Hepc clearing miracle?

[trebor45]

alt was 486, and ast was 263 just two months ago, i have have had hepc  since 1975, chronic active, just had an ultrasound, it came back normal, and a liver panel, alt 35, ast 16, is this a miracle,or what, I'm on no treatment, just herbs, and vitamins! Have you ever heard of a spontaneous clearing like this after 36 years?

[skeptic1]

what herbs and vitamins?   please specify type and dosage.

[Javi1962]

have you checked your viral load? this is more of a clear indicator of success in treatment then liver panel? I hope it works for you

[Aaron57]

First a PCR is needed ... liver enzyme levels and fluctuate ....

VL needs to be Undetectable before jumping to conclusions ...

In the acute stage , yes the virus can be cleared by the bodies immune system .. if it's already chronic .. never heard of that & it would be a miracle ..

[HectorSF]

"is this a miracle,or what"
Probably not.

Unfortunately you seems to have little knowledge of hepatitis C or how it is diagnosed. A few basic facts are.
1. An ultrasound is NOT used to diagnose hepatitis C.
2. ALT and AST is NOT diagnostic of hepatitis C either.
3. ONLY a qualitative HCV RNA PCR test can diagnose if you are infected or not. Any competent doctor who is ordering these blood tests and ultra sound knows this.

So your "clearing miracle" would more accurately called "wishful thinking".

Hector

[suezeeque]

My liver enzymes have never been out of the ordinary.  My fibroscan was also pretty normal.

Yet I have HCV, confirmed by PCR.  Which is the only way you'll know if you have it, too...

[suezeeque]

Your other post says 35 and 13...  ???

[desrt]

ALT/AST are biomarkers of liver injury. If a viral load test confirms your chronic infection, I would immediately get a biopsy to find out the extent of liver damage. It's my understanding that in advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis ALT and AST appear to 'normalize' because there's little left of the liver to break down.

[curiouslady1]

This is why I stopped taking milk thistle back in the day.  My doc thought it was probably harmless except that he felt it suppressed numbers so you couldn't get a good read of what was really going on in the liver.   Those numbers of yours were painfully high.  Mine were never that high.  Either they got you mixed up with someone else or your current numbers are likely not a true indication of your true condition.  

Get thee to a PCR and a biopsy asap.  

[trebor45]

Going to my liver specialist soon, to check viral load, have had 4 surgery's in Nov for detached retina,so this news was really exciting for me, as now my right eye vision is permantly distorted now.

[trebor45]

13 was a typo

[trebor45]

2000 mg omega3 fish oil
glucosimin 1500
msm 1500mg
milk thistle 1000
selenium 100mcg
natural vita e 1200 IU
calcium 600 mg
vita c 1000 mg
kirkland brand mature multi, one each

[Advocate1955]

Let us know your viral load when your liver specialist gives you the results.
Best wishes.
Advocate1955

[trebor45]

Your right, the ultrasound can detect cancer, swelling, and fibrosis, not the virus itself, it came back that liver appears normal. Also the enzymes by themselves don't mean the virus is still present or not. I guess after my numbers 2 months ago came back so high, then after being laid up here at home, and laying face down for 10 days after my detached retina surgery, I considered this to be a miracle. I had planned to get viral load, and Biopsy,

[trebor45]

and Biopsy, but then my eyesight took precedence over Liver tests

[trebor45]

wouldn't the ultrasound show if i had advanced fibrosis, or cirrohsis?

[trebor45]

Will do, and Thanks

[trebor45]

also I have never had symptoms, and all other liver function tests came back normal also

[nygirl7]

Yeah I never had any symptoms and I came back as a stage 3.

Please educate yourself on HCV infection before thanking a few vitamins nothing. If you were infected as long as you say then you are still infected as the only opportunity for the virus to clear itself is within six months after you are infected.

So you see...........just not possible, sorry get your PCR done that is the only way to know what is going on and it will be positive it has nothing to do with your enzymes or ultrasound reports at all.

[hrsepwrguy]

My CT scan showed no damage and blood levels were all in normal ranges (slightly elevated liver enzymes but in normal range) biopsy showed Batts grade 3 act 2 (heavy bridging fibrosis,no obvious cirrhosis) PCR showed viral load of 11.5 mill

[brianmo]

I did not have symptoms either. Can not go by that only a bx and VL. My alt/ast were all over the board. No doctor who understands Hep C would use these numbers as a final dx.

Please take care of your eyes, that sounds very serious. If you do decide to do treatment please keep in mind that pre treatment eye conditions play a big part in treating, you will have to be checked regularly.

Mo

[Bill1954]

Hi Trebor,

I imagine if you had chronic HCV in the past and never treated for it, you’ll find it’s still there after the dust settles from your test two months ago; regardless of liver enzyme values.

Ultrasound is a valuable diagnostic tool to rule out cancer, tumors, and other abnormalities. It can sometimes identify cirrhosis, but usually only advanced cirrhosis after portal hypertension has developed. It’s not a good tool for discerning between various levels of fibrosis, or scarring though.

HCV patients aren’t generally symptomatic beyond perhaps fatigue until the develop decompensated, or very advanced cirrhosis.

Good luck with your upcoming appointment and test results. Be sure to discuss all meds, including any OTC supplements with the doctor-

--Bill

[coeric]

hrsepwrguy's ct was normal and yet he had advanced fibrosis. ultrasound, a much lower imaging device will not show fibrosis directly.  at some point the liver will become so scarred that it will appeal like a bag of walnuts on an ultrasound , and it is possible to infer very advanced fibrosis.  i have read many storied of people that had no symptoms until they started to vomit blood.
blessings
eric

[trebor45]

I'm just happy that i had a positive ultrasound report, and enzymes, and liver function was normal, my PCP was in awe of the numbers, he didn't say i was cured or anything, he just said he has never seen a drop like that in such a short amount of time, I will report back here after i see my specialists, thanks for all your reply's, both positive, and negative, don't want to get my hopes up too much, also i forgot to mention that i was a partial respondent on two previous treatments years ago, interferon, and then interferon, with ribaviran

[nygirl7]

Please continue to follow up because the numbers you mention really don't equate to anything very much so therefore - they dont matter and dont mean anything.

People with cirrhosis can oftentimes have lower liver enzyme levels because there is less healthy tissue to die and relase the enzymes.

I dont think anyone on this forum would advise that you are somehow magically cured so please get your PCR tested and followup with a biopsy.  Ultrasound really doesn't mean very much except that luckily you do not have tumors or cancerous growths but you could very well have advanced fibrosis after all of this time.