HAVE BEEN HEARING A LOT OF TALK ABOUT NOTHING BAD GOING IN YOUR SYSTEM, LIKE ALCOHOL, ASPIRIN, ETC. I KNOW YOUR LIVER IS A FILTER AND HAVING HEP C MAKES IT HARDER. MY VIRAL LOAD WAS 2.5 MILLION AND I HAVE NO SCARRING OR CIRRHOSIS. I TAKE EFFEXOR WHICH IS An ANTI-DEPRESSANT, XANAX FOR AN ANXIETY DISORDER AND SOMETIMES CIALIS FOR THE SIDE EFFECTS FROM THE EFFEXOR AND A PAIN PILL EVERY MORNING FOR MY BACK AND KNEE PROBLEMS. I DRINK ONLY WATER 100 OZ A DAY, AND EAT VERY HEALTHY. I HAVE GOOD GENES, MY FATHER WAS AN ALCOHOLIC AND WHEN HE DIED AT AGE 70 AND THEY ACTUALLY DONATED HIS LIVER, GO FIGURE. I DO TAKE THE MILK THISTLE EVERY DAY AND HAVE A BEER OR GLASS OF WINE IN THE EVENING. I KNOW THE ALCOHOL IS NOT GOOD BUT IS THAT SMALL AMOUNT ENOUGH TO PUT MORE DAMAGE ON MY LIVER. I AM 50 YRS OLD AND JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE HEP C WHICH I PROBABLY GOT SOME THIRTY YEARS AGO SHOOTING HEROIN. I MEET WITH MY DR ON WED TO GO OVER OPTIONS, I HAVE NO INSURANCE. IF I QUIT THE DRINKING WILL MY CHANCES IMPROVE THAT MUCH. I FEEL I NEED TO TAKE THE OTHER MEDS. THANKS!

Hi Trying ....I am 42 female , no insurance and just found out a couple of weeks ago via a pre employment drug test. ( didnt get the job) . I havent been to a doc for this because Im afraid if I do , THEN get a job with insurance that Ill be denied for benefits for pre existing. I got the paper in the mail today and it says that my ALT Level is 31 IU/L ...no idea what that is. Then it says ANTI -HCV repeat reactive...no idea .... HCV RIBA POS...and CNAT pos... and C RNA was pos. I wish they would have definitions beside this so I knew what theyre talking about. I looked on line and all I gather is I need to see a doc about a test for viral load and that I have an active case..or something...Getting to the medicine that you take....Im wondering the same thing. I take pain meds from a pain management doc. I take methadone 30 mgs a day and hydrcodone 2, 5mgs a day for break thru. I take the meth because I was on morphine sulfate and lost my job and with out insurance they run over 200 a month. The meth is 15 a month. I need stronger but they make me SSSOOOOO sleepy. Im afraid to tell my PM abt the hep c because then if I get insurance itll be pre existing. I take milk thistle too. This no insurance thing really sux ! I used to take effexor and LOVED it..called it my red happy pill !...theyre just too expensive w/o insurance ! ...........I quit drinking in JAN and suspect I got hep in the early 80s from shootin speed . I would have never known had I not gone for the pre employment. .....What made you get tested ? ...How are you doing mentally ?

i am similar to you..had hep c since i was 19 and found out about 10 years ago and promptly stopped drinking, went on the liver cleaning diet etc. and felt great... normal alts. no interest in the combo therapy but take heaps of vitamins and milk thistle. but as life goes on so do the bad habits return and i drink too much... just get tired, tired tired but still manage to work most of the time.
a dear friend has just had 2 siezures this week, is very sick with hep c and has a host of other ailments including alcoholism. any thoughts on the siezures, im thinking its from the alcohol and the prescription meds which he takes far too many of.
??

i dont take prescription anything unless its panadol for an odd headache plus i take the occassional naprosyn for hip arthritis for which i need a replacement in the future. had the other hip replaced 3 years ago and its the best thing i did. i eat heathy most of the time and drink lots of water.
i dont think your one drink a day will have any impact on ur liver in fact, i think you'll find its documented that safe drinking levels has no effect on hep c outcomes.
i have genotype 2b, the best one to have, and like you contracted this from injecting heroin in the 70s no ever knowing about hep c or non ab as it was then called.
keep up the water, the healthy eating, get plenty of sleep and some exercise and take only absolutely necessary prescription meds. its worked for me. i just drink too much too often and that takes its toll.
plus iv taken milk thistle since i found out i had this disease about 10 years ago. i consider myself lucky to feel so good unlike lots of others who are
really debilitated.

I am surprised that Thanbey has not jumped into this thread.

She would tell you that no amount of alcohol is safe and the same with smoking.

You should learn about what is in all of your meds, both prescription and over-the-counter.

Tylenol is dangerous to take in large amounts. So are most anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS). Ibuprofen accumulates to dangerous levels and overworks the liver.

I have read that methadone is the least dangerous drug for pain.

Some vitamins accumulate and are hard on the liver, such as vit A, and niacin.

Household and industrial chemicals need to be monitered closely BY EVERYBODY! Many are poisonous, and especially to people with compromised livers.

Good Luck!

I am surprised that Thanbey has not jumped into this thread.

She would tell you that no amount of alcohol is safe and the same with smoking.

You should learn about what is in all of your meds, both prescription and over-the-counter.

Tylenol is dangerous to take in large amounts. So are most anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS). Ibuprofen accumulates to dangerous levels and overworks the liver.

I have read that methadone is the least dangerous drug for pain.

Some vitamins accumulate and are hard on the liver, such as vit A, and niacin.

Household and industrial chemicals need to be monitered closely BY EVERYBODY! Many are poisonous, and especially to people with compromised livers.

Good Luck!


Hi Wes,
How've ou been?

I agree with almost everything you say except that for folks at risk of liver damage, I believe acetominophen (tylenol) is considered a much worse risk than ibuprofen or other nsaids, including aspirin. Certainly tylenol combined with alcohol is a special risk as it has sometimes led to catastrophic liver collapse.

I bother to make this comment here only 'cause for people who have hcv AND arthritis (guess who), SOME pain reliever is needed, believe me. and I was gratified to learn that advil or the like are not a special risk. As I understand.

sean

are methadone and hydrocodone ? "Many are poisonous, and especially to people with compromised livers."

Sean, Hello Friend!

It is good to see you as well :) I hope that you are busy with you life bustling about and happy!

I am a little worried about Thanbey. I have not got an answer from her for about 2 months.

I agree with you about tylenol and that most doctors usually restrict it to 2 mg/day instead of the 4mg/day for otherwise healthy people. I have not heard about Ibuprofen restrictions... I HAVE heard about Ibuprofen being harmful, as well as other NSAIDS. NSAIDS do sometimes cause internal bleeding, and I am sure that you are very aware that - that is the demise of most sufferes of HCV.

It disturbes me that some doctors willing to rx pain meds that may facilitate the death of many patients.

No reputable doctor is going to tell you that any alcohol at all is okay for a cirrhotic liver. I am on a transplant list and the number one rule is NO ALCOHOL- not even in cooking food.

Maybe it is okay for folks with HepC but here is my cautionary tale. I have had HepC for 25 years and was under doc's care all that time. Repeatedly refused treatment. Had seven liver biopsies. The last was in 2002 - it showed minimal stage 2 damage. In the late fall of 2004, I developed out of control ascites. The very first indication I had developed cirrhoisis. I literally had no warning signs at all. I had never missed a single day of work or actually felt that I really had any serious symptoms from the HepC.

I was told in one sentence that I had cirrhosis and needed a transplant. Thank God I had not had a drink here and there all those years. You just never really know what is going on in your liver or what causes chronic HepC to decide one day to switch to aggressive, acute HepC. I am living (thank God) proof of that.