Just got results

[Texnurse14]

I am a 69 year old woman. My dr followed the CDC Guidelines and ordered HCV testing because of my age group. I could not believe that it came back positive. My risk factor was that I practiced nursing at a huge urban hospital in the early 80’s when we didn’t wear gloves or use much precaution. If I got it there, I’ve had it for nearly 40 years.  I was married for 32 years, then dated some when I got divorced so maybe I got it then. I know it’s useless to obsess about where it came from, but it’s hard not to.
Anyway, I got my labs, but I was so freaked out that I didn’t ask the G I doc what they meant. They were negative for A and B. For HCV they were:Quantification 8,330,000, Log 10 6.921. I know that this is somehow the viral load, but I don’t know how bad it is.
I have no symptoms of hepatitis, my liver enzymes have always been normal, I don’t drink at all. I used to drink wine occasionally, but I don’t even do that anymore.  Too many empty calories.
I’m waiting on the results of the fibrosis, hiv, etc. before he can prescribe meds. I’m trying not to drive my poor husband crazy with my obsessing. I’m terrified that I have cirrhosis and the meds won’t work.
I guess I’m wondering how to get on with my life and accept this. Any help figuring out labs and getting through the initial phase would be greatly appreciated.

[Lynn K]

Hi and welcome

Yes you have a viral load of 8,330,000 II/mL or the same number expressed on the logarithmic scale Log base 10   6.921 IU/mL.

Having any viral load simply means you have hep c. Viral load does not equate to severity of condition neither does liver enzyme levels. Having a higher or lower viral load does not effect cure rates. For treatment naive people without cirrhosis cure rates with the new DAA mads are better than 98%

Even me as a 3 time null responder to interferon based treatment with cirrhosis for over 7 years at the time I was treated, I was successfully treated and cured.

I know this is scary but take a breath you will know more soon. Hep c is a slow moving illness with most people having no symptoms which is why it is called a silent illness. The most common symptom people report is tiredness. Also only about 20% of people infected for over 20 years will develop liver damage meaning 80% won’t so odds are very good your liver is fine.

Also, there have been many here in long term married relationships where one has hep c and the other does not.

Best of luck let us know what is going on

We welcome any questions you may have

[Lynn K]

You will also need to know your genotype of hep c to know which treatment will be best for you.

There are I believe 16 genotypes of hep c with names like 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b etc... the most common in the US is genotype 1a

[Texnurse14]

Thanks so much for the response. My genotype is a1. I know that is the most common , but that’s as much as I know. I also know that I need to stop obsessively looking on the internet. I’ll start to calm down and then I read that Havroni causes breast cancer and I’m on a downward spiral again.
We go around thinking that out life is okay, but when this happens, it seems like any bad thing is possible.. HIV, liver cancer, cirrhosis..and waiting for the next bad shoe to drop. Not a great way to live. I have taken antidepressants off and on and I probably need to restart. Is that something that anyone takes while on Hep c meds?

[Lynn K]

Hi

I've never seen an association of Harvoni with breast cancer. Do you have the link where you saw this? If someone did develop breast cancer while taking Harvoni I very much doubt the two were related. Likely the person would have gotten breast cancer regardless of having hep c or taking hep c treatment.

I suggest you confine your searches to medical sites and not so much everybody on the internet although I do like to think we here are a good source of information. But still we are mostly a community of patients and not medical experts.

Life is still ok this is just a bump in the road. Yes people who feel the need have taken antidepressants with DAA meds.

[Texnurse14]

This was the link I was reading:

https://www.drugs.com/answers/many-women-breast-cancer-drug-harvoni-3343932.html

[Lynn K]

Yeah that is individual experiences. Would they post if they were taking an aspirin regime and developed breast cancer?

If A then B does not indicate any causal relationship.

I found another site that lists 4 cases of breast cancer among the hundreds of thousands that have taken Harvoni. I don’t believe there is any relationship between Harvoni and breast cancer. I would worry more about HRT in relationship to breast cancer then Harvoni

[Mugwump]

Choosing Harvoni as a DAA does have some issues, especially for those who have compromised digestion and are on strong antacid treatment, have poor renal functions and poor heart health. But it "causing" breast cancer is completely counter intuitive and is most likely just a scare tactic to grab internet eyeballs by the site. The site owners are from New Zealand and host it in Dallas Texas, not far away from the most active legal eagle ambulance chasers, and patent trolls on the planet.

If you google the string subsets of "harvoni" "side effects" "cancer" "death", as I am certain most people do, you will see more people blaming it as the cause of just about every disease imaginable on some website or other. I doubt that there has ever been a drug with more side effects than Harvoni. Fortunately I seem to have been most effected by the only one that counts. I am cured.

There are other new meds that are just as effective out there so there is finally a choice for those with 1a. Yes Harvoni treatment can be a rough ride, especially on the of pocket for some people and insurance companies. But there is now greater choice.


 

[jschmoo123]

Hi and welcome

Yes you have a viral load of 8,330,000 II/mL or the same number expressed on the logarithmic scale Log base 10   6.921 IU/mL.

Having any viral load simply means you have hep c. Viral load does not equate to severity of condition neither does liver enzyme levels. Having a higher or lower viral load does not effect cure rates. For treatment naive people without cirrhosis cure rates with the new DAA mads are better than 98%

Even me as a 3 time null responder to interferon based treatment with cirrhosis for over 7 years at the time I was treated, I was successfully treated and cured.

I know this is scary but take a breath you will know more soon. Hep c is a slow moving illness with most people having no symptoms which is why it is called a silent illness. The most common symptom people report is tiredness. Also only about 20% of people infected for over 20 years will develop liver damage meaning 80% won’t so odds are very good your liver is fine.

Also, there have been many here in long term married relationships where one has hep c and the other does not.

Best of luck let us know what is going on

I, too, believe I contracted HepC from not wearing gloves as an ambulance driver in the military in the 1970's. Please be careful of your treatment selection and research the side effects. I completed 12 weeks of MAYVRET with HORRIBLE reactions. I still have itchy spots and new ones pop up regularly. I have scars now on almost every part of my body and it has been 6 months since I completed treatment. A dermatologist is treating me now for severe eczema.  The medical staff wanted me to go with Mayvret. Also, my reading vision has diminished considerably. Many seem to have experienced these effects. I wanted Harvoni but took their advice. BIG MISTAKE!. From researching others that have used Mayvret it seems like either they increase or change the dose every 4 weeks because, like me, it seems those that have complications get them in the 4-8 dose and/or the 8-12 weeks dose. I feel like I was a guinea pig for ABBVIE because when I asked them for assistance they just said thank you for the info so they can document it. These are only my opinions and experiences.