I think I may have contracted HEP C...AGAIN. Need Advice.

[BrokenDreams]

 Hi everyone, my name is Mark. I have a problem.
     
   I'm going to try to make this as short as possible as I hate burdening people with long posts. Roughly 4 months ago, I tried to donate blood. It was my first donation and I left successfully. 1 week later, I get a call from the RN telling me they need me to come in for results.
     I started panicking. So I went to the blood bank, spoke with the RN on duty and she spilled the beans about my blood. She told me that my blood tested positive for Hepatitis-C. She then informed me that they would be doing a confirmation test on the sample and I will know in a few more days if I actually have the virus. I didn't waste time, I immediately went straight from the blood bank to my PDOC and he did his own blood work. I got the same result, positive for Hep - C.
      Lastly, he said he wanted to do a test called the "Viral Load" to see if and how much of the virus is in my body. They called 3 days after that viral load test and told me that I DO NOT have active Hep-C in my body but am positive only for the antibodies of hepatitis and that I probably contracted the virus at some point in time ( I hadn't shot up in 3 years at this time) and that I will always test positive for antibodies of it.

 Soo... present time.. 3 weeks ago, my neighbor and I were just hanging out and chillin. He is an active IV drug user and we broke out a bottle of sleeping pills and we both were popping them like candy. He breaks out his rig, and shoots up one of the pills.

This is where it all went VERY bad...

I wasn't anywhere near the right frame of mind at all but somehow the urge to shoot up again resurfaced and being under the influence of zolpidem, I succumbed to the urge. I told him to let me use his rig because I couldn't stand watching him shoot up drugs anymore and I wanted a taste. He told me to wash it with bleach first and OF COURSE I didn't.. I shot up zolpidem with my neighbor's HEP- C positive blood. As soon as I woke up, I rememebered everything and what I had done. It's haunting me now to this day because I don't know if I contracted the virus again and im too scared, ashamed, and mortified to possibly go back to my doctor and get retested again.

 To make matters so much worse, my wife is a nurse and has no idea that I am a closeted drug user/nor that I once had in IV addiction to crystal meth about 3 years ago. How in the world can I get this weight off my chest now. My neighbor tried reassuring me that " Well man, maybe I don't have hep-c anymore, idk".. but his attempt was short lived. I can't sleep at night, i'm on edge and it's all my dumbass fault. Months ago when I first found out I atleast had the antibodies for hepatitis, I was blown away because I had never shared needles with anyone before and the last time I had shot up before this whole fiasco was in 2012...

 Jesus, what am I supposed to do now? This incident that happened a few weeks ago is the first time I've EVER shared a needle, and had I had a sober mind at the time I sure as hell wouldn't have shot up and especially would have never shared a needle with a friend, let alone with one who claims to have hepatitis C.. I'm lost and broken.. don't know what to do or how to go about it. Thanks for any advice.

[moto]

Wow, wow and double wow.
News flash, you are a drug addict and your behavior will kill you if you remain in denial and refuse to get help.
Lose your "friend" he's killing himself and will only lead you down the same path.
Find an NA meeting and make it a part of your life.
Tell your wife and don't blame her if she kicks you to the curb.
Man up and get retested, fully disclose what you did and when you did it.
Get clean, stay clean. Nothing mood or mind altering. No beer, wine, pot or prescription pain meds. Do this and I guarantee your life will improve, ignore this and I guarantee things will get progressively worse.
I was an iv drug user at 16, got clean at 33 just celebrated 28 years clean.
Do this for you before it's too late.

[KimInTheForest]

BrokenDreams: I would say you definitely need to get retested for Hep C. But I think you will need to wait for a period of time before the test is meaningful. It takes a while (I don't know how long) for antibodies to develop once you has been infected, and then a while after that before you know if the virus has become chronic (i.e., permanent) or if your body managed to clear the virus. If your body clears the virus on its own (which 20% of people do, apparently, and which it sounds like you may have done earlier since the test you did have showed antibodies but no virus present), then you will always test positive for antibodies, despite the fact that no virus is in your body.

Anyway - we need someone with more expertise than me to chime in and say what that waiting period is after a point of possible infection in order for the test to confirm antibodies and also presence of virus if infection has become chronic… 8 weeks? 6 months? i don't know.

good luck!
kim

[dragonslayer]

Broken, its a horrible story, but Im curious about something.. If you never shared needles with anyone before, how is it, do you think, that you are HCV antibody positive?

[Lynn K]

Hi Broken

Just wanted to add if you were ever infected with or at some point some how exposed to hepatitis c you will always and forever test positive for hep c antibodies and are not supposed to donate blood ever again.

There is no reason for you to test for the antibodies the result will always be the same positive. Antibodies are not the virus they are made by our own immune system in response to a viral infection in an attempt to fight the virus.

So with this situation to find out what you may have done to yourself here you will need to be tested for the hepatitis c virus itself with a test called the HCV RNA by PCR or something similar.

Hopefully you will be like a cat with 9 lives and be lucky again.

Hopefully this crisis will convince you you need to stop shooting drugs and STAY AWAY from people who do use them. You have a wife and marriage and life I am assuming you don't want to throw all that away for a cheap high.

I wish you the best

[ArchieJones]

Hi Mark,

I'm really sorry to hear about what you're going through but my advice would be to explain the entire situation to a doctor and get tested.

I understand that it you might be scared or ashamed, but you have to put that aside and go get tested for the sake of your family, and for the sake of your own health.

You could even use a different doctor to the one you previously used, just be sure to explain the entire situation including the fact that your body has Hep-C antibodies, and how long it has been since you shared the needle.

Your doctor will be able to prescribe the correct test, and will understanding not judgemental.

Wishing you all the best friend,
A

[dragonslayerinprogress]

Drug addiction is something you will struggle with forever. Same as a cigarette smoker or alcoholic. The urge lurks but you can do this. I would first tell your wife. She is your partner and honestly needs to know. It would be worse if you didn't and she ends up infected, not by choice.

Come clean, get that wait of your chest first. Then go see a Dr. I am sure your not going to be judged. The anticipation is always the worst. Let us know how it goes.