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Hepatitis C exposure question

diamondsandguns

Greenlighter
Joined
May 5, 2011
Messages
43
Location
CT
how long after exposure does it become too late for preventative prophylactics? which medications do they use
 
Unfortunately, there is no prophylaxis for Hepatitis C exposure :(

When exposed to the virus, symptoms typically appear between 7 weeks and 6 months of exposure. The BEST thing you could do is keep getting regular blood work done throughout this time. If it does turn out that you have hepatitis C, catching it really early opens up a wide range of treatment options to halt (or at least extremely slow) its progression.

Healthy Living mods, please feel free to move this elsewhere if you think it would be a better fit.

HT-->HL
 
Yeah I remember a group doing a presentation back in sex ed class in highschool that caught early it's close to 100% effective at complete clearance of the virus but if you don't catch it until later it's like 50% or so. Don't know the timeline or name of the med but wiki would. :)
 
the treatment is interfuron, while it doesnt cure it, it can bring the virus down to undetectable levels
 
First make sure that you are actually Hep C+ and that you can take the treatment if you are since not everyone can.

I have friends who were exposed to Hep C from sex or sex that involved blood contact but they were not infected with it.

I have other friends who were infected with Hep C long before there was even a test for it and the treatments and even the new expensive medication out for Hep C are not things they can even afford or even take, and they're not going to get a liver transplant either. :(
 
New Hepatitis C Drug Incivek/telaprevir

Ok so, first I'm going to ramble on about myself, and why I'm interested in this. I recently learned that I have hep C from an STD test. I went in just for a general physical, blood work and an STD screen. I expected to come up negative for everything seeing as I've never used needle drugs, I don't have any tattoos and I have had sex with two girls in the last 4 years, both monogamous relationships. Neither my ex- nor my current girlfriend have Hep C. So I'm a little perplexed as to how I got it, seeing as it isn't the easiest virus to contract. I work at a pub, so I suspect I may have come in to contact with it there, but that's still doubtful. I've come up positive for antibodies, twice, to make sure it wasn't a false positive. A week ago I got actual blood tests for viral count/RNA quant at a lab with the proper refrigeration equipment. I called about 10 minutes ago to schedule a follow up appointment, lines were busy, I left a message. Now I might be one of those lucky people who will clear the virus myself, odds are against that though.

Now to address the new drug out for Hep C that raises the cure rate to 79% in combination with interferon & ribavirin. This would be Incivek/telaprevir. Obviously you still have to deal with chemotherapy like interferon & ribavirin treatment, but now it might be worth it for more people. I searched Bluelight and didn't find a thread about this new drug, so I thought I'd put it out there. I don't know that much about it and I won't have access to scholarly journals until the fall. Here is link to the FDA press release: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm256299.htm

I have a few questions about my substance intake and liver health, but I'll ask them further down in the thread, as to not take up so much real estate.
 
Welcome to BL, rcc01a. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis! Hopefully you can clear yourself of it like you said some can. Figured I'd go ahead and merge this with a very similar thread. :)
 
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