experiences on other possible disease which can be caused by Hepatitis C virus.

[Gert]

Hi all
DAY 1
I started today January 19, 2017 with Cimivir-L which I bought in India and has got it sent to London, as it is illegal in Denmark to be sent medicine directly to Denmark, but it is legal to send it to England, so I've been to London and get my medicine, I've got a hospital in Denmark to help me with blood tests during treatment.
I've had hepatitis C for many years, and has gone to control at the hospital for over 12 years. I have gone through all the years of coming to better care, since I have Genotype 1a and the earlier treatment had poor cure rates.
Was told by the hospital that my liver is not bad enough they would offer me treatment. My fibro scanning is 4.4 even though they tell me that my liver is normal, I have decided that would of my hepatitis C and try to live without the disease, have the feeling that my hepatitis C cause I have an inflammatory in my airway and struggling with mucus in my lungs.
Hope others will share experiences on other possible disease which can be caused by Hepatitis C virus. - Possibly allergies?

[gnatcatcher]

Welcome, Gert.

Glad you found a way to get treated. Sorry you have an inflamed airway and mucus in your lungs.

HCV does seem to cause an assortment of other problems. There is a term for this: Extrahepatic Manifestations of HCV. Here is a link to more information:
http://hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Extrahepatic.pdf

After I was cured of the HCV, I asked my hepatologist and also my regular doctor whether some of my other problems were really extrahepatic manifestations rather than separate diagnoses. Both doctors said the only way I would know is: if those problems went away, then they were extrahepatic manifestations; if they didn't go away, then they were separate illnesses. In other words, each person is different.

Hope this helps.

Gnatty

[Mugwump]

What happens to some people is that their own immune system attacks them because HCV has stimulated activity in the creation of several types of foreign antibodies to fight HCV.

Although it cannot be known for certain or easily quantified and diagnosed, the evidence is clear that before HCV infection becomes chronic and does severe liver damage it can stimulate the immune system to create agents that do damage to much more than just the liver.

In the worst cases the liver itself can become subject to an auto immune disease. This disease is very dangerous and is called auto-immune hepatitis. Although this disease can occur without an HCV infection there is some evidence that it is more prevalent in those with HCV.

It is well documented that over ten times the numbers of those who have HCV have higher than normal levels of thyroid antigens than the general population of non infect individuals.

Yes you can be completely symptom free and still have an active infection with HCV but over 60% of those infected go on eventually to become chronically infected.

Naturally the worst possible effect of long term HCV, other than the disease itself is the greatly increased risk of Hepatic cancer. Whether or not some other cancers can be stimulated or increased in frequency and severity by an active infection with HCV is not well studied but much speculation exists that HCV can increase the risks of other cancers as well as liver cancer(s)

So auto-immune diseases are perhaps the greatest concern other than the obvious risks of infecting others, for those who are not chronically infected.

The only reason why treatment for HCV is being held back from those who are not chronically infected is the cost of the drugs.

If someone is not chronically infected, and the definition of a chronic infection is something which is hotly debated, does not get treatment chances are that other infections or aging will eventually weaken the individuals immune system and allow HCV to overwhelm the ability of the immune system to deal with the disease.

I am 64 years old and most likely was infected around the year 1970 or earlier in the late 1960's. My infection did not become chronic until around the year 2000 when I was about 48.
But I am certain that were times between 1970 and 2000 when the disease attacked me and did damage that was compensated for with my strong immune system.

So HCV can infect in waves and one cannot know for certain if or when it will become chronic. I too had GT1a.

All the best curing the disease, my hopes and prayers. And warm greeting to the forum Gert!

Here is hoping also that eventually the days of not treating all cases of HCV upon diagnosis will become an unpleasant memory of how greedy and selfish our pharmaceutical controlled medical systems can be! It bothers me deeply that we are starting to dismiss the seriousness of this disease and it is a dismissal of contrived convenience to keep the price of the drugs up in the stratosphere where they currently are!

A very concerned exHEPPER who does not want to see our current failure to treat this disease early become an even greater burden upon our children.

Eric