me, too. Newly dx'd

[LamontCranston]

I just got the news. What I know so far is when my wife got tested, she showed antibodies from exposure, but no active/current infection, so I got tested and Bingo, POS for Antiboidies, and more blood work confirmed a "Chronic Hep C" diagnosis.

My AST, ALT #'s are low, around 17 -ish but have been as high as 27 in previous yearly blood work. I don't know genotype, viral load #s yet, but will see my gastro, a doctor I have seen for chronic constipation/hemmorhoids, that I trust, and like. So I am positive about my appt with him this Friday AM.

My Bio: 65 years old, retired IT guy, 28.5 continuous sobriety in AA, but was DX'd in '99 with MultipleSclerosis, and since with arthereosclerosis (sic), UTI, and the usual stuff. I had Hep A in '91, a 3 month severe case, but recovered pretty well, until of course MS came along to kick me down life's concrete staircase of surprise medical events.

After my MS diagnosis i was able to return to work after getting Copaxone treatment and adequate pain management with methadone. I worked for another 12 years in a new field, finally retiring at age 62.

For the past year I have been having chronic gut issues that have been severe at times, constipation, bloating, occasional nausea, fatigue, insomnia, back pain. An MRI revealed I had a herniated a disk at L1L2 and I assumed the gut issues were related since that nerve root goes through gut and down leg, but maybe not,, eh? But I have had a medley of other stuff, low grade fever that comes and goes, a generally crummy feeling, and just plain old yucky stomach/abdomen. It's not like anything is severe, really, but bad enough that it's always kind of there, like a bad friend, an Eddie Haskell kind of friend. Always hanging around making me miserable.

Hep C apparently can cause some of the above gut issues. I am hopeful that I can put this in my rear view mirror with one of the new HEP C drugs and get on with my life, such as it is.

I am sure there were 12 ways I could have acquired the virus since prior to '88 I wasn't a particularly cautious person. I have already figured out one of the worst things about this diagnosis is telling my former GFs that I will pay for them to get tested.

[Lynn K]

Hi Lamont and welcome

Wow you have had quite the road in life but you sound like you have a good attitude especially with all you have been through!

That is great you are planning on contacting your ex's but you probably have read that in general hep c is not considered to be an STD. For those with multiple partners and especially for those who engage in rough sex practices or in the presence of HIV the risk is increased. So the odds of your ex's having contracted hep c from you is very low. Hopefully when you do disclose you share the low risk information as well so you don't have them too worried just a check for peace of mind sake to be sure they are not infected.

Best of luck with your treatment and wishing you good health.

[LamontCranston]

...So the odds of your ex's having contracted hep c from you is very low. Hopefully when you do disclose you share the low risk information as well so you don't have them too worried just a check for peace of mind sake to be sure they are not infected.
..

Yes, but I am not entirely sure that I didn't get it From One of Them. So just in case. Fortunately, there are only 2 that I am concerned about, since the person I was with prior, for 6 years, has no infection or antibody.
I get that it's one of those things, that could have come from any number of people, since I have no idea how long I have had this. Of course, at this point, I think everyone could benefit from getting tested.
Devoting a lot of energy to tracking down the source isn't worthwhile at this point, I just want everyone to be safe.

Thank you for your kind welcome!

[Lynn K]

Well really hep c is not considered an STD it requires blood to blood contact to be transmitted. While you may have acquired hep c this way the odds are not that high really.

And also there are people who have no idea where they may have gotten infected the cannot point to a specific at risk incident so the thing is you will likely never know if that is the case. So for example never had a blood transfusion before 1989 when the antibody test became available and the blood supply secured, never used IV drugs and shared needles, never had a tattoo from an unlicensed artist. Those type of things would be much higher risk than typical sexual encounters. Hep c usually does not come from other people unless sharing needles or getting tattoos at shops without appropriate equipment to sterilize the  equipment. There is also some discussion about the auto injectors sit gun inoculations done by the military in te past as being a possible source but there is debate about that.

Absolutely the more tested the better then the more treated and the hope we can eridicate hep c from the world.