keep the faith. there is always good advice here for sure & everyone knows how me u & others that are going thru treatment & the stress of having it. just try to relax. ( I can't believe I just said that when I have a very very hard time doing that lol) hang in there.
taz
Tig said
Jun 30, 2014
Hi Dancer,
Absolutely not! At your young age, the likelihood of severe liver damage is very unlikely. If there is a good aspect to this, it's your age and finding out early on that you may have it. This is a disease that often lies dormant in those infected and it goes undiagnosed for decades. That's when it has it's chance to do it's damage. I was first infected with the disease in 1980-82 and wasn't diagnosed until 1996. I treated and failed in 96 and again last year, this time I succeeded! My liver tests are all normal now and life is good! So don't worry about it shortening or reducing your quality of life. Let's find out first of all if you have an active infection, the next tests will tell you that. Finding out is easy, so do that first and make any decisions after that. There is no reason to fear this diagnosis, it's easily treatable and your life will as special as you always hoped it would be. This is just a bump in the road, nothing more. Plan for the life you wanted and stay positive! It's the only way to live...
Tig
dancer312 said
Jun 30, 2014
Hi Tig
Thank you very much for your response! I have a doctor appointment Wednesday so I guess I will be getting additional blood work. It's just all very nerve racking. I haven't told anyone yet except my boyfriend and you guys. I'm hoping everything goes smoothly. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Does having this disease shorten life expectancy? That is one of my biggest fears with this.
Tig said
Jun 30, 2014
Hey Dancer,
Welcome to the forum. You're with a good bunch and we're here to talk, and to support. We all understand what you're feeling and know what an initial blow it can be. Try to not beat yourself up too badly. You're feeling bad enough as it is, don't compound it. What's important is that one, you ended the lifestyle that got you here and two, the treatment for HCV has never been easier, nor has it ever been as effective. It's a good time to treat if that's the direction this takes you. Right now all you know is that you're positive for the HCV antibodies. Everyone infected develops the antibodies first. The next test will be an RNA viral load. It will determine if you have are actively infected. In 25% of the cases, during the acute phase of the infection, your body's own immune system can fight off the infection on it's own. The RNA test will show an actual viral quantity in the blood, if it has progressed to a chronic infection. If you're one of the 25%ers, the test will come back undetected. Regardless of whether you have beaten the disease, you will always have a positive HCV antibody test. So do your best to not over stress right now. Let's get the next test out of the way and see where you stand.
Treatment doesn't hurt. Depending on the protocol (drugs used) there can be some side effects, but it's all tolerable. The new treatments aren't like the days of old, so don't dwell on those stories. There has never been a better or easier time to treat and as we speak the treatments are getting easier and more effective. It can be very expensive, but don't let that be a concern at this stage. There are a number of payment assistance programs available, as well as good discount programs offered by the drug manufacturers. But like I said, lets get you diagnosed first and then discuss the possibilities. The health care community has many options available for you today, you're not alone in this by any means. We're here for you...
Tig
dancer312 said
Jun 30, 2014
Hi. I'm new to this. I applied for life insurance and i had to get a blood test to qualify and in the mail I received a non issue letter and the reason was because liver enzyme test and positive for hepatitis c antibody. I found this out this past Saturday. I'm so upset and so mad at myself. I had a substance abuse problem and I'm just so mad with myself because i have been clean for 19 months now and I'm still dealing with my past it hurts. And ever since I found out I have felt dirty, I don't know if anyone else has felt that way or if it's just me but I just made an appointment with my primary for Wednesday. How is treatment? Does it hurt, is it expensive?
Milliganus said
Jun 25, 2014
Welcome to the forum. Lots of good advice here. With all the new treatments coming up, both of you have a good chance of getting rid of this nasty virus! In the meantime, definitely stay away from stuff bad for the liver, especially alcohol. I've taken Milk Thistle for years...don't know if it's worked or not, but I've had Hep C for 40 years and my liver is still F0. Green smoothie every morning. Other than that, I eat most everything I want in moderation.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
Cinnamon Girl said
Jun 25, 2014
Hi Desiree, welcome to the forum. Good to hear you and your husband are thinking about ways to improve your diet and health while looking into your treatment options, that`s a sensible way to move forward with your diagnosis. Good advice from Huey, and here`s a fact sheet from the HCV Advocate website which contains some general guidelines for healthy nutrition you might also find useful...
And just another point...the most important thing to avoid is alcohol, that is essential for anyone with Hep C!
Look forward to hearing from you again and we`ll do our best to advise you about your current treatment options if you could let us know more details, for example your genotype and any biopsy or fibroscan results you have.
Huey said
Jun 23, 2014
There is no liver diet, But what i learned here is that you learn what your liver likes and what it does not like"Pain" . It is best to eat small amounts. take plenty of fiber. and stay away from processed anything.
One of the things I do is I keep cut up green salad in the fridge. lost of dressings, and No lunchmeat or white bread so i wind up eating the greens, and that is good for me.
The one thing you do not do wile on treatment. Do not take any sT. Johns Wart, Aloe Vera Juce, Milk Thissle, These things will clean the liver, fine after treatment, but during it is a NO No because it will weaken the drugs. water them down. Eating a green salad two or three times a day will clean the liver too but in a good way and wile on Tx is all the liver cleaning you need.
We need to know your genotype, VL, Ect. in order to talk more about treatments, every genotype has it's own protocol. You can put this on your Signature line, in the Edit profile page.
Welcome and hope you kill a lot of virus today.
Shine Just Shine said
Jun 23, 2014
Hi all
I'm on here for both my husband and myself. We've known were both C positive since 2007??
Anyway, just looking to finally approach this silent beast now and find dietary advice and treatment opinions.
It's time. There's fatty liver disease happening and not sure how serious that can get but we haven't done much as far as being pro-active until now. I'm looking to better our diet to reduce the extra fat going onto my husbands liver and just better our overall health to maintain this disease.
Thanks in advance. Look forward to meeting.
keep the faith. there is always good advice here for sure & everyone knows how me u & others that are going thru treatment & the stress of having it. just try to relax. ( I can't believe I just said that when I have a very very hard time doing that lol) hang in there.
taz
Hi Dancer,
Absolutely not! At your young age, the likelihood of severe liver damage is very unlikely. If there is a good aspect to this, it's your age and finding out early on that you may have it. This is a disease that often lies dormant in those infected and it goes undiagnosed for decades. That's when it has it's chance to do it's damage. I was first infected with the disease in 1980-82 and wasn't diagnosed until 1996. I treated and failed in 96 and again last year, this time I succeeded! My liver tests are all normal now and life is good! So don't worry about it shortening or reducing your quality of life. Let's find out first of all if you have an active infection, the next tests will tell you that. Finding out is easy, so do that first and make any decisions after that. There is no reason to fear this diagnosis, it's easily treatable and your life will as special as you always hoped it would be. This is just a bump in the road, nothing more. Plan for the life you wanted and stay positive! It's the only way to live...
Tig
Hi Tig
Thank you very much for your response! I have a doctor appointment Wednesday so I guess I will be getting additional blood work. It's just all very nerve racking. I haven't told anyone yet except my boyfriend and you guys. I'm hoping everything goes smoothly. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Does having this disease shorten life expectancy? That is one of my biggest fears with this.
Hey Dancer,
Welcome to the forum. You're with a good bunch and we're here to talk, and to support. We all understand what you're feeling and know what an initial blow it can be. Try to not beat yourself up too badly. You're feeling bad enough as it is, don't compound it. What's important is that one, you ended the lifestyle that got you here and two, the treatment for HCV has never been easier, nor has it ever been as effective. It's a good time to treat if that's the direction this takes you. Right now all you know is that you're positive for the HCV antibodies. Everyone infected develops the antibodies first. The next test will be an RNA viral load. It will determine if you have are actively infected. In 25% of the cases, during the acute phase of the infection, your body's own immune system can fight off the infection on it's own. The RNA test will show an actual viral quantity in the blood, if it has progressed to a chronic infection. If you're one of the 25%ers, the test will come back undetected. Regardless of whether you have beaten the disease, you will always have a positive HCV antibody test. So do your best to not over stress right now. Let's get the next test out of the way and see where you stand.
Treatment doesn't hurt. Depending on the protocol (drugs used) there can be some side effects, but it's all tolerable. The new treatments aren't like the days of old, so don't dwell on those stories. There has never been a better or easier time to treat and as we speak the treatments are getting easier and more effective. It can be very expensive, but don't let that be a concern at this stage. There are a number of payment assistance programs available, as well as good discount programs offered by the drug manufacturers. But like I said, lets get you diagnosed first and then discuss the possibilities. The health care community has many options available for you today, you're not alone in this by any means. We're here for you...
Tig
Welcome to the forum. Lots of good advice here. With all the new treatments coming up, both of you have a good chance of getting rid of this nasty virus! In the meantime, definitely stay away from stuff bad for the liver, especially alcohol. I've taken Milk Thistle for years...don't know if it's worked or not, but I've had Hep C for 40 years and my liver is still F0. Green smoothie every morning. Other than that, I eat most everything I want in moderation.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
Hi Desiree, welcome to the forum. Good to hear you and your husband are thinking about ways to improve your diet and health while looking into your treatment options, that`s a sensible way to move forward with your diagnosis. Good advice from Huey, and here`s a fact sheet from the HCV Advocate website which contains some general guidelines for healthy nutrition you might also find useful...
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/nutrition.pdf
And just another point...the most important thing to avoid is alcohol, that is essential for anyone with Hep C!
Look forward to hearing from you again and we`ll do our best to advise you about your current treatment options if you could let us know more details, for example your genotype and any biopsy or fibroscan results you have.
One of the things I do is I keep cut up green salad in the fridge. lost of dressings, and No lunchmeat or white bread so i wind up eating the greens, and that is good for me.
The one thing you do not do wile on treatment. Do not take any sT. Johns Wart, Aloe Vera Juce, Milk Thissle, These things will clean the liver, fine after treatment, but during it is a NO No because it will weaken the drugs. water them down. Eating a green salad two or three times a day will clean the liver too but in a good way and wile on Tx is all the liver cleaning you need.
We need to know your genotype, VL, Ect. in order to talk more about treatments, every genotype has it's own protocol. You can put this on your Signature line, in the Edit profile page.
Welcome and hope you kill a lot of virus today.