Testing for Hep C now

[Scared9]

Hi, I'm 41 year old male who is now going through hep c testing because of a possible exposure around 18 months ago. I recently had some routine blood work done at my Dr's office which resulted in a few abnormal results...ALt 67..ALP 130 etc. Can anybody share there symptoms and blood work results they had in the first 3 months, 6 months, 1 year after exposure? Did you have symptoms in the first year or less and did your blood work become elevated shortly after exposure? I'm really nervous right now and scared. Thanks for any feedback!

[gnatcatcher]

Welcome, Scared9. Although I can't answer your specific questions because I wasn't diagnosed until decades after my exposure, you can take comfort in the following:
1. Liver enzymes can go a whole lot higher than yours without ruining your liver, which is an amazingly resilient organ. While I watched-and-waited for a safe medicine, my PCP said he wouldn't worry unless my liver enzymes exceeded five times normal.
2. The excellent treatments available today get rid of the hep C very quickly. You can see by the stats below my nickname how quickly my ALT and AST normalized.

Every good wish,

Gnatty

[NYCHEPCMAN]

Hi Scared9 - you came to the right place. This forum was very helpful to me.

Like gnatcatcher - I have had Hep C for a long time, probably my life as my mom tested positive in 1999 and the doctors assumed it was from blood transfusions.

I always felt that something was wrong with me - then I started getting pain on the bottom of my right ribcage which I assumed was from drinking alcohol. I went to the doctor's and my liver tests were slightly elevated - doctor told me to cut back on drinking. I then specifically asked for the hep c test (since I was born in 1971 and they only specifically recommend anyone born before 1965 to get tested).

That was in October - since then I completed 12 weeks of Viekira Pack with no issues and wait for my 12 week end of treatment blood test in July - I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am nervous for the final results.

Your liver #s don't seem too bad - IF you have Hep C its a slow moving diesease - and there are miracle cures now available.....please keep us posted....

[Scared9]

Thank you so much for your feedback! Since both of you were diagnosed years later looking back did you have signs/symptoms that you ignored and thought it was something else besides hep c? Are liver enzymes usually more elevated in the first 6 months after exposer (acute period) then later on? I've been hearing this is the case but not sure if it's accurate. I read so much on the internet because I'm nervous but some thing's you read are different depending on the article. Confused

[NYCHEPCMAN]

Speaking from my experience - for the past 20 years, and worsening the last 10, I felt that there was something wrong with my memory - I felt kind of foggy - like a barrier in my head that I wanted to punch through (sounds weird right?). Well that fog has lifted. 

Also my ability to drink was curtailed - I used to be able to drink all night, as of late I'd be drunk on a few drinks.   

From what I've read, it can take many decades for symptoms to develop - for now I would just wait to see what the blood tests say - ie if you have hep c, then what your viral load and genotype is - from that the course of treatment can be decided by your doctor and insurance carrier.   

[gnatcatcher]

Because I had other medical problems, any symptoms I had that might have been due to the HCV were always explained in reference to the other diagnoses. For example, I'm 99.9% sure I received the HCV during a splenectomy; removal of a spleen weakens the immune system and often leads to fatigue, so I assumed my gradually worsening fatigue was due to the absence of a spleen. To make matters more complicated, now that I am cured, doctors and I are in the process of trying to figure out whether any of my other diagnoses were actually caused by the HCV, in which case they are called extrahepatic manifestations (EHMs) of HCV.

I don't have any liver enzyme records from soon after the splenectomy to answer your specific question -- sorry. But I can tell you that one of our moderators had an ALT over 18,000 (yes, eighteen THOUSAND), yet she is now cured and fine.

Rest assured that this is NOT an emergency situation. The important thing is that you are under a doctor's care, so you will soon know the best route to curing your particular subtype of HCV.

As NYCHEPCMAN said, please keep us posted.

[Lynn K]

I am guessing I was infected in 1978. I had a blood test result from 1988 that showed normal liver enzymes. I found our in late 1990 I had elevated liver enzymes and Hep c.

I had nothing telling me anything was wrong ever at least not until I was diagnosed with cirrhosis and the first symptom I was aware of was lower leg swelling (edema) due to cirrhosis but I never had symptoms from hep c except maybe being tired a lot which is common.

Most people do not have symptoms of hep c which is why it is called a silent illness. Most people have no idea until they get tested.

[Scared9]

Thank you so much for all your posts and feedback. I'll keep you posted as I find out results etc. I should get results next week. If i do test positive for hep c should I request a second test to double check or is that over kill?

[KimInTheForest]

Thank you so much for all your posts and feedback. I'll keep you posted as I find out results etc. I should get results next week. If i do test positive for hep c should I request a second test to double check or is that over kill?

Hi Scared9 & welcome to the forums! If you do happen to test positive, that will mean you are positive for antibodies to Hepatitis C. That doesn't necessarily mean you have the Hep C virus actively replicating in your body. That first "positive" test would just mean that at some time your body was exposed to the Hep C virus and is now producing antibodies to it. You may be one of the 15-25% of people who managed to spontaneously clear the virus via your own immune system.

If you test positive, you will need a second different test (which your doctor should automatically order at that point) that will look for presence of Hep C virus, not just antibodies. The second test is a more expensive test which is why everyone initially gets the cheaper antibody test. If you have no antibodies to Hep C, then no need to look further.

Good luck!
kim:)

[drummerman]

Hi scared9.

I actually became jaundiced when I contracted hcv (late 70s) and was placed in the hospital.  After a few days there , they really didn't know what was wrong except I had some kind of hepatitis.  At that time period they didn't even know what hcv was.  I was sent home after my jaundice cleared up and did not have any more symptoms for 40 years.  At that point I started getting all these weird joint pains, felt like I had the flu all the time and had a few unexplained episodes of vomiting.

At my suggestion the doc got the antibody test... positive.  Then I got the quantitative pcr test and it was  positive.

Fortunately you are in a time period when the meds are much more effective.

Good luck!   This is a great place for info.  Check everything your doc suggests and don't assume anything.  The internet is your friend and you have to be your own advocate.

dm