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Effect of acute HCV on brain, cognitive functions and learning abilities

Hello dotors,  
I am 22 year old male suffered acute hepatitis C and i was lucky to have the early symptoms so i started treatment about 3 months or less after exposure with sofosbuvir + daclatasvir for 3 months and i got negative PCR after 1 month and 3 months from the start of treatment and after 3 months of stopping treatment.
During infection,  treatment and for a period of time after treatment i felt muscle aches and exhaustion especially after performing simple physical tasks but these effects are improved now.
I am just now feeling i face some mental problems in concentration,  learning abilities and cognitive functions.
I am just asking if acute hepatits is likely to cause these effects or any brain changes as i read some studies about hcv crossing BBB or this feeling is not true and its only psychological effect and acute HCV has nothing to do with brain or cognitive functions.
Thanks alot
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683231 tn?1467323017
Just wanted to add the majority of patients have no symptoms of hep c infection which is why it is called a silent illness.

I was probably infected for 12 years when I learned I was infected. I donated blood and received a letter from the blood bank advising me I had tested positive for hep c antibodies and to see my personal doctor.

How were you diagnosed with hep c? Did you have HCV RNA by PCR testing done prior to treatment? What was your viral load and genotype?

Did you have a possible blood to blood exposure to hep c where hep c blood could have possibly entered your blood stream?

Usually, if it was a recent exposure even if you have a viral load most doctors would opt to wait for 6 months to see if you are able to beat the virus without treatment as about 25% of patients are able to self cure with no medication needed.

If you still had a viral load 6 months after a new exposure that is when you would normally start treatment.

Starting treatment 3 months after a possible exposure isn’t really standard protocol. You may not have needed to be treated at all.
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5 Comments
Thank you for the valuable information.
Yes i performed the HCV RNA PCR test after about one and half month after infection  and it was positive with low viremia.
I knew that there is a possibility to recovery without medication but as it was only a small % of patients who recover and as the direct antiviral medications cause are almost safe with few reversible and tolerable side effects unlike interferon+ribavirin combination so i started the treatment early even before the 6 months.
Thanks and have a nice day.
Best of luck to you from what I have read at least in the US they would not have prescribed any treatment until 6 months post exposure especially as hep c is not a medical emergency and the odds of self clearing are almost as good as the odds of old treatments of interferon working. The first rule of medicine is first do no harm. The thinking is why treat something that could resolve on its own.

But none the less congrats on your cure best of luck to you.
There are certainly cases where the feeling amongst physicians treating HCV in the acute stage is recommended.

The thoughts usually have to do with the patients that may be in high risk situations of spreading the disease.(ie. health care workers, IDU, and men that have sex with men to name a few)
Also if the physician feels that they may lose the patient to follow up after being diagnosed is another reason.

Glad you are HCV free regardless of what your situation may have been
Fair enough always exception to the general rules
Yes.... it is a good thing  some knowledgable  physicians don’t always follow the ....
“general rules”
683231 tn?1467323017
There are no doctors here.

The hepatitis c community is primarily a community of patients who come together to support each other while living with chronic hep c infection and through all the treatments we endured in the past and these new meds that have finally brought us cure.

For myself I was infected with hep c for 37 years and was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis after being infected for 30 years. I was cured of hep c almost four years ago but am living with cirrhosis now for 11 years.

I am one of the very few old timers still hanging atound here. I personally have not experienced what you have described.

So anyway if you wish a doctors answer to your questions I suggest you discuss your concerns with your personal physician.

Best of luck
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