worried

[tmo727]

Iam 27 years old and have had hep c for 9 years. I got the virus from intravenous drug use. I was a heroin addict for about 2 years and have been clean for about 8 years. i have drank heavily at times and sometimes daily.  I owned a bar which kept me drinking alot for about the last 2 years. I just sold it and have cut my drinking down to once every couple weeks.  i have had right upper abdominal pain for the last 6 months and iam going for a ultrasound saturday and blood tests. iam very worried. can anyone relate with me. I am also getting married in 4 months. just very concerned about everything.

[jdwithhcv]

The decision to treat and when to treat is an intensely personal thing, and many factors must be considered.  

You sound as though you have changed your behavior for the better and I wish you well in your marriage and with whatever course of action you elect regarding Hep C.

All the best,
jd

[Andromedae]

The facts are simply that everyone infected with HCV has a life threatening virus that will, in each and every case, cause liver damage as well as increased risk of cancer of the liver and pancreas.

All HCV patients will eventually develop liver damage.  One out of five HCV patients will develop cirrhosis of the liver at some point their lives.  One out of twenty HCV patients will develop liver cancer - essentially a death sentence without incredibly good health insurance.  

Additionally HCV has been linked recently to highly increased rated of diabetes as well as destruction of mitochondria which is a major cause of fatigue.

And HCV is transmissible.  Anyone here who has HCV got it from another person.  Period.

Those are the facts.  You ignore them or not at your own peril.

I began treatment 60 days after I was first diagnosed.  One month into treatment I had no detectable virus and my blood tests (liver, glucose , etc) which had all gone WAY out of spec had returned to normal.  7 months into treatment I remain undetectable.  I am going to live a long and healthy life and I encourage others to take the steps needed to do the same.

[jmjm530]

All HCV patients will eventually develop liver damage.  One out of five HCV patients will develop cirrhosis of the liver at some point their lives.  One out of twenty HCV patients will develop liver cancer - essentially a death sentence without incredibly good health insurance.  
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This assumes that someone does not treat within a certain window which for many may be many, many years. I am also an advocate of treatment -- I treated myself -- but I only advocate treatment when someone begins to develop significant liver damage. Before that, one can reasonably wait for better drugs and avoid many of the potential side effects (short and long term) of these very toxic drugs.

-- Jim

[Andromedae]

You said : "This assumes that someone does not treat within a certain window which for many may be many, many years. I am also an advocate of treatment -- I treated myself -- but I only advocate treatment when someone begins to develop significant liver damage."

I am not sure it does assume that Jim.  What I do know and have seen in the Journals is the the effectiveness of the current treatment is absolutely correlated with

1. How long you have had the virus in your system
2. Your current state of health

It was those tho things that were the key to my decision to treat immediately.  If you wait until later, when you are sicker and the virus has resided in the body longer - current forms of treatment will be less effective then if you had treated today.  This may or may not hold true for upcoming treatments but - we do not know either way.

The healthier you are and the less time you leave the virus in your system - the better your chances of success with current treatments..

HCV is a very slow progressing disease.  Waiting a few years may not make any difference at all - or it may make all the difference in the world for an individual.  No one can say.  I prefer to give myself every possible chance.

[Trinity4]

You have no idea how maturely I look at HCV and treatment.  I am UND as well and do not consider myself a peril to anyone now or before I became UND.  You have never been able to move past that.  HCV is transmitted blood to blood.  You would like people to think casual contact is a cause for extreme concern.  You look at yourself differently than I do.  That is so obvious from your posts.
Did you see me post anything about not treating.  NO  I simply said do not view yourself as having the "andromeda strain" so to speak.
You need to lighten up big time.

[jmjm530]

AND: "...What I do know and have seen in the Journals is the the effectiveness of the current treatment is absolutely correlated with

1. How long you have had the virus in your system
2. Your current state of health

It was those tho things that were the key to my decision to treat immediately.  If you wait until later, when you are sicker and the virus has resided in the body longer - current forms of treatment will be less effective then if you had treated today...
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Actually, this is not accurate, and in fact study data suggests that those who were infected at a younger age actually have a better chance of SVR than those infected at an older age. So in these cases, the *longer* you've had the virus, the better your chances, not as you state.

As to current health -- and I assume you're talking level of fibrosis -- again, studies suggest that only stage 4 have decreased chances of SVR with SOC. A stage 3 has the same chance as a stage 1.