I am hoping someone can help me here. I have genital herpes. My girlfriend has hepatits "C".. I believe I have transmitted it to her... as she is getting the initial symptoms. She will go for a test. The question is this: Both Herpes and Hepatitis "C" are basically incurable as far as I know. They BOTH reside in the blood. Her Hepatitis "C" has been dormant...i.e. she is fine. Would the Herpes now affect her in a way it wouldn't other people? I mean would the addition of the herpes .. the combination of the two...to an already diseased blood somehow be deadly? Would it bring out full blown hepatitis? Or would they basically just both reside there... I don't kow if I'm expressing this correctly... but I just want to know if she'll be ok. Any comments would be appreciated...

Hold on a moment. Do you actually mean Hep C or B? It is just that Hep B is transmitted by sexual intercourse and Hep C is caught from bad sanitation and infected water rather than intercourse. You are right in thinking that there is not treatment for Hep C.

Also, I do not quite understand how you can have infected your girlfriend with Hepatitis if you do not have it yourself? You only mentioned having Genital Herpes and not Hepatitis yourself? If you do not have it, then you can not have infected her.

I didn't say it correctly..... I have herpes (not hepaptitis C),,,,she has the Hepatitis C... and I transmitted the herpes to her. now SHE has both. I still only have herpes.

The Herpes and Hep C are two different things, so I really do not think that the Herpes will affect the Hep C at all. I suppose that it could make her feel more unwell, due to the weakened immunity from the Hep C.

I would suggest that you get your girlfriend to start taking some Milk Thistle, the Standardised version that you should be able to get from any healthfood store. This is a herb, but it is perfectly safe to take and is used in cases of liver toxicity. It will help the liver to work better and detoxify better and also helps hepatocyte refeneration.

It can help to keep LFT's within normal limits. If she has Hep C, for which there is no treatment, then she has nothing to loose at all by trying it.

I know these postings are old, and therefore may not even be looked at, but I have to respond to some mis-information posted here just in case someone comes looking like I did. I hope it is helpful.

I have both Herpes and Hepatitis C, and have had both for 20+ years (recently diagnosed with HCV though, didn't know it and only found out accidentally by routine blood screening for insurance).

Anyway, the Herpes was never terribly virulent. Got it from my significant other that had it before meeting me, and we then lived together for 12 years so it was kinda unavoidable (we opted to give up condoms knowing it was likely - ah love!). It was worse the first 2-3 years (several very painful outbreaks a year) but it has steadily tapered off. Now I may get maybe 1-2 a year, and they are mild.

So all during that time, I had both the Herpes and the HCV. Recent tests for HCV indicate that I am at the lower end of the spectrum for liver inflammation or damage from the virus, have good liver function, low viral load etc. So, in my case, having both was not a significant escalation factor for either apparently.

The several postings on this thread have wrong information about Hepatitis. In a nutshell, there are vaccines now for A and B - which are mainly transmitted by poor sanitation and sexual contact. Look into the vaccines if you are sexually active or have another type of Hepatitis!!

Hep C (HCV) is transmitted mainly by blood (early transfusions before the blood supply was tested, sharing IV needles and other drug use [snorting drugs with an infected user may be possible transmission mode], blood to blood contact etc. Of note: monogamous sexual partners who do not use barrier methods of contraception still apparently have low incidence of transmittal, but multiple partners and other risky behavior increases possibility of sexual transmission. Regardless, sex is not the biggie for HCV (but it is for HBV). My ex never got HCV and we had unprotected sex for 12 years while I likely had it.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - there are lots of touted treatments for HCV out there, and those of us with it are always searching for the info. While there seem to be some successful alternative treatments (milk thistle and other herbs etc.), there are also newer conventional (chemo) therapies in use also (Peg-interferon/ Ribavirin) that cannot be overlooked. Also, some herbs can be extremely damaging to a sick liver, and should never be taken without much research and knowledge. There is, in fact, a lot to lose if the wrong stuff is taken.

It is absolutely NOT TRUE that there is no treatment for HCV. While it may not be optimal, all info should be considered by those who seek treatment. Please see the Hepatitis board for lots of info on all forms of Hepatitis, and especially HCV.

Please let us know what has transpired with your girlfriends diagnosis, and how things are going. I once thought that the Herpes was a terrible curse and it made me mad, now of course, I am a bit more concerned with the more serious nature of the HCV, and my attention is there. Herpes doesn't seem like a big deal anymore, and thankfully neither virus interferes with life and love for me.

We all have to deal with stuff as life continues along. Good thing we have some support as we do, and we know we are not alone with the unpleasant things that can come along.

Sorry to be so strident, but HCV is a rough thing to deal with, and I want people to get the right information they need to make informed decisions, and the only way we can do that is to share our knowledge.

Admittedly, this is all new to me also so I defer to the really good resources out here for more help. Hope this was useful information.

Good luck,

Robyn

[This message has been edited by Robyn_Fla (edited 06-29-2003).]