in those 21 days.
The treatments are more targeted towards the virus with shorter Tx times with fewer drugs, which means fewer side effects!
This is a great time to treat this nasty virus who has decided to take up residence inside. TIME TO SERVE THE EVICTION NOTICE!
As far as not being tested before, perhaps your blood tests didn't show any cause for alarm, but I find it strange your LFT's are fairly high and that doesn't happen overnite, but I'm not a dr.
Learn all you can learn, ask questions so you can be better informed and advocate for your treatment.
Do you know your Genotype ?
Come back often, we will help walk you thru journey
Good luck to you
Peace
Deb

[byevino]

Thanks for your positive words. To be honest, I have been lurking to get the feel and is seems like a good place for me. I do have to warn you, I have so many questions you'll be tired of seeing me!