Hep c and back/neck pain

[andy848]

I have been diagnosed with cronic hep c.  I've been having back/neck pain that's been going on before i started treatment.  I had x-rays done on my back and they came out normal.  It feels like it is muscular, or fluid by my spinal cord working all the way through my neck.  I'll get really bad headachs.  It also gets numb, mainly in my back area.  I've been having this pain for more than two years.   Is there a diffeerent diagnosis for these symtoms?

[deb121260]

i have hepc. my husband was tested and he doesnt have it, but he has all these systems could test be wrong

[summer7799]

I suffer from back and neck pain daily. I just assumed its because I work on my feet 8 hrs a day. And Im also very tall. But who knows..maybe its related to hep c afterall...

[DoubleDose]

Back and Neck Pain were long standing symptoms for me when I was positive for HCV.  The skeletal problems all started during the period when I was infected, and were very difficult to deal with for many years.  Connective tissue and skeletal problems, reactive arthritis, and related spinal, and musculo-skeletal problems have long been documented as potential extra-hepatic symptoms of HepC.

Read any of the medical sites that cover HCV in detail, and you will find differential diagnosis indicators that show these kinds of problems as being a 'possible' sign of HCV infection.  Some of the main extra-hepatic syndromes that often occur in those who have HCV are:  Joint and muscle pain  (reactive arthritis), salivary gland and 'sjogrens-like' problems, fatigue, and CFS-like issues, and in some, constant gastro-intestinal distress and dysfunction.  Of course, some people have no extra-hepatic symptoms, or very imperceptable problems.....but many others have a host of very bothersome, and sometimes debilitating symptoms.  Doctors and researchers are constantly finding more afflictions that are highly correlated to having HCV, and are likely caused by it.

Most times, the amount of liver damage, or progression in stage of the liver from HCV infection, has NO CORRELATION whatsoever to the number or severity of extra-hepatic problems.  So the symptoms are not caused directly by a failing liver, but by the virus, and the immune system in its fight against the virus.  You are NOT alone.....your case is in fact very commonplace for HCV infected individuals.

DoubleDose

[crossroadsec]

I'm w/ flcyclist n joe. See another dr. It may be unrelated. I use chiropractic n massages when I can afford em. Yoga is a great help for me and my instructor showed me some modified poses that have strengthened my back. lol. Yes, there are guys in my class. It keeps you bendy and strengthens your core.  Karen :)

[flcyclist]

Back pain affects nearly 80% of our population at some time in their lives.  Since this neck/back pain started 2 yrs prior to trt, it might not be related to HCV at all.  Have you seen an Orthopedist or Neurologist to help with diagnosis?

[joemc34606]

I haven't heard of that one, ecspecially before treatment. The medication can give all sorts of pains I call them phantom pains because you never no where there coming from or where they'll hit ya. Maybe ask your doc again. Good luck. Joe

[hrsepwrguy]

hep c can have many complications other than liver problems here is a web site I have found helpful

http://www.hepatitisneighborhood.com/content/understanding_hepatitis/complications_of_hepatitisc.aspx