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20869695 tn?1553939007

Has anyone had their Thyroid removed then found out they have Hep C?

I had my thyroid removed approx. 3 years ago, I just fount out I have Hep C, I am not an IV drug user and do not have any symptoms (yet) of the Hep C. But I a m desperate to know what are my options, has anyone else gone through this? Thank you in advance
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683231 tn?1467323017
I’m kind of doubtful your procedure resulted in you contracting hep c seems pretty unrelated. There is I believe about 40% of people who have no idea how they became infected.

Have you only had the test for hep c antibodies? That would only indicate you may have been exposed to hep c in the past not that you are currently infected.

There are rarely  a small number of false positives which can be by cross reaction to other antibodies you may have to other illnesses. Also about 25% of people are able to beat hep c infection on their own without treatment.

The only way to know if you are currently infected with hepatitis c is to have the test which looks for the actual virus in your blood called a HCV RNA by PCR test or similar name. If this test is hep c virus detected there will also be a number which is your viral load.

Have you had a test for the virus or only the antibody test? If not that would be your first step to have the HCV RNA test.

The majority of people have no symptoms of being infected with hep c which is why it is called a silent illness. The most common symptom of chronic hep c infection is tiredness which is hard to pin down as an illness symptom so it is often overlooked. When most people develop symptoms is the 20% or so that after decades of infection begin to develop liver damage and then the symptoms are really the symptoms of advanced liver disease which as I mentioned only happens about 20% of the time to those infected for more than 20 years.

Your next step would be to see your doctor and have the HCV RNA test if you haven’t already done so. If that test shows you are currently infected then you will need a test for your genotype of hep c would be genotype 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b and so on. Genotype 1a is the most common in the US.

Your doctor will likely also test your liver enzymes and do a CBC as well as an abdominal ultrasound to check for signs of liver disease. Then you could start on one of the recently approved (since 2014)  medicines to treat and cure your hep c.

Your treatment if needed could be as simple as one pill a day for as few as 8 to 12 weeks depending on the medicine your doctor prescribes and then you can be cured and put this all in your rear view mirror.

Best of luck
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3 Comments
Ultrasound is not a good modality to ascertain liver fibrosis caused from Hep C .
It can detect size, possibly fatty liver  and can see most lesions.
If you are in fact diagnosed with HepC   You would  have the blood tests mentioned above inclusive of a Fibrosure along with a Fibroscan to  best  diagnose amount of fibrosis.
Yes agree about the ultrasound as far as ascertaining degree of fibrosis if any but don't think we are quite there yet  more details as needed later with full diagnosis
Right now we don’t know for sure the OP has had a HCV RNA test and is currently infected with hep c.
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