Hepatitis disease - Hi all, I have a few questions about Hep C.

Author

Hi all, I have a few questions about Hep C.

Khis Das

2005-07-25, 10:19 am

I was diagnosed with acute Hepatitis C in May of this year. I've been
referred to a specialist but before seeing him he has ordered three months
of blood tests to monitor my ALT levels. I had the first test in July, the
second will be in August, and the third in September. Is this right? I'm not
sure what kind of pattern they're looking for, but I do know that the
results will determine whether I'm eligible for treatment. The doctor told
me this.

I contracted Hepatitis C injecting cocaine, and I think I may have been
coinfected with HIV. My last possible exposure was on June 26th (I haven't
used drugs since then) of this year. I tested negative for HIV last week,
the test (I think) was HIV serology 1 ad 2. How accurate is that test and
within what time frame. I've been told everything from fourty-five days to
three months to six months.

Maybe I've revealed too much or gone beyond the subject of the group - if
so - sorry. I will post some info below if anyone can help me interpret
this. The book I bought uses a different measuring system.

+ Total Protein 70 64-83
g/L
+ Alk Phos 77 46-152
U/L
+ AST 88 11-41
U/L
+ ALT 262 26-72
U/L
+ HEP C PCR PENDING
+ HEP C GENOTYPE PENDING

--
I don't even know what street Canada is on.
- Al Capone

greyhackles

2005-07-25, 6:57 pm

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 05:46:22 GMT, "Khis Das" <sketchy_pad@yahoo.ca> wrote:

> I was diagnosed with acute Hepatitis C in May of this year. I've been
>referred to a specialist but before seeing him he has ordered three months
>of blood tests to monitor my ALT levels. I had the first test in July, the
>second will be in August, and the third in September. Is this right?

Seems reasonable for acute HCV, for a start.

>I'm not sure what kind of pattern they're looking for, but I do know that the
>results will determine whether I'm eligible for treatment. The doctor told
>me this.

Because somewhere around 15-25% of acute HCV cases will *not* transition to
chronic - meaning, those patients clear the virus on their own - the trend is
to monitor acute patients for 6 months, monitoring LFTs (liver function tests)
to determine both the level of inflammation and any trends. At some point (the
same 6 months post-diagnosis, I suppose) they'd run a viral load test as well
to determine if your body is still replicating HCV, or not, and make the call
on therapy as a result.

On the plus side, the current standard of care therapy for acute cases is very
effective across genotypes. I would expect any doc to recommend treatment for
acute cases if they are still replicating virus at 6 months post-dx.

>I contracted Hepatitis C injecting cocaine, and I think I may have been
>coinfected with HIV. My last possible exposure was on June 26th (I haven't
>used drugs since then) of this year. I tested negative for HIV last week,
>the test (I think) was HIV serology 1 ad 2. How accurate is that test and
>within what time frame. I've been told everything from fourty-five days to
>three months to six months.

I'm pretty sure you have to go out to at least 6 months to accept negative
results (negative meaning no detectable HIV). Of course, any confirmed
positive test is going to be indicative, on day 1 or day 180.

>Maybe I've revealed too much or gone beyond the subject of the group - if
>so - sorry. I will post some info below if anyone can help me interpret
>this. The book I bought uses a different measuring system.
>
>+ Total Protein 70 64-83
>g/L
>+ Alk Phos 77 46-152
>U/L
>+ AST 88 11-41
>U/L
>+ ALT 262 26-72
>U/L
>+ HEP C PCR PENDING
>+ HEP C GENOTYPE PENDING

So the AST and ALT are clearly showing your liver is under some kind of
inflammatory siege. These will be secondary benchmarks - interesting, but not
definitive - to the PCR tests. The Genotype test will pin down which "flavors"
of virus you carry, which will dictate which course of treatment you would
eventually follow (pretty much simply comes down to how many weeks - 24 vs 48
- of treatment you'd do).

Question, if you don't mind: what led you to seeking medical care in May?
Did you turn carrot color and piss Pepsi? (been there/done that).
Or have a hitch in your ticker? (Been there, too)

Many HCV+ folks never experience any acute-phase symptoms - that could have
led to a diagnosis 30-something years earlier. In the long-run, having a
full-blown acute phase in 2005 might be about the best you could hope for, if
it leads to successful therapy as 85-90% of acute cases do, today...

Cheers, and good luck

/greyhackles

Khis Das

2005-07-25, 11:39 pm

"greyhackles" <greyhackles@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4jmae1p6mnpsgd1k27fb42snok0rqd4fn3@4ax.com...
>
> Question, if you don't mind: what led you to seeking medical care in May?
> Did you turn carrot color and piss Pepsi? (been there/done that).
> Or have a hitch in your ticker? (Been there, too)
>
> Many HCV+ folks never experience any acute-phase symptoms - that could
> have
> led to a diagnosis 30-something years earlier. In the long-run, having a
> full-blown acute phase in 2005 might be about the best you could hope for,
> if
> it leads to successful therapy as 85-90% of acute cases do, today...
>
> Cheers, and good luck
>
> /greyhackles

Thanks for your response.

I'm in my early twenties and usually pretty healthy. I started to feel tired
all the time but nothing more than that. I knew that I had likely contracted
the virus because of my risky behaviour , so I put two and two together and
decided to get tested. Now I've made drastic lifestyle changes. I've stopped
drinking and using drugs, I'm trying not to associate with my old friends.
I've even change my diet and started to exercise (when I'm feeling up to
it). I'm taking milk thistle and a few other supplements, hopefully they
will help.

Peace.

--
If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn't have a job if he
was any smarter.
-John Gotti

Khis Das

2005-07-25, 11:39 pm

"greyhackles" <greyhackles@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4jmae1p6mnpsgd1k27fb42snok0rqd4fn3@4ax.com...
> Question, if you don't mind: what led you to seeking medical care in May?
> Did you turn carrot color and piss Pepsi? (been there/done that).
> Or have a hitch in your ticker? (Been there, too)
>
> Many HCV+ folks never experience any acute-phase symptoms - that could
> have
> led to a diagnosis 30-something years earlier. In the long-run, having a
> full-blown acute phase in 2005 might be about the best you could hope for,
> if
> it leads to successful therapy as 85-90% of acute cases do, today...
>
> Cheers, and good luck
>
> /greyhackles

Ya, I was lucky to have caught it early and now have a good chance at being
cured. I have more sympathy for people who contracted HCV by no fault of
their own, sadly many don't know they are infected for many years as you
said. About the 85%-95% successful therapy of acute cases - is having no
detectable viral load really a cure? There is no way to completely get rid
of the virus is there, is there a chance of relapse and would hte person
still be contagious? If cured (or not) would a male possibly pass the virus
on to children?

Thanks for your time. Peace.

--
When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When
you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours that's
relativity.
- Albert Einsten

greyhackles

2005-07-25, 11:39 pm

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:31:06 GMT, "Khis Das" <sketchy_pad@yahoo.ca> wrote:

>
>"greyhackles" <greyhackles@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:4jmae1p6mnpsgd1k27fb42snok0rqd4fn3@4ax.com...
>
>Thanks for your response.
>
>I'm in my early twenties and usually pretty healthy. I started to feel tired
>all the time but nothing more than that. I knew that I had likely contracted
>the virus because of my risky behaviour , so I put two and two together and
>decided to get tested. Now I've made drastic lifestyle changes. I've stopped
>drinking and using drugs, I'm trying not to associate with my old friends.
>I've even change my diet and started to exercise (when I'm feeling up to
>it). I'm taking milk thistle and a few other supplements, hopefully they
>will help.
>
>Peace.

Good on ya for the Self-Actualized Reality Check ;-)

Hopefully you're clean on HIV, so clearing the HCV is all you have to deal
with. The MT can't hurt, but I suspect it's not going to have much beneficial
effect either, as while there's beau coup inflammation going on right now,
I'll bet acute phase cases rarely suffer significant liver damage to begin
with.

I wouldn't push the physical stuff right now, if it takes too much out of you.
Exhausting your body at the same time that your immune system is battling evil
viroid invaders seems counterproductive. Time to go with the flow...

Cheers

/greyhackles

greyhackles

2005-07-25, 11:39 pm

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:43:07 GMT, "Khis Das" <sketchy_pad@yahoo.ca> wrote:

>
>"greyhackles" <greyhackles@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:4jmae1p6mnpsgd1k27fb42snok0rqd4fn3@4ax.com...
>
>Ya, I was lucky to have caught it early and now have a good chance at being
>cured. I have more sympathy for people who contracted HCV by no fault of
>their own, sadly many don't know they are infected for many years as you
>said. About the 85%-95% successful therapy of acute cases - is having no
>detectable viral load really a cure? There is no way to completely get rid
>of the virus is there, is there a chance of relapse and would hte person
>still be contagious? If cured (or not) would a male possibly pass the virus
>on to children?
>
>Thanks for your time. Peace.

The only functional metric we have is detectable HCV RNA. As that's always (or
very nearly so) read via blood samples - and we know the viral replication
process does not occur in the blood cells themselves - it's an indirect
measurement, and with a built-in error factor to begin with (false negative at
very low VLs).

One can add that if simply becoming "undetectable" via RNA PCR tests of the
blood meant the virus was "gone" from the body, folks that hit "undetectable"
at any random week would in fact be permanently cleared. We know that isn't
the usual course - hence the 24 or 48 week standards.

But it's the best test we have, and I believe the trend is to support the
notion that a durable SVR as evaluated by RNA PCR means the virus is indeed
gone. That might in fact translate into "the immune system is maintaining the
virus at undetectable levels" - we won't really know for sure until test
sensitivity achieves one particle per milliliter. While I'd prefer it was
actually "gone", either definition works for me if it is durable ;-)

Cheers

/greyhackles

Jethro Lives

2005-07-30, 5:53 pm

The ALT is pretty nasty, but albumen, creatine, bilirubin, INR, and
platelet counts are more definitive of the damage to your liver. WBC
count too. I got tossed of tx cause of WBC and High counts on plats and
INR> Have you had a biopsy yet? Don't let that shit scare ya. It ain't
that bad and the pathologist can eyeball your liver up close and
poisonally. Get it done. Ask for some demoral----even if you don't need
it. Hell, ya might as well catch a buzz while you're laying around like
an idiot for 4 hours. brian

gary.gach@gmail.com

2005-08-14, 11:55 am

like he says: biopsies.
They're the gold standard.
check it out