fellow hepatitis c victims?
Question:
2 years ago i was doing a routine blood test because i was going to donate blood to a relative , and guess what? the rapid test was positive for hcv ! they told me to do the elisa , i was relieved because i said to myself (sure it will be a false positive) but the elisa came out positive , too .
thats when i felt the world closing in on me ........
you see , i was just graduated from medical university , where i was a top student , and i couldnt wait to sail on into postgraduate study , i dedicated my life to my career in every way..........
i wasnt married yet..............................
being confirmed as hcv positive was enough to ruin me.
then i read about elisa and i learned that it had a high false positive rate, meaning many people who are positive turn out to be negative on further testing.
and the further test was the pcr.
instead of hurrying to reassure myself and take the pcr , i strangely felt like delaying it as much as i could .
Answers:
hi! having hcv is not the end of your life! if anyone should know it is those such as myself that have been infected (well, was) for most of my life begining either at age 8 or 4 or a year and a half or 8 months.
my first symptom appeared at age 8. spider nevi. bones achey by 12, depression at 13 and as i got older, i slept more. i never was yellow-at least not to a noticable point.
i had skin rashes, hair loss, "fog".....no one understood me, yet i knew something was wrong. i was abnormal when it came to my friends. i'd rather sleep while they were out partying, working....
i had my gallbladder removed, usually because of liver disease. it wasnt until many antidepressants and hospital stays when i finally got sent to the most caring doc in the world. i had something! it wasn't all in my head (but hcv as well as toxins are in your head!) I had Hepatitis C! I was elated to FINALLY prove to everyone I wasn't just lazy a loser, slow....you name it i was called it.
Its funny how one knows there is something wrong and can't deny it, yet others react the way you do...denial is the devil in one of it's purest ways.
i went on antiviral chemo and actually felt better (although it did knock the wind out of me some days and towards the year end of treatment i did have psychosis) but i did the whole treatment regardless of the sides (very few really) i even had very low platelets and i didn't want to take anymore meds for sides, so i didn't.
i probably would of given up a long time ago...had it not been for my kids (neither have hcv) and my doctor.
i certainly would not wait any longer. i would seek the advice of a gastro, join a support group and get ready to kick hcv's butt!
positive vs. denial......which one do you think would have a more positive outcome?
as for being married or not, i have never given anyone hcv as hcv corpuscles are not transferrable. this is what is found in semen and vaginal fluids. unless there is blood to blood transmission, hcv will not occur.even prior to my diagnosis i have never given anyone hepatitis c. (there is only one who i cannot find to tell however). but my sex life did not change ....i still saw robert who i had seen for over 14 years off and on again. everyone who knows me knows my hcv story. i do not hide it, and i certainly am quick to fix the stigmas associated with hcv. if you tell someone and they walk away, they probably would of walked away without knowing. you dont want this kind of person in your life.
you need further testing. your genotype will indicate which type of treatment you have to do. (4-6 months (i hear 4 months is the new for certain genotypes) or up to a year depending on how you respond the first 6 months.
good luck!
that does not make since
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