Large drop in viral load without treatment

[iconoclasticat]

I was diagnosed with hep c about 10 years ago and I'm fairly certain that it was contracted in my early 20's.(I'm approaching 60) I've monitored my lft's since the diagnosis, and they've never been outside the normal range. I've noticed slight pain below my ribcage and had days when I felt very weak, but the ALT and AST remained in the 20's. Yesterday I went for the results of some tests, and found that my viral load is less than 75 IU/ML and the log 10 value is less than 1.9. It's marked as Not Detected. When I was diagnosed, the viral load numbers were in the many millions. Has anyone heard of such a change? The Dr. wasn't very informative and said only that these things fluxuate. I'd appreciate any thoughts about why this may have occurred, and what I might expect in the future!

[tashka]

Spontaneous clearance of chronic hepatitis C is rare, but it does happen. In May or June the lady posted here and reported that after decades of having HCV she became UND without any interventions. I can not find the post. Maybe somebody else can provide the link.
If you can not repeat the test now, maybe you can find the way to do it in a few months. It will give you peace of mind. But going from millions to 75 doesn't sound like lab mistake. It is a significant drop.
People with HCV who have consistently normal AST/ALT usually have milder disease than patients with elevated liver enzymes. My husband is infected for 27 years, and his liver enzymes were always elevated since he got the virus. Did you have any other tests recently-ultrasound, biopsy?
Your normal AST/ALT and such low viral load are all good news, not a cause for concern.
Maybe you are one of these rare people that will clear the virus on their own.
Consider yourself blessed.

[iconoclasticat]

I suppose a second test is in order; however, my only insurance right now is Medicaid, and there is a limit to what is available to me. I'm sure I could get another, perhaps more sensitive test if I push the doctor a bit, but whether it would be paid for, I'm not sure.
The pain is on the right side and very slight. I'm pretty sure that I contracted the virus through IV drug use during the "Summer of Love". If I would have beat it off in the late 60's, early 70's, I don't think my viral load would have been in the millions in 1999. You would think I'd be ecstatic, having worried all this time, but for some reason this mystery is just making me feel uncomfortable.

Thanks for your input,

John

[Bill1954]

Spontaneous resolution of chronic Hepatitis C is very rare; as Odin mentioned, there have been reports of this occurring in a group of native Alaskans, but this was almost unprecedented. Would it have been possible that you were previously diagnosed during the acute phase of the disease; i.e., with less then six months of exposure to it?

A second test for presence of virus would be indicated, I’d think. Quest Diagnostics provides a quantitative viral load test known as “Heptimax”, with a lower limit of detection of 5 IU/mL.

Good luck to you—

Bill

[Odin999]

Do you know when the infection started? Could you have been one of the lucky ones who beats off the disease at the beginning? I have heard reports of spontaneous clearance of chronic HCV. There was a thread about it happening in Eskimo populations on this board a while back. I reckon a second test is a very good idea too. Which side is the pain?

[alagirl]

I would want to repeat the PCR with a more sensitive test.