hep c rather severe fatigue

[boxofrain]

I am 32 year old male native born american of mostly french english and irish descent amongst others. i weigh about 155 and am about 5 11.  after noticing one day that i was eating and not getting hungry or digesting my food and was extremely fatigued (had to sit and take break after walk up one flight of stairs to take bath or use restroom).  reported to doctor and was diagnosed with hepatitis c in 2007 or 2008. quit drinking pretty much immediately. eventually regained a fraction of my usual energy but never got back 100 percent and it has been difficult to maintain a normal lifestyle due to limited energy and excessive fatigue.  just moved to a state where it is easier to get into a doctor and now i know my viral load is 14,000,000 copies my genotype is 1a or 2a and both my liver enzymes are 2 to 3 times higher than that of a normal person's high....  i am awaiting a biopsy in october to determine necessity and type of treatment and internal structural damage... my question is, how much damage is likely to be reperable and after treatment if successful at reducing detectability of virus, am i likely to regain my old energy or more likely to merely reduce likelihood of further damage?

[orphanedhawk]

I just want to repeat one important thing: viral load does NOT equal liver damage.
I had a viral load of only 750,000 yet I had decompensated cirrhosis, end stage liver disease. A friend with a higher viral load had no liver damage.

Drinking alcohol with hep C is like pouring gasoline on a fire. We need to stop as soon as we are diagnosed. It's important.

I know Humboldt quite well. Love those big redwoods:)

[boxofrain]

thaks to all for the congrats on quitting drinking but they aren't necessary... ordinarily this would have been quite a task for me but as it is i feel horrible when i drink now, so...  there you have it

[boxofrain]

cool!

[boxofrain]

hey thank you for the reply!  i fould it encouraging!  btw the only other thing i can tell you is i'm not anemic and i don't have hiv.  so, that much is cool.  i've always been pretty tired but this is ridiculous.  i eat healthy and get vitamins and excercise and stuff but my head is so cloudy!  i walk around feeling like i just woke up all day.  and when i did just wake up, i dont' bother going outside or leaving one spot because i make stupid mistakes outside, i.e., walking into traffic and almost forgetting to pay at stores.  it takes  two to three hours. oh and another note i got what you said about viral load being somewhat irrelevant but it's 14,000,000,000 not 14,000,000 like i posted last night.  so i dont know if THAT makes a dif....  i'm in humboldt county.  my doctor says i can smoke for my hep.  which is funny cuz my old doctor in louisiana said i couldn't smoke pot, even though he said, and i quote, it has no harmful efffects whatsoever.  ???  ppl are funny

[boxofrain]

I would like to make a correction to my original post... i did not enter my correct viral load... it is 14,000,000,000, not 14,000,000.  that's another thing that *****, when i'm tired i can't think well!!

[Advocate1955]

Congratulations on quitting drinking.  That is the first step toward helping your liver.  You said you are either Genotype 1 or Genotype 2, can you look up that info and let us know which?  As Hector said, after your biopsy in Oct, you will know more about the health of your liver, and your doctor will then be able to determine a treatment plan with you.  You'll then know more about the possibility of your liver being able to heal itself based on the extent of the damage.  In the meantime, do your biopsy and follow up with your doctor.  You're young, your weight is good, and your chances for getting rid of your Hep C with treatment are good, and that will be the most important thing for your liver.
Advocate1955

[HectorSF]

'how much damage is likely to be reperable and after treatment if successful at reducing detectability of virus'
First you have to cure your hepatitis to recover from damage caused by hepatitis C, not just reduce the viral level or have it be undetectable temporarily. And your liver disease will need to have not advanced to the point of no return. Which is likely for someone your age.

How much damage is reparable depends upon how damaged your liver is now. It is unlikely that your liver is so damaged that it can't repair itself at your age.You will know just how damaged your liver is when you get your biopsy results. Try to be patient.
BTW Viral load has no effect on the level of your disease so don't worry about it.

'am i likely to regain my old energy or more likely to merely reduce likelihood of further damage?'
Both can happen but it depends upon your low energy symptoms are being caused by being infected with hepatitis C and the amount of liver disease present when you cure your hepatitis.
You are quite young to have advanced liver disease at this point in your life. Possible but not common.

Do you have other symptoms that you have noticed? It is rare for someone your age to suffer servere liver damage. It usually takes 20-30 years of being infected with hep C and longer to have that much liver damage. Have you been checked for other health issues? Are you blood tests all normal but ALT and AST?

Best of luck to you! Congrats on stopping the alcohol. You have done a good thing for your liver by eliminating that toxin which can accelerate liver disease.

You are on your way to recovery from hepatitis C. Keep moving forward and in time I hope you start to feel well as a young person like yourself has many years of life ahead of them.

Hector

[Dawn703]

The liver is an amazing organ, it regenerates very well. If your liver is not badly damaged, such as in decompensated cirrohsis, your liver will heal once the virus is gone. My digestive issues are pretty much gone, it will take some time after treatment for fatigue to go away, treatment itself causes fatigue, but you will feel much stronger and healthier. Enzymes go up and down, not sure how much you need to worry about that, it is no indication of your liver damage and neither is your viral load (which also goes up and down). I have been off treatment for 4.5 weeks and my liver enzymes were normal at eot test results.