Tested positive yesterday

[Stevie.C]

Hi , glad I can across this forum , I'm from UK and  just found out yesterday that I have hep C , I don't know what geno type or anything like that is.
I was a drug user and may have had this possibly 12 yrs but not sure , I complained to doctor about pain just under right rib and found out its Hep c , I'm a very impatient person and want this gone , I know you have to get certain tests done to find the best path forward but this is giving me anxiety and want some treatment underway , being in UK should help as I've read lots of your stories that are based in the US which have had some problems getting certain treatments approved because your health system which is different to ours, but I still have to be put forward here as a candidate as it costs 60 grand , but told I should get it no problem as I'm not a user anymore , anyway does anyone have typical time frames from diagnosis to treatment ? Or just some helpful information .

[Lynn K]

What test have you had? Was it the hep c antibody test or the test for the hep c virus HCV RNA by PCR?

If it was only the test for antibodies to hep c that only means you were exposed at some point but about 25% of people are able to defeat the virus on their own. You would forever test positive for antibodies as they are made by your body when it tries to fight the virus.

So if you only have had the antibody test you may not be currently infected with the hep c virus. First you will need the test for the actual virus to determine you are currently infected with the hep c virus. Then go from there.

Best of luck to you
Lynn

[Stevie.C]

They did find it in my system and sent the bloods onto another place and found out it is active , sorry I don't know a lot of the terminology you guys use , but glad to have some people to talk to , and seems most people get cured these but scared as s#@t at the same time .

[Lynn K]

Hep c is a very slowly acting illness I had hep c for 37 years before I was finally cured with the new medicines. I did develop cirrhosis after 30 years of infection but only about 20% of people will progress to cirrhosis over 20 years. There are many here who have had hep c for decades and have no liver damage.

I know it is hard to wait bet hep c is not a medical emergency if that helps to know. It potentially will take several months to go through the entire process of diagnosis and getting a prescription. I am in the US so no idea about the process in the UK but we do have some here from there who hopefully will chime in.

See your doctor do the testing needed and go from there. You could be finshed with treatment by years end and by this time next year be 7 months cured of hep c

Good luck

[Stevie.C]

The lady I seen did say to have the ball rolling in a month , and hopefully have some good news come Xmas , hopefully the niggling pain in ribs isn't much to worry about thanks for the replies , and yeah it would be great to hear from any folk from UK , cheers.

[Lynn K]

Just to add if you did have the HCV RNA test for the virus you should also have in that test your viral load which is how many copies of the virus are circulating per mL of blood. You may want to ask your doctor what is your viral load. That would show you have had the test for the virus. The viral load has nothing to do with severity of illness you can have a low viral load and have liver damage or a high viral load and have no liver damage.

I have had cirrhosis for 8.5 years and have never had lower right quadrant pain. I would never have known I have cirrhosis but for my liver biopsy. I had no noticible symptoms until I noticed lower leg swelling called edema due to my cirrhosis. I have other symptoms but those are only seen with testing like a low platelet count but nothing I would notice without testing.

I had been followed closely by a doctor since my diagnosis of hep c in 1990 so I was having liver biopsies every 5 years. Otherwise I would have no idea I have cirrhosis.

[Stevie.C]

This pain is very mild and comes and goes , I don't even know if the Hep is causing It , and have no other symptoms and keep in great health in general, I'm trying to not freak out and hoping my liver is still perfectly healthy , I'm trying to be patient (which I can't be) , but doing my best , thanks for the prompt replies

[dragonslayer]

Stevie, I used to get those pains.. In my case, it was right up under the front, right side edge of the rib cage... Id go months without them, then theyd be on and off for a few months, disappear, come back, rinse, repeat... Since I got cured, they havent reappeared....  Doctors will tell you those pains arent from HCV since the liver feels no pain, but most HCV patients will tell you differently.  At any rate, I wouldnt worry too much about them; theyre really not an indicator of the severity of your disease or indicative of liver damage...

[Stevie.C]

Thanks dragonslayer , I am hoping that , and glad I've caught this relatively early , I've seen many people have gone decades without finding out or getting treated , I just hope from what I've read it's the easiest type to treat , also the success rate seems very high nowadays and treatment far better than it used to be , it's just keeping positive and patient that will be my downfall , I'm hoping to slay this dragon as you guys put it , because this is my penance for being a not so nice person when I was an addict .

[Lynn K]

Hey Steve no sweat about how you got here hep c doesn't discriminate so many got here innocently like having a blood transfusion some like you were addicted I was the tried it a couple of times but that was all that was needed.

No point it beating yourself up we are all comrades in arms now no matter how we got here. The important thing is we are all on a journey to wellness.

There are others who have known for years they had hep c and either like me treated multiple times with no success and others who heard how hard the old interferon treatments were and how low the odds of success and decided to not treat and hope for the best knowing for decades they had hep c attacking their livers.

This is a great time to learn you have hep c imagine finding out 30 years ago and only having a long and difficult treatment that only worked 50% of the time.

Now we have what for most is a cure.

[Stevie.C]

Yeah your so right ! , I didn't even know of the new wonder drugs so it's a huge relief that it should be a lot easier road to hoe , my worker will get my referral I'm tomorrow and get this ball rolling , and find out what type I have , I'm sooo uneducated in this and still don't most of terms you guys use but I will learn em, I will tell my story as it goes .