New to all this - Helen

[Guest guest]

Hi Helen

Welcome to the WebWarriors group.

You have landed in a good spot.

Everyone here trys to help each other with lotsa love, experiance, info, and support.

The imput is amazing.

Let me introduce myself.

I am don in kansas, 59, DX'd with HCV in 2008, genotype 1B.

I havent done a biopsy or treatment yet, because Im dealing with other health issues.

My time will come soon enough.

I try to be the self appointed info guy for our group. LOL :-)

I am building the Links Library, bringing all the info about HCV to one place from all over the web to help us all find answers faster.

Please explore this resource, and read.

I have set it up starting with 'just disgnosed', and take people thru alternative and conventional medicine.

Hopefully it will answer a lot of your questions.

- click this link

http://health.dir./group/ /links

I search for, and post, the Hepatitis news each day about interesting and informative articles on new treatment discoverys, clinical trials, health related things, etc, so we can keep up to date on whats going on.

I also help folks do research to find answers.

If you need my help with this, please just ask.

Its not a problem, because its what I do, and I love it.

My private email address is - ludichrist2000@... - or you may ask via the group.

Helen, I have taken the liberty to change your email pref from NO EMAIL to DAILY DIGEST.

I think that this will allow you to keep up with the group, and communicate with us all better.

If you would rather not, it is not a problem, I will change you back again.

Daily digest puts 25 group posts into one email, so that you dont have to visit the group to communicate with us, and you will see every conversation that is going on.

You also wont be overwhelmed by bunches of emails, because at times we do post alot.

In Daily Digest, at the bottom of each post are 3 selections.

- If you wish to reply to the poster privately, click on REPLY TO SENDER.

- If you wish to post something new to the group, click on REPLY TO GROUP.

- If you wish to respond on forum to a post, click on REPLY VIA WEB POST.

Helen, Im sorry that it took your doctors so long to discover you were infected with HCV.

That is quit common with a lot of us.

Doctors chase down causes of symptoms, and hopefully eventually they will find out what is wrong with us.

The good thing is that now you know what may have been causing your health to fail.

Granted, none of us wish for a serious illness, but it is better to know, so that we can make changes.

I would like you to explore the Links Library's DIET folder.

Click this link

http://health.dir./group/ /links/HEP_C_DIET_INFO_001245398019/

I have collected bunches of diet info that may help you creat a more balanced diet, and that may help you fight the HCV.

Granted, HCV can only be treated at this point by using meds, but you can improve your general health while you decide which path to take.

Some folks decide to try to live with the virus.

They choose this path for many reasons.

Some [most] folks decide to do the HCV treatment.

This takes a long time, may make one very sick, and does not always work.

Regaurdless of which path you choose, no one here will judge your choice.

We will also stand beside you all the way, no matter what.

Please feel free to tell us more about you.

Things like genotype, viral load, liver lab test stats, your diet, your lifestyle, etc.

If you dont know some of these things, your doctor will be able to provide you with them.

I ask because information about you may help someone else.

We all compare notes here, so that we can figure out what works and what doesnt.

I have a question - Have you talked with a Gastro-doc yet?

If not, have your GP refer you to one.

A Gastro-doc will be able to answer questions, monitor your progress, and treat you, if needed.

Helen, Hepatitis C is usually a slow progressing disease, so you may have time to educate yourself, and plan ahead.

But not always.

It can cause serious liver cirrhosis, and may be necessary for you to have a liver transplant, or worse - deal with HCC [liver cancer].

Please keep a Gastro-doc in the loop of your health care.

It is your choice what protocal to do, but this resouce is very useful, just so that you know what is going on with your body and health.

Sorry to write a book, but I had a lot of ground to cover with you.

Please post and keep us informed about how you are doing.

Please remember that you are not alone here either, someone will always respond to your posts.

Be well my friend.

love

don in ks

From: helenphillips51 <helenphillips51@...>Subject: [ ] New to all this Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010, 5:19 AM

Hi there-I gather most of you are in the States-hello to you all from "slightly yellow" of borough England. :-)It took my doctors nearly 4 years to diagnose hep C-by which time I had gone from 119lbs to 98lbs. So apart from being a bit annoyed at losing any shape I once had (and doubtful I'll get them back at 47 years old....), I was also taking 8 paracetamol and codeine per day (as prescribed) because of the joint pain from the arthritis,(I'm allergic to ibuprofen). What was really happening was food moving through my system very very quickly which was masked by the codeine-so I suffered 4 years of b12 deficiencies etc because I was getting minimal nutrients. So I started upping the amount of dairy to get b12-I'm not a big meat eater-and it just got worse. Anyway-now I'm here, I know what it is and I have to say the virus is welcome to live inside me if it wants-but it wont be comfortable for it....

The thing is, its been a month and I've completely changed my diet to macrobiotic/japanese and stopped taking paracetamol. But still the swift digestion-my eyes arent so yellow and dry and the lividity in the palms of my hands has faded-I definitely feel better, but urine is still very dark and the other very pale. I didnt expect to see results overnight but this constant need for the loo is getting me down now-any suggestions?Thanks guys.------------------------------------