Just diagnosed with C and and have questions

I cannot believe this! I didn't go through the second testing yet, but the initital testing , and the initial came back that I had antibodies. My 2nd phase of blood work won't come back until next week.  I NEVER have done needles. However, I was involved in the sex industry from 19-14 years ago, and have been married all that time and in a monogamous relationship since. I even gave up smoking 9 years ago. I've had 3 children and when I called my OB/GYN, they confirmed that they never did a hep C test on me throughout all my pregnancies. They did B, which came out fine. I did give blood back in the year 2000 and nothing bad came back. My doctor says that the hep C test wasn't available then and that's why it wasn't caught. Is that true?  Now my doctor is telling me that it most likely came back from when I was involved in the sex industry, 14 years ago. Is that true? I've turned my life around since and have even formed a ministry to get women out of that lifestyle, and now this!!!!!!!! Urgh!!!!!!! He did say that on my report my liver was excellent. So I don't understand this. He also said that if the 2nd test comes back positive, then no one can use my glass or utensils. Is that true? The Internet tells me that someone can't catch "C" from glasses. I am still in shock. I am so afraid of telling anyone in fear that I will be treated like a reject or denied into someone's home and I am VERY depressed about this. I've come so far in my life over the past 14 years and now this crap comes up. I'm inclined to think that I got this from my dentist. I just can't believe that I could have possibly had it when I gave blood in the year 2000. Of course, my doctor WANTS to blame it on the sex industry. I left it in 1992 and condoms were used religiously, but I know that nothing is full-proof. Please be upfront with me. I need to know the answers.

Thank you,

Grace

Thank you for that great advice, Trish. That makes me feel so much better!

Grace, no...you cannot get hep C by sharing utensils, etc. Bear in mind that it is a blood-borne disease. Just how would a dentist transmit the disease? I fail to understand that. It is recommended not to share toothbrushes or to have sex during your period. As Marge mentioned, if you have antibodies, it could be that you were exposed to hep C but your immune system fought it off. That is the case with me and hep B. It's true that there was not a test for hep C prior to 1991. I was diagnosed with chronic active hep C in '93 and remember my doctor telling me that. However, if you were only exposed to hep C, you will still always test positive for hep C. It's a fact that hep C usually doesn't show up for decades. Mine goes back to the 60s, sharing needles and that whole lifestyle. I also have turned my life around. Thankfully, I had been sober for 6 years when I was diagnosed, and free from IV drugs since '69. So I totally understand the feeling of "I can't believe this is happening!" Hopefully, you will not be found to be "active," but if you are...please get treatment. Do come back here and let us know the results and how you are doing.

Hugs,
Connie

I agree with Trish about consulting with a hepatologist and waiting for further testing. The treatments today are much more effective than when I was first diagnosed.

Hi coppa-- I think doctors make way too big a deal about where you got the disease than about simply diagnosing and possibly treating it. Would they ask you where you got the flu from? The best hep doctors I had were the ones who didn't really care where I got it from, but made sure that my family was tested and made sure I was educated as to the things I should and shouldn't do to spread it. I was involved in some risky behavior when I was young but was healthy and grew up and all, then got it from an ex-fiance, though how exactly we arent sure. The bottom line is, there should be no shame. You can get it from pedicures and manicures, tattoos, unsanitized dental tools, probably a million ways and probably many people fight it off and maybe even sero-convert and no longer even have antibodies. Other people have antibodies only, and some have antibodies and the disease. You need to refocus your medical team on the present, not the past, and on your treatment, not on judging you and trying to make you feel bad so they don't have to do their job or they can feel safe that they wont get it since they are more holy than you are. It doesn't discriminate. One man in my family cheated on his wife with a "wild" woman, got hep c, since they were a family of butchers, it ran through the males who worked in the butcher shop (this was like many, many years ago). Anyway, these men find out they have it in their 60s and 70s, because there was no test for it, though they had had bad LFTs and other problems for years. Some good news for you, I was treated in 1994 for hepc and have been PCR neg since late 94 up to last week straight and I have autoimmune disease and am on immunosuppressants, so if I had hepc in remission, it would have come out lately, especially with the massive doses of steroids i had recently. Even sick, I licked it. You can too. Make sure they check your immune system to make sure that it hasn't hurt your immune system (sometimes your immune system can get overzealous after fighting the infection). I wish the best for you and just don't let the docs go there, but focus them on the present and future. How dare he engage you in that conversation and neglect to educate you on how to protect your family from contracting it. I was religious about handwashing, bandaids when I cut myself. hid my razor and toothbrussh on a high shelf away from kids, didn't share pierced earrings, nailclippers and manicure tools. Bleach was my friend for cleaning, and I told my son he needed to stay away from anything in the house that had blood on it, especially things in the trash. He was little, like four. I had a trash can with a lid and emptied it regularly. I was just practically careful, for friends and family. I kissed my husband and had a normal, though safe, relationship. I kept things clean where my blood was concerned, just common sense stuff, and no one in my family got it. Once I was pcr neg, I threw away all my pierced earrings and manicure things and toothbrush and razor and got all new. Just stuff, small, but important. You can get through this. The main thing is to protect your family until you know what is going on, and what they are going to do, if anything. I wish you and your family the best and hope that they get going on the right track and get you well soon.