Tested postive for Hep C and viral load

[Myke]

I just found out about 1 week ago that I have Hep C as well. A blood test was done a year ago, and I was never told I had the antibodies for Hep C until last week. Needless to say I am furious over this delay. Yesterday, I found out that I do have the virus after a quantitative RNA test and this showed a high viral load. I am absolutely depressed, and scared. I do not know the genotype yet. I am from Michigan, and will be seeing my doctor in a day or two. I do not know how long I have had this. I was addicted to heroin for most of my life, but spent a considerable amount of that time in prison. I was in a car accident in 81, and in 1982 had to have some blood given to me in the hospital. I did not share needles, ever. I am 62 years old, and do not have any symptoms to speak of. I have been on methadone since 2007 and will be detoxing off of that crap soon. I do not want to tax my liver any more than it is already being taxed. It just seems like I can't catch a break. I have slowed down on smoking cig's, and now have the patch. I am quitting the cig's as well. I started taking milk thistle today, and have been doing the Nutribullet thing for quite a while now, all organic ingredients. All the blood test numbers last year were within normal range with the exception of a very slightly elevated liver enzyme count, and WBC count. I am thoroughly petrified, scared, depressed, and hope I don't have severe liver problems. I want to start the med's for this, but need more blood work I suspect for the genotype I have. And the fact that my doctor never told me I had been exposed to Hep C when I had a blood screen done a year ago has me livid. I viral load right now is 6 million, and that scares me to no end. I need some assurance, or something going through this and after. Thanks much. I also do not know how to post this in its own thread instead of piggybacking on another person's post like I did just before posting this one.

[dragonslayer]

Myke, that sucks that you didnt get notified for so long .. Malpractice for sure.  On the bright side, if youre going to get an HCV diagnosis, now's a great time for it to happen, as cures are mostly painless, and extremely effective.

Wouldnt it be great if you can get rid of the virus, and methadone at the same time?  I was on it for 20 years.. It was pretty much before the opioid 'epidemic' and served as a great daily boost.   Or so I thought.. At first.  I functioned well the whole time at a fairly high dose, but over time I started to loathe being so dependent on a clinic and a routine that was so enslaving.. What if the clinic should close, then what??  I moved to within a few blocks of it just to make sure I could always get there no matter what.  I lift weights and started taking creatine, a harmless substance your body produces anyway, and exogenously, it assists strength.. But of course, it shows up in your urine, and I had the damndest time keeping my take homes.  Its not a banned substance, but the staff is so sensitive to any unusual result, that it quickly triggers their suspicion. ..   I think the worst of it was after about 15 yrs, my teeth started undergoing a process the dentist called 'internal resorption' which just means they started crumbling.  I replaced 4 with implants, and shortly thereafter, began a year and a half detox...  Im not going to say it was easy, but it was So worth doing, and Ive been clean now 8 years... Btw, while on methadone, a lot of people think theyre 'clean' because theyre not shooting dope.. Theyre not clean.. Methadone is really tough addiction, and it takes so long to detox from it because it stays in your system for so long.   

The irony  of this is that near the end of my detox, just when I was all ready to be free and clear of this sordid past, thats when I got my HCV diagnosis!   It was like, 'cant I even just catch a break? Just one?!'.

At any rate, its now all over with.. HCV clear, living a clean healthy life, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger.. So I must be pretty strong.

Hang in there.. Its never to late to turn this stuff around.

Best of luck to you.

[Myke]

Myke, that sucks that you didnt get notified for so long .. Malpractice for sure.  On the bright side, if youre going to get an HCV diagnosis, now's a great time for it to happen, as cures are mostly painless, and extremely effective.

Wouldnt it be great if you can get rid of the virus, and methadone at the same time?  I was on it for 20 years.. It was pretty much before the opioid 'epidemic' and served as a great daily boost.   Or so I thought.. At first.  I functioned well the whole time at a fairly high dose, but over time I started to loathe being so dependent on a clinic and a routine that was so enslaving.. What if the clinic should close, then what??  I moved to within a few blocks of it just to make sure I could always get there no matter what.  I lift weights and started taking creatine, a harmless substance your body produces anyway, and exogenously, it assists strength.. But of course, it shows up in your urine, and I had the damndest time keeping my take homes.  Its not a banned substance, but the staff is so sensitive to any unusual result, that it quickly triggers their suspicion. ..   I think the worst of it was after about 15 yrs, my teeth started undergoing a process the dentist called 'internal resorption' which just means they started crumbling.  I replaced 4 with implants, and shortly thereafter, began a year and a half detox...  Im not going to say it was easy, but it was So worth doing, and Ive been clean now 8 years... Btw, while on methadone, a lot of people think theyre 'clean' because theyre not shooting dope.. Theyre not clean.. Methadone is really tough addiction, and it takes so long to detox from it because it stays in your system for so long.   

The irony  of this is that near the end of my detox, just when I was all ready to be free and clear of this sordid past, thats when I got my HCV diagnosis!   It was like, 'cant I even just catch a break? Just one?!'.

At any rate, its now all over with.. HCV clear, living a clean healthy life, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger.. So I must be pretty strong.

Hang in there.. Its never to late to turn this stuff around.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the reply and encouragement. I'm on 54mgs of methadone now, and going to start going down at 4mgs per week until I am out of that place. I have kept my take-homes since 2007 but it is time to get out of there. I also lifted weights for a long time, up until I was 52. Would like to start again, but with this crap going on I want to take care of it if possible. I just hope I am not damaged too much internally from the Hep C. You know, the first thing I said when I found out I had Hep C, and the viral load was, "I just can't catch a break," just like you said. I said that to my dad as the tears just flowed down my cheeks. I'm sick of this crap, and lifestyle that brought me to this point, including the methadone. I used to be a substance abuse counselor in the 90's and had the world by the ass, but I relapsed, and ended up losing a very good job, and status. Anyway, thanks for replying, and I hope to talk to you more. Peace...