• TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | Eligiu | deficiT

Hep C

If you are going to share a needle with someone bleach will not kill hep c.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE DOES. Please share this information with all your friends. It probably saved my life.

Do not risk this at all. Do not share needles, cookers or even the same water as someone else that's if they have put a used needle in it. You can get needles in most states at needle exchanges atleast i believe and pharmacies. Someone from the US could chime in on this. I am from Canada and i have never had a problem buying syringes at a pharmacy. I have never even been asked what i wanted them for.

So just don't share any gear at all.
 
Do not risk this at all. Do not share needles, cookers or even the same water as someone else that's if they have put a used needle in it. You can get needles in most states at needle exchanges atleast i believe and pharmacies. Someone from the US could chime in on this. I am from Canada and i have never had a problem buying syringes at a pharmacy. I have never even been asked what i wanted them for.

So just don't share any gear at all.

agreed. do not share at all. sorry i should have made that declaration as well.

in new jersey you cannot get needles without a prescription. and i do not know the policy on needle exchanges. when i lived in texas, i had no problem getting points from pharmacies. you just gotta tell them it's for you, then i think they will reluctantly hand one over.
 
Sharing in general is bad practice, even if you "sterilize" it. Eventually down the road ( if you get that far) you'll be in a fucked up situation and just not care and not "sterilize" one. Almost every major City has some kind of access to fresh needles. Whether they are OTC or they are at an exchange. If you don't have those two options there's still no excuse. Just order them online! If you can muster up enough money for dope everyday and other living necessities then you can afford a 10 pack of sets.
 
Sharing in general is bad practice, even if you "sterilize" it. Eventually down the road ( if you get that far) you'll be in a fucked up situation and just not care and not "sterilize" one. Almost every major City has some kind of access to fresh needles. Whether they are OTC or they are at an exchange. If you don't have those two options there's still no excuse. Just order them online! If you can muster up enough money for dope everyday and other living necessities then you can afford a 10 pack of sets.

Amen to that. But if you happen to ever see someone think that bleach is enough, please correct them. They might be killing HIV but they most likely will be unsuccessful in killing HEP C.

Hep C can live outside the body for 7 days folks...
 
Just come back clear of hep c after 6 years of i.v. use ,shared needles 4/5 times in those years, if its the choice between no drugs or sharing and you hurt enough ,you will share.
I was convinced i had it and put the test off for years, its the only way of knowing.
Be careful everyone and dont share water, filters, spoons etc.
^.I read hep c virus can live outside the body for up to 3 months and cleaning the spoon or whatever doesnt kill it. Needles are the main way but not the only way of catching a blood borne virus
 
^No worries, i did get told off a drug worker , that if a small drop of infected blood was left on a spoon and then put in a freezer for 3 months and then you took it out washed it , then cooked up your shot on that spoon you could still contract the virus (hepc). Maybe a lot smaller chance but im not 100% sure how accurate that info is ?
Im sure you'll agree bro, what isnt up for debate , is that its one of the easiest blood borne virus's to catch and once contracted can have NO symptoms for up to 20 years or more.
 
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I just don't understand why you guys shared needles with each other in the first place,


In Canada the majority of hep c positive people acquired the virus in the 60's ,70's and 80's before the advant of harm reduction programs. Not that it still doesn't happen now.

I think it might be different in the US were access to that kind of thing is sort of piecemeal as I understand it.
 
Hmmm. I find out this month If my treatment worked, and if it has ridden my liver of detectable levels then I get to go off the meds a month early. We shall see.
 
@purelife good luck i hope you have cleared it, its only through lifes lottery that i didnt contract a virus
 
Average risk of transmission from a single blood borne exposure to the infectious agent:

Hepatitis B: 33%
Hepatitis C: 3%
HIV: 0.3%

Note this is just an average transmission risk and is dependent on the person's viral load. Viral load is usually related to if the person has active disease or not, and if they're on anti-viral medication.

For example, risk of blood borne transmission from a person with full blown AIDS who isn't on anti-retrovirals approaches 100%

Regarding how long virus can live outside the body, for HIV its as long as the bodily fluids are wet (ie dried blood or dried semen cannot transmit virus). For Hepatitis its around 24-48 hours after sample has dried.
 
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Right now, it sucks and has a lot of side effect. If it works the way its supposed to though, it's def. worth it.
good luck mate.

i had been on treatment for a year, fucking done my head right in, alas it didnt work but there has been improvement in my liver. i will give my self some time and then repeat the course but this time it lasts 18 month with less than 40% chance of a cure.

i have never shared needles but shared spoons and presume i caught it from that.

stay lucky
 
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If you really only had one exposure to it, your chances of not catching it are actually pretty good. Your immune system can be a powerful machine, if you're in decent health.

I have Hep C from sharing needles with my boyfriend who contracted the antibodies while coming in contact with infected blood from a pregnant hooker. The bitch suddenly went into labor at our friend's house after doing a blast of speed, and he was the only one around and, being the noble man he is, sprang into action and came to her aid. He had an open wound on his hand (and no gloves), and didn't know she was infected. He and I were sharing works at the time. He didn't know he had exposure, got the antibodies, exposed ME, continued to share with me, and by continuously sharing with eachother, we sealed our fates. We could have avoided it completely.

Bottom line: Never share anything!! No matter how close of a friend you are to someone. No matter if you share a bed, or your body, or everything else you have.. don't share works.
 
Interferon treatment doesnt always work

Right now, it sucks and has a lot of side effect. If it works the way its supposed to though, it's def. worth it.


Interferon treatment works at different percentages depending upon which form of hep c you have. Some forms of hep c, you will only have like a 30-50% chance of the treatment working.
 
^ I would rather take the meds and deal with the uncomfortable side effect At least I gave it a go. I'd rather have that peace in either 1) the treatment worked good and the treatment paid off. 2) The treatment didn't work, but at least I tried.
 
There's a 50/50 chance i used a needle that a guy with hep C (type 5) used. what are the chances I have it and if I get checked sooner can it be cured?

The chances are simple enough , I just hope for your sake you caught a lucky break bro.

That said - I know hundreds of people who live with HepC - it's not easy I won't say it always is. But all in all, these people live quite normal lives. The main thing now is to make sure you protect OTHERS, if you have indeed contracted Hep C - which i do hope you haven't !
 
@purelife im hepc negative but have heard the interferon treatment can be hell , must be very disappointing to go through it then find you havent cleared it. I do agree that you did the right thing trying it though. @ med school guy, say someone used a needle then left it in a drawer for 5 days, i then cleaned it out and used it , since all the virus's die within 48 hours do i have 0% chance of catching them then? thanks
 
@ med school guy, say someone used a needle then left it in a drawer for 5 days, i then cleaned it out and used it , since all the virus's die within 48 hours do i have 0% chance of catching them then? thanks

How did you clean it?

It Depends on the virus load of the person using the needle. If the person has a low virus load, Hepatitis C would die as quickly as 16 hours. If the person had a crazy high virus load (like they were jaundiced with fulminant hepatitis it could live up to 4 days). Either way your safe!

Hepatitis B can live up to 7 days though...
 
I don't know where all these percentages of risk of transmission are coming from but it is my understanding that it is one of the easiest bloodborne infections to get.

Not sure about type 5 (you in Europe somewhere?) but check out www.hepatitis-central.com for tons of info.

Good luck.
 
@edarrin i agree those figures seem far too low imo as after 3 years of i.v. use,on average up to 70% of users will have hep c. I just cant see a 3% chance when exposed to infected blood but the med school guy does seem to know a bit though. reliable source about this would be good as it could be dangerous in a harm reduction way
 
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