Just diagnosed and only 22 with a 7 month old.

[amerson23]

I don't understand how I could have gotten this. For about a week and a half I've had this pain in my upper abdomen along with my urine being dark all of a sudden, so I thought it was a UTI. I took the pain for as long as I could until Friday and I went to the ER. I told her I had a UTI, so she made me do a urine sample and I was sent to a room for blood work. Then after that, she wanted me to have a CT scan done, but I said I didn't want to because I had already been there for 3 hours and my daughter was starting to get fussy from being there in that same room. She basically said I really needed this done because of some of my labs were off. So, I got the CT scan and then she said she was waiting on the final bloodwork to come back. She came back in the room and asked me if anyone had ever mentioned to me anything about Hepatitis and I said no. She left the room and came back like 30 minutes later telling me that I tested positive for Hepatitis but to call back on Tuesday for the results as to if it were A, B or C. In the mean time she printed out lab results for me to take to my primary doctor this week. After going on google about my lab results Im guessing the AST and ALT is about my liver. My AST is 408 and my ALT is 1,004. I cant find anything about how bad this is. Does anyone know? I still have pains in my upper abdomen, its like its under my right rib but Im too scared to take anything else. I was an addict to pain killers since I was 17 years old. Right around this year is when it got bad but I have been clean for about 4 weeks now. I dont understand why all of these symptoms show up after I stopped but not during my use? Also, my father had Hep C but he passed away in 2009 and I dont remember coming in contact with his blood.

[gnatcatcher]

amerson23, to answer your question, yes, AST and ALT provide information about your liver. When you see your primary doctor this week, he or she will be able to explain more and perhaps compare these numbers to any earlier AST and ALT tests you may have had. The ER doctor has obtained much useful information to enable your primary doctor to make a diagnosis as to which type of hepatitis it is. Which treatment your doctor recommends will depend on which type you have.

If you look below my forum name, you'll see that my AST and ALT were much higher before I started treatment than they are now -- Harvoni helped them drop quickly. The current treatments for hepatitis C are very effective -- much more effective than what was available to your father, and much easier to take.

Waiting to have strange symptoms diagnosed is very anxiety producing. Pain is another huge challenge. It seems so unfair that now, right when you are doing yourself a big favor by being clean for about 4 weeks, you are dealing with powerful pain. Ask your doctor what you can take for the pain. If by any chance your doctor's office says they can't fit you in early in the week, ask them to tell your doctor your ALT is 1,004, your AST is 408, your urine is dark, and you are in great pain.

Please let us know what happens. If it turns out you have hepatitis B or C, you will be able to get a lot of support through these forums.

Gnatty

[amerson23]

Everyone else's AST and ALT that have Hepatitis, it seems like theirs is in the hundreds. I haven't even been diagnosed to which one I have yet and my ALT is in the thousands. I'm not understanding it and it worries me that it's really bad. Since I was told on Friday, I'm having to wait until Monday to call my doctor and then I will probably have to wait another day or two for an appointment and I'm doing nothing but worrying the entire time I'm waiting.

[Lynn K]

Sorry you are having so much stress and worry right now.

As far as your dad's hep c, the virus is not easily caught in a household as you noted it requires blood to blood contact to transmit hep c and also hep b for that matter.

Hep A can be from food borne and could be caught at a restaurant if they had a worker with hep a preparing food and they did not perform proper hand washing. Occasionally the will be news reports requesting people who ate a a specific restaurant on certain dates be tested for hep A.

Here is a link from the CDC about hep A

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hav/afaq.htm

Here is a link to a Mayo clinic article about causes of elevated liver enzymes they list over 20 different causes


http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/elevated-liver-enzymes/basics/causes/sym-20050830

It could be as simple as taking too much Tylenol (excessive amounts for multiple days)

Good luck to you
Lynn

[lporterrn]

It's always frightening to have abnormal labs and no diagnosis. The good thing is that the liver is incredibly resilient and you are young and your doctors are trying to figure this out. From a clinical side, these numbers are high, but not frighteningly high. I had an ALT over 18,000 and now I am fine. Try to bear the waiting as much as possible and be sure you don't drink any alcohol.

[sharkie]

Sorry you are having so much stress and worry right now.

As far as your dad's hep c, the virus is not easily caught in a household as you noted it requires blood to blood contact to transmit hep c and also hep b for that matter.

Hep A can be from food borne and could be caught at a restaurant if they had a worker with hep a preparing food and they did not perform proper hand washing. Occasionally the will be news reports requesting people who ate a a specific restaurant on certain dates be tested for hep A.

Here is a link from the CDC about hep A

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hav/afaq.htm

Here is a link to a Mayo clinic article about causes of elevated liver enzymes they list over 20 different causes


http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/elevated-liver-enzymes/basics/causes/sym-20050830

It could be as simple as taking too much Tylenol (excessive amounts for multiple days)

Good luck to you
Lynn

Lynn, if his father had hep-c couldn't he have caught it from his dad when he was born,i am just throwing this out there for anyone to answer.it kinda makes sense.

[Lynn K]

Hi sharkie

Not following you there. There is a small risk of hep c transmission from mother to child at birth but how would a father transmit hep c through blood to blood contact.

Hep c is not transmitted to a baby at conception if that is what you are thinking.

What are you meaning he could have caught hep c at birth from his father? How would that involve his fathers blood entering his blood stream?

Best to you
Lynn