Hepatitis Forums
Hepatitis C Main Forums => Hepatitis C Research News & Studies => Topic started by: Nervous on November 09, 2014, 02:56:12 pm
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My boyfriend was just diagnosed and I haven't gotten tested yet. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis about a year ago. Is thee any correlation between the two. I also worry that the inflammation that showed up May have been misdiagnosed as arthritis. Is this possible?
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If you have RA you have been tested for it and probably tested for sed rate and CRP which are markers for inflammation. You could also have hep C and that is a separate test. Sometimes having hep c triggers autoimmune diseases and sometimes the IFN treatments could also. There are several people treating hep c now who also have various AI diseases. Apparently, the new DAA's don't rev up or modulate the immune system like IFN did. DAA stops replication of the virus. Hope this answers a few things.
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Thanks for your response I have been reading so much and it is all overwhelming to try and understand. So I need to ask my doctor to test for hep c. I have also read that having an AI can make hep c harder to treat/cure is this true.
I know this May seem silly considering I haven't been tested yet but when I found out he was diagnosed I started reading everything I could but just don't understand it all and there are so many conflicting reports. I have never done drugs and I don't drink. I read that transmission through sexual contact is low but I am really scared and don't know what to do.
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I don't know that having AI nowadays makes hep c treatment worse since DAA's don't mess with the immune system like old drugs did. I would ask my doctor to test me for hep c to ease my mind.
Maybe Lucinda Porter RN can chime in here?
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Thank you. At this point any advice is welcome because I am driving myself crazy trying to read all the information out there and I don't understand half of it.
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Hi Nervous,
I can imagine that this is disturbing, and you have millions of questions. Rather than start with lots of speculation, how about you get tested for hep C. I appreciate your questions - because yes, there could be a correlation. However, I find that worrying without solid information is just worrying, and worrying is painful, especially when you don't know if you have anything to worry about.
When you get the results, check in again, OK?
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Just FYI,
I have had hepc for 44 years. I remember the exact moments I contracted, as I had the symptoms and diagnosis months after. I met my wife later in life, have 3 kids and she later developed Rheumatoid Arthritis and been tested for hep c twice, and never
got it. The two are probably not really related. But you can get autoimmune issues from later stages in hepc.
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Thanks to all of you for your advice and sharing your knowledge with me. I truly appreciate it.