My Experience with Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C The Silent Killer
Hepatitis C has been called 'The Silent Killer'. Many people have it, some for even decades, but do not know. These people may seem asymptomatic, while their liver is being harmed. Granted, the liver is a very powerful organ, it is not indestructable and immune from damage.
In my research, I have learned that there are about 200 million people infected with Hep C, worldwide. This is an epidemic. For every one person infected with the AIDS virus, there are more than four infected with Hep C, resuliting from 8,000 to 10,000 deaths a year, 60% of those infected end up with cancer of the liver (hepatocellular carcinoma) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) http://www.cdc.gov/)esimates that there are about 230,000 new cases of Hep C every year in the United States.
Prevention is the obvious weapon againt this and all other diseases. First we must take care of our bodies, through what our bodies ingest, like the foods we eat, the drugs (illegal and prescribed) we take, and the very air we breath. Our skin absorbs toxins and chemicals, like fumes from paint, cars, and cleaning products. This can cause damage to the body. (Using 'Earth Friendly' or 'Green' cleaning products, with no harse chemicals is best for us and the enviornment, like products Vegan Essentials and many other estblishments. sell )
A vegetarian diet, is a perfect way to keep your body in the best health it can be in. Your liver will thank you for it, your immune system will thank you for it, along with the earth and the animals.
I was diagnosed Hep C pos in 1991. At that time it was called 'Non A - Non B' . I had a liver biopsy and did six months of 'Interferon',
I lost alot of weight, but stayed on top of all my lab work and medical care. My labs lead me to believe my body accepted the medicine, and the results were good. For about 3 years. At that time, there was no 'combo' of Interferon and Ribavarin, so I just waited it out.
In 2000, I was put on the 'combo' for 48 weeks. I was told I had 'Genotype 1A, and using the 'combo' over this period of time, had proven somewhat effetive for this usually unresponsive gentotype. This 'combo' had quite an effect on my body, mind and soul. I could hardly move for the first few months. The side effects did lesson, over time, but I was never side-effect free. This period of 48 weeks, was the hardest thing I ever lived through. It is said some people have few side-effects, while others have extreme. I was on the 'extreme' end of the scale. I had trouble sleeping, I sweat profusely, every muscle in my body ached, I was nauseos and had to avoid things like coffee and other certain foods. It was hell. It was sort of like detoxing off heroin.
My body craved fruit and cheese, so my diet consisted of alot of those two foods. I believe, our bodies 'speak' to us. My grandmother told me once, that when she was pregnant with one of her kids, she craved oranges. She never liked oranges, never hated them, but never craved them. Once she gave birth, the craving had departed.
So far, as of March 2003, my body has shown improvements in lab work. Along with this, I take herbs and eat right.
Whats most distressing to me is, the medical field. When I was first on the 'Interferon', the doctor told me I didnt need blood work until I completed my six month treatment. I worked on a oncology unit, and I looked through the P.D.R. (Physician's Desk Reference...a doctors bible, which apparently you can find on line http://www.pdr.net/) and it stated, while a patient in being treated with interferon, blood work should be done about once a month. Mainly to keep an eye on the white blood count and the red blood count. So I demanded, at much the doctors anoyance, that I follow the guidelines in the P.D.R.
Also, as with all diseases and doctors, and people in general, we all have different opinions about how something should be done. Unfortunately for a patient , it is their life two or more doctors could not agree on the same treatment. For instance, when I was first diagnosed, I was told to get a liver biopsy yearly. I did for the first two years....not the most pleasant thing I have had done to me, (if not the most unpleasant). Then I was told by another doctor, I should have them every few years, another doctor thought I should have one only if my blood work indicated activity of the Hep C virus. The most frequent suggestion I got was, I don't need one. I disagree with this completely, since I have had the disease for over twelve years, and havent had a biopsy in ten, and have been treated with medicine twice, a biosy would be wise. Hepatitis C isnt called 'The Silent Killer' for it's good looks. Blood work could be fairly normal, while a malignant cancerous tumor grows inside your body. I saw this many time in the six and a half years I had worked on an oncology unit in a hospital.
I also found, and find to this day, the lack of support for Hep C patients. I felt like how someone with AIDS may have felt in the early 1980s when people uneducated about the disease. I looked for support groups in my area, (the city of Boston, with all the hospitals and schools one would assume there was alot offered here) and I was disappointed to only find one, which was more of an educational workshop that a 'support group' type atmosphere I was hoping for.
At one point I thought, if I got involved, maybe volunteer my time at the local 'American Liver Foundation', I would feel 'part of' my treatment, meet other heppers (nickname for Hep C people) and help others. But I was so irritated by the way I was treated when I called to offer myself, I decided, atleast in Boston, I did not want to be involved with an organization that would be so rude and condenscending to someone who would like to volunteer.
I did find alot of support online. But online can only do so much. I do find the best way someone should live their life, whether they have Hep C, AIDS, Cancer, Depression or any other ailment, is to stay educated. When my father was diagnosed with cancer, I brought him all this 'self-help' material from the oncology unit I worked on. This included information on nutrition, emotions and basically how to keep yourself as happy and healthy as possible, while going through chemo, or living with a disease. I realized, that all this information, I myself could use. This was my first step ( second if you count the P.D.R. incident mentioned above) in 'getting involved' with my treatment. I was lucky to have worked in a hospital and to have all this information available to me.
I have met a few people who are infected with Hepatitis, one had gone through the'combo' treatment before I did. But I gather, as the studies have indicated, alot of people don't know they have Hep C, until years, sometimes decades after they are infected. So I assume, in the future, I will meet alot more people who are living as I do.
I did find some interesting information while searching on the web and through medical texts, about Hep C. One, most disturbing, was the belief that Hep C was created by a man. I will research into this more, and I will create a webpage with this information for anyone to make their own decisions about who or what or how Hep C originated.
I hope to add more to this webpage soon. I believe people should know what its like to have Hep C. Side-effects, even after medicine is stopped, effect alot of Hep C infected people. Being tired is most common. Because one with Hep C may not look sick, like with Hep A and Hep B, when those infected can turn yellow, Hep C is rightfully called 'The Silent Killer', being tired is not being lazy. When the body is exhausted, as a result from a disease unseen, it doesnt make it any less credible.
There are two books I have found very helpful in my search for healing my liver, through diet, herbs and other natural remedies.
'Foundations of Health' & 'Natural Liver Therapy' by
Helpful Hepatitis Links
