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Author Topic: anti body positive  (Read 8214 times)

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Offline xitlali

  • Member
  • Posts: 10
anti body positive
« on: October 12, 2015, 02:22:51 pm »
Well, i went in for a standard blood test for surgery and it came back positive for hep c , she says it happens all the time but thta doesnt mean anything to me
The weird part is i just had surgery less then six months ago and the lab work came back fine , i have no idea how i got it but i wonder if i got it from that surgery?

Im just looking for advice from real people, what can i expect to happen, i have a 1 and 2 yr old should i get them tested as well? How can i afford the medication? Im dirt poor but work for a hospital so i have access to good insurance its just super expensive

Any advice will be appreciated im sorry for rambling im just nervous thank youl)

Offline byebyeC

  • Member
  • Posts: 286
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2015, 03:13:50 pm »
Hi xitali,

Your children should be fine. You'd literally have to bleed into an open wound on them to pass this. Keep your razors and toothbrushes out of their reach and don't let anyone handle your cuts and scrapes and you'll all be fine.

Contact Gilead and Abbie they both have systems for helping people with ins with the copays. If you don't have ins. now, medicaid may pay, but only for the sickest folks with the beginnings of cirrhosis...

You're going to have to load up on a lot of information. But, there is help out there. There is also a place listed on Abbvie's site that gives a link to a place that helps folks without insurance get meds.

Good luck and God Bless,
Marianne
GT 1a
VL BOT 7 M
Diagnosed 1980
Treatment naive
12 wk Viekira Pak Riba Started 9/7/15
Alaska 
Pre-treatment labs were ast 42 alt 33 vl 7,162,(eyes are light yellow now)
*Latest alt 19 ast 23! Yay! VL <15 detected

Offline KimInTheForest

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,972
  • Believe in yourself
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2015, 05:05:20 pm »
Well, i went in for a standard blood test for surgery and it came back positive for hep c , she says it happens all the time but thta doesnt mean anything to me
The weird part is i just had surgery less then six months ago and the lab work came back fine , i have no idea how i got it but i wonder if i got it from that surgery?

Im just looking for advice from real people, what can i expect to happen, i have a 1 and 2 yr old should i get them tested as well? How can i afford the medication? Im dirt poor but work for a hospital so i have access to good insurance its just super expensive

Any advice will be appreciated im sorry for rambling im just nervous thank youl)

Hi Xitlali, and welcome to the forums! :)

You will need to go to your regular doctor (who may refer you to a specialist) and start by getting some tests and labwork done to determine your genotype of Hepatitis C and your fibrosis score (a measure of liver damage). This information is needed to determine which treatment is the right one for you.

But the important thing to know is that Hepatitis C is now completely curable with just a few weeks of pills! So you're going to be okay.

As for paying for it… cross that bridge when you come to it. What country are you in? There are various ways to get hooked up with the drugs you need. I got mine through a clinical trial, for example, which cost me nothing.

First step is to see your regular doctor and start the process that will get you ready for treatment.

Keep us posted, and feel free to post any questions or lab results here.

best,
kim
Kim Goldberg (Nanaimo, BC)
1970s: Contracted HCV (genotype 3a)
2015: Cured with Harvoni + ribavirin (12 weeks)
MY STORY: https://pigsquash.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/undetectable-my-hep-c-story/

Offline gnatcatcher

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,372
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2015, 05:16:20 pm »
xitlali, right now what you know is that you tested positive for Hep C antibody. It's possible that you do not even still have active disease -- some people clear Hep C on their own and never need treatment. (Anyone who has ever had Hep C, no matter how briefly, will thereafter test positive for Hep C antibodies.)

If the only test you had was the one that tells you whether you are positive or negative for hep c antibody, you will need a test that measures the viral load (VL), which means how much hep c you have. If your only exposure to hep c was slight enough that your own immune system got rid of it, you would still test positive for antibody, but the VL test would come back "undetected" or "not detected." In that case, you wouldn't need any treatment at all.

Marianne's given you good advice, but you'll need her paragraphs 2 and 3, and the tests Kim mentions, only if it turns out you do have active hep c.

Best wishes,
Gnatty
9/29/71 transfusions
HCV genotype 1a
7/09/15-9/30/15 Harvoni

Before treatment:
Viral Load 9,490,582
FibroScan 19.5 kPa [F4]
ALT 262
AST 217
ALP 183

Most recent:
VL still UNDETECTED (SVR 102)
FibroScan 7.6 kPa [F1-2]
ALT 15
AST 20
ALP 85

Offline KimInTheForest

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,972
  • Believe in yourself
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2015, 05:26:11 pm »
xitlali, right now what you know is that you tested positive for Hep C antibody. It's possible that you do not even still have active disease -- some people clear Hep C on their own and never need treatment. (Anyone who has ever had Hep C, no matter how briefly, will thereafter test positive for Hep C antibodies.)

Good point, Gnatty! We all skipped over that part. She may not have Hep C virus in her body - just antibodies. Thanks. :)

kim
Kim Goldberg (Nanaimo, BC)
1970s: Contracted HCV (genotype 3a)
2015: Cured with Harvoni + ribavirin (12 weeks)
MY STORY: https://pigsquash.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/undetectable-my-hep-c-story/

Offline xitlali

  • Member
  • Posts: 10
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2015, 10:37:58 pm »
So i got the riba back the dr said he is unsure of the results it says non reactive but my numbers are still really high although lower then the anti body test so now i have to wait another week to find out from lab corp can anyone help me figure this out until then? Do i have it or not? I dont understand why the dr just couldn't tell me right rhen

Offline Else

  • Member
  • Posts: 523
  • Appeal, appeal, and appeal again!
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2015, 11:57:15 pm »
I'm unclear reading your post.  What numbers are really high?  In any case, maybe this info might be helpful. "It says non-reactive" sounds very promising.

Quote
Information on Testing

The only way to know if someone has Hepatitis C is to get tested. Doctors use a blood test, called a Hepatitis C Antibody Test, to find out if a person has ever been infected with Hepatitis C. The Hepatitis C Antibody Test looks for antibodies to the Hepatitis C virus. Antibodies are chemicals released into the bloodstream when someone gets infected. The antibody test results will take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to come back, although new Rapid Antibody Tests are available in some settings.

    A Non-reactive or a negative Hepatitis C antibody test result means that a person does not have Hepatitis C. However, if a person has been recently exposed to the Hepatitis C virus, he or she will need to be tested again.
    A Reactive or a positive Hepatitis C antibody test result means that Hepatitis C antibodies were found in the blood and a person has been infected with the Hepatitis C virus at some point in time.

    A reactive antibody test does not necessarily mean a person still has Hepatitis C. Once people have been infected, they will always have antibodies in their blood. This is true if even if they have cleared the Hepatitis C virus. A reactive antibody test requires an additional, follow-up test to determine if a person is currently infected with Hepatitis C.
F/53 yr
diagnosed 1995
Genotype 1a
ALT: 58 AST: 39 ALK: 105
Viral load 4,201,950 IU/ml
Fibroscan 6.5 (F1-F2) Fibrosure 0.36 (F1-F2)
Treatment-naive
After 3 denials, finally approved!
Harvoni 12 wks - start date 9/15/15
4 wk labs 10/14/15
ALT: 12 AST: 16 ALK: 85
HCV Not Detected!!!
8 wk labs 11/10/15
ALT: 13  AST: 15  ALK: 77
12 wk (EOT!) labs 12/8/15
ALT: 11 AST: 15 ALK: 78
HCV Not Detected!!!
10wk posttx labs 2/11/16
ALT: 22 AST: 17 ALK: 61
HCV Not Detected!! SVR10!!!
SVR10 (99.7% Cured!!!)

Offline xitlali

  • Member
  • Posts: 10
Re: anti body positive
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2015, 12:11:09 am »
Well my dr said the non reactive  must be a mistake because of the numbers being so high what ever that means so as of now im still waiting , just wondering if this is common

 


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