Living with Hepatitis & Liver Disease

 I  understand I have the same disease. I am considering the inter furon treatment

Hi Jerome,

Welcome to the board.  May I ask some questions?  Does your doctor say you are ready for interferon?  I was told that I could not be treated until my viral load reached a million.  I am only 135,000 right now.  It is creeping back up since my transplant.  I am not even sure I will be elegible for interferon when and if I reach a million.  I will cross that bridge when my doctor thinks its time.  What is your genotype?  Are they saying you have liver damage now?  There are so many variables to Hep C and treatment for it.  The good news is that people live long and full lives with Hep C today.  The bad news is Hep C is still killing people.  The reason for this is that people do not get diagnosed or treated early enough.  I know I was one of those that thought I had gotten away with all I had done with no physical consequenses.  I went thru 2 other cancers and lots of tests and my liver showed up ok thru all of those, so a year later when it showed on a simple blood test that something was wrong, Hep C never came to my mind.  The doctor says I have had it for around 30 years.  What a concept!  A disease that waits that long to show up and hurt you.  I was one of those people that was asymptomatic.  No symptoms at all.  No amonia buildup....no tired...no problems.  The bloodwork I had caught it before I was so far along that the doctors could do nothing to help me.  Of course, modern medicine had made a lot of progress toward transplantation, so I was able to get a new liver because the Hep C had destroyed the old one....with a lot of help from me.  I am curious to hear what your story is with your Hep C.  We all are a bit different but have a lot of the same results.  I am glad to see you here.  God bless.....

Brenda
Alcohol Problems Co-CL   Alcohol Problems 
Living with Hepatitis & Liver Disease CL    Living with Hepatitis & Liver Disease

     

"Happiness is an inside job. You can JOIN my happiness, but you can not BE my happiness".

Hi,

It has been a year since I found out I have auto immune hepatitis. In that year lots of things have changed for me. I discovered I had it when I went in for gallbadder surgery, my skin and eye whites were yellow. Was off from work for 6 weeks, which was a clue, usual recovery is 2 weeks. How I live my life and how I see the future is different. I am in the process of improving my health, with better diet and exercise. By exercise I am talking about walking and yoga. At this time don't think my body could take anything very strenuous. It has taken me this long to get some health issues taken care of, diabetes under control , so that my A1c is 6 (down from 7.5), going from 5 shots of insulin a day to one shot of lantus with metformin tabs twice daily. Also my doctor lowing my predisone and raising the imuran. The use of azathioprine allows for a lower dose of prednisone, which in turn reduces predisone’s side effects. They do this slowly so I don't have a flare, which could be very hard to get back under control. So now I take 12 pills in the am and 4 at night and one shot. In my future is a possible liver transplant, at this point I have stage 3 liver diease damage. I see signs that this is so, I have spider angiomas, or abnormal blood vessels, on the skin, bleeding easily, tiredness, gums that bleed easily -dental work is a major event now, abdominal discomfort -  due to liver enlargement. I also have diabetes and thyroiditis, an inflammation of the thyroid gland , having other auto immune disorders is common with this diease. I am just doing the best I can with what I have. If anyone out there has auto immune hep. please write to me. I would be interested in how you cope and what treatments you are doing.

I also notice lately since I been diagnosed with Liver Disease that I'm extremely exhausted and tired all the time. I have 2-3 hour nap during the day and then 12 hours a sleep at night. I get pain often. That somedays I don't have the energy to do anything.

Like you I love God as well and prayer for him to help me get through the day without being so tired and sore.'