Hepatitis Forums

Hepatitis C Main Forums => On Hepatitis C Treatment => Topic started by: Mcclearp on December 07, 2011, 10:26:09 pm

Title: Recurring Hep C
Post by: Mcclearp on December 07, 2011, 10:26:09 pm
I Have Geno type 3 and went through treatment 15 years ago and just had my yearly test and this is the first time it has come back positive. My doctor said my test was an 11 and to be negative it had to be under 9. Has anyone heard of this? How bad is that? Do they do the same treatment I went through with the combo riboflavin and interferon? Or is this worst because it has come back?
Title: Re: Recurring Hep C
Post by: Tim Horn on December 08, 2011, 08:23:31 am
Mcclearp:

Can you tell us a bit more about the actual test your doctor performed that resulted a result of "11"? I'm not immediately familiar with the test being reference here.

Importantly -- did your doctor order an HCV viral load test to see if there's evidence of active viral replication? This would definitely be the most important test to have, to determine if any additional steps need to be taken.

Tim Horn
Title: Re: Recurring Hep C
Post by: Mcclearp on December 08, 2011, 09:22:19 am
It was a blood test I will call today and get more info and post tonight. Thank you for your help. The not knowing is what creates fear.
Title: Re: Recurring Hep C
Post by: Mcclearp on December 09, 2011, 12:40:49 am
This is what the dr's office said. The test was HCV Antibody was an 11. The load is high. White blood cells were 5.0. That's all I got today.
Title: Re: Recurring Hep C
Post by: Tim Horn on December 09, 2011, 07:49:58 am
Mcclearp:

Okay, so if you've had a rising HCV antibody titer AND a detectable HCV viral load, then yes -- you've either had a recurrence of the infection or have been reinfected with the virus.

You'll definitely want to have another genotype performed to see if you're still dealing with genotype 3 HCV infection. From there, you'll probably want to at least discuss a follow-up liver biopsy to see where things are with respect to the health of your liver. Re-treatment decisions will need to be based on these results.

Have you and your regular doc discussed reconnecting with a liver specialist to discuss these results?

Tim
Title: Re: Recurring Hep C
Post by: charlieoboy on December 09, 2011, 09:31:36 am
sorry if this is a dmb question. can you get hep again after you've been cured? or was it just never really cured?