New to this site...just found out

[itbJoe]

Hi all. Was in a trauma accident in July 2015, overheard the nurse say to another I am hepC positive. I was never told, and found out its been since 1994. Anyone else have it for so long? Did you suffer from gastro issues, dizziness,...and not know why? I see the doctor on February 3 and hope to start treatment shortly thereafter. One good thing is I am only a Level 1. I need to read up/educate myself on this a whole bunch!! Any suggestions or guidance is appreciated !! Thank you & Happy New Year

[flyinlynn]

Cirrhosis definition:

Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcohol abuse. The liver carries out several necessary functions, including detoxifying harmful substances in your body, cleaning your blood and making vital nutrients.

Cirrhosis occurs in response to damage to your liver. The liver damage done by cirrhosis can't be undone. But if liver cirrhosis is diagnosed early and the cause is treated, further damage can be limited. As cirrhosis progresses, more and more scar tissue forms, making it difficult for the liver to function (decompensated cirrhosis). Advanced cirrhosis is life-threatening.

[flyinlynn]

Many have little to no symptoms from hep c except many report being tired a lot.
Symptoms of cirrhosis include:

   " Fatigue
    Bleeding easily
    Bruising easily
    Itchy skin
    Yellow discoloration in the skin and eyes (jaundice)
    Fluid accumulation in your abdomen (ascites)
    Loss of appetite
    Nausea
    Swelling in your legs
    Weight loss
    Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy)
    Spider-like blood vessels on your skin"

I have had cirrhosis since Jan 2008 I have lower leg swelling (edema) and also mild ascities visible on ultra sound only which I take a diuretic Spironolactone to treat.

I have had upper endoscopies to monitor for esophageal varicies which i did develop grade 3 varicies that required treatment to prevent a life threatening bleed. I underwent 4 upper endoscopies in as many months to band the varices to prevent a bleed. I am now monitored every year to check to see if they have returned.

Easy bruising is caused by portal vein (liver vein) hypertension which causes the spleen to enlarge and sequester platelets. Normal platelet levels are 150 minimum. Mine are around 80 to 90 I have seen some report as low as 50 or lower.

Another serious cirrhosis symptom is as mentioned above hepatic encephalopathy (HE) which can lead to confusion, coma and death.

We are also at increased risk of heptocellular carcinoma (HCC) aka liver cancer but with cure of hep c our risk is reduced.

I am assuming you have compensated cirrhosis right now. Do you know your MELD score or your Child-Pugh score? These are used to stage severity of your liver cirrhosis. Your doctor can tell you your score but it is based on some specific lab test results you probably have taken like bilirubin, creatinine and INR for the MELD while the Child-Pugh uses your bilirubin, albumin, and INR along with if you have ascities and if you have HE.

Cirrhosis is liver scarring to the point that the liver has difficulty performing its functions. Eventually the liver becomes so severely damaged it can no longer do its jobs and symptoms of cirrhosis begin to develop. Liver cirrhosis due to hep c is the leading reason for liver transplant in the US.

If you want you can check out the cirrhosis of the liver community to learn more about this serious medical condition and ask any questions you may have.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Cirrhosis-of-the-Liver/show/1390

I have been living with cirrhosis for 8 years now so we can live many years with liver cirrhosis. With cure of hep c we won't be having any more liver scarring form hep c so with care we can hope to live a normal live span we will need to be monitored with blood testing and abdominal ultrasounds every 6 months to monitor for the possibility of HCC to catch it in its early stages.

Good luck
Lynn

[whatsnot]

In making the long story short am hoping to get a question answered here, and Thank You. Am seeing many people fairly early in HCV treatment comment on how the symptoms are going away: fatigue, being able to get up early, motivation etc.. When I read about symptoms of HCV and symptoms of cirrhosis they are virtually the same and surely I have most of them. I've had HCV from 1975 or earlier and getting back to point have cirrhosis. This is confirmed by CAT scan and then by MRI. Been going through hoops but am hopeful to start Harvoni soon. My question is where do the HCV symptoms end and those of cirrhosis begin? Perhaps cirrhosis is embedded HCV? I sure pray not, takes the hope outa SVR!
       Thanks again, Tim

[Dee1956]

Hello! Welcome! Lynn has given you excellent advice.  I just wanted to welcome you here.  I "think" I got HCV back in 1977 when I got a shot of gama globulin.  Of course there are other ways to get it that the general public is not aware of.
Using someone's tooth brush, or razor blade who had HCV.  At one point people got it from unsterilized needles or ink from tattoos. Before 1992 it was possible to get it from a blood transfusion or even surgery.  There was no knowledge of this virus until sometime in the 90's then testing began on blood in 92 I remember back in the 70's people getting tattoos and not really knowing if it was sterile.  Back then HCV was an unknown.

I am glad you are only at level 1.  You have time to research, come up with a plan and treat it

Good luck, Dee

[flyinlynn]

Hi Joe and welcome

I probably had hep c since 1978 I never had much in the way of symptoms until after I was diagnosed with cirrhosis F4 in Jan 2008 after being infected for 30 years and the symptoms I have are from cirrhosis. The stats say about 20% of patients may progress to cirrhosis over 20 years but not everyone does you said you are level one so you should be fine.

Hep c is a slow moving illness and is called the silent virus because most have few symptoms as the virus slowly over decades damages the liver.

The most common symptom is tiredness. I have some chronic heartburn but that is from a hiatial hernia not hep c.

On thing you will need to know is your genotype that will let you and your doctor know which of the many new treatments is the right one for you.

There has never been a better time to learn you have hep c. There a medicines just approved in the last 2 years and more coming that are much more effective and better tolerated then the old treatments and can be as simple as 1 pill a day for 8 weeks and you are cured. I treated last year for the 5th time and am finally cured of hep c.

Curious how you found out it has been since 1994.

Do you know if you have had a test for the virus itself the HCV RNA by PCR test or just the antibody test?

There is a possibility that if all you have had is the test for antibodies you may have only been exposed in the past and are not currently infected with hep c. About 25% of people are able to beat the virus on their own but the remaining 75% do go on to being chronically infected and need to be treated for hep c.

Anyway good luck and ask away we are here to help as much as we can
Lynn