
Hepatitis C Support Group
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide.
Any way...you were tested to see if you have antibodies to the virus. The fact that your results came back as >10 instead of
This means you have been exposed to Hep C and your body is building up immunity to it. The next step is to find out if the virus is active. You'll need to do a full blood panel testing your liver enzymes, your Red blood cells, cholesterol.
If your liver enzymes are elevated, then the next step would be to test for a viral load and genotype. This is an expensive test. I got mine done in Oct 2006. My viral load was 1.84 million and my genotype is 1a, the most common and most difficult to treat successfully with Interferon and Ribivarin.
I sure wish I"d thought to get tested before then! I knew about the antibodies in 1993, but I felt fine, so I ignored it. My liver enzymes were way elevated in March 2005, but my chiropractor had ordered the blood testing and didn't have me find out my viral load or genotype at that time, which I now realize was an oversight on his part. I started to get sick soon after that test in 2005, and got steadily worse until Oct 2006. All kinds of weird things, fatigue, blood clots on my lower legs when I sat too long, arthritis or tendonitis, brain fog, depression, poor digestion....why I never considered that Hep C was causing those is a mystery to me.
Please go and find out more, before you get sick!