FUCK! I just tested positive for Hep C.

[achtung_circus]

I have no, and I mean no idea why.

It's just a preliminary antibody test and I had blood drawn for a confimatory test and a viral load test and liver enzyme tests and was given an initial vaccine for Hep A and B.

I never received a transfusion, have no tattoos, never injected (I can be foolish, but not stupid), can't think of any mixing of blood of any kind.

My life may just have changed irrevocably.

On the plus side I do not drink at all, and the doc says my blood pressure and heart rate are remarkably normal for someone who just metaphorically got hit by a bus.

FUCK.

That is all.

[Debi]

1. Good luck to you

Unprotected sex with a Hep-C carrier is also a way to get it - the carrier could show no signs but pass it on to you.

There is treatment/drug therapy for Hep-C. Just keep working w/your physician.

:hug:

[Connonym]

2. can't hurt to repeat the test too

tests are sometimes wrong but Deb's probably right that you got it from a sex partner. This is TMI but my dad had it from a transfusion and my mom got liver abnormalities but not full blown hepatitis. Take it in stride and get good medical care :hug:

[achtung_circus]

3. I live in Canada,

I have health care.

[Connonym]

7. rub it in why dontcha!

:-P Seriously though, I wish you well.

[Zywiec]

4. Was this just a routine test? n/t

[achtung_circus]

12. It was part

of a full spectrum STD panel to demonstrate to a new partner that I was disease-free.

LOL

[Zywiec]

13. Yikes, I guess that didn't go as planned.

I wish you all the best.

[MissB]

5. I hope it is just a false positive.

:hug:

edited to add: Be glad you live in Canada. This would be far worse to go through if you lived in the US.

[ChoralScholar]

9. no doubt about that -

with the way things are going in the pharmaceutical industry - pharmacists will eventually be able to refuse medicine for STD's because they believe it's God's punishment for sexual promiscuity...

[GumboYaYa]

6. You may just have the antibodies.

You could have been exposed and your body fought it off, but you probably already know this.

Good luck!

[redqueen]

8. I hope GumboYaYa is right, and you just have the antibodies...

whatever the case is, good luck... and try not to stress out too much over it. Not helpful, that, as I'm sure you know... sorry.

:pals:

[achtung_circus]

10. There is about a 35% possibility

stipulating that the test is positive, that the virus has been cleared from my system by my immune system. The antibodies would remain.

[Roon]

11. I am HIV+

and I avoid sex just because I don't want to catch the hepC. If I got hepatitis and was co-infected, I would just lose it. At least you have your immune system.

[FloridaJudy]

14. Ask your provider about milk thistle

It's an herb that's been used extensively in Europe to protect the liver against Hepatitis C and other liver diseases. Recent medical studies done in this country confirm it's helpful. It can reduce the effectiveness of some other drugs (particularly those used for HIV), so check with your doc before taking it.