I HAVE A QUESTION YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO ANSWER.

I WAS DIAGNOSED POSITIVE FOR HEPATITIS C TYPE 1 JULY 24, 2007. I SPECIALIZED IN LABOR & DELIVERY AFTER GRADUATING. ONE EXPOSURE I REMEMBER WELL WHEN FRESH BLOOD SPLATTERED ENTERED INTO BOTH MY EYES. BUT, IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER TIME I WAS EXPOSED BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE LEARNED THAT A PAPER CUT CAN BE A DIRECT EXPOSURE TO HEPATITIS C. I COULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED AS EARLY AS WHEN I WAS A STUDENT NURSE.

JULY 24,2007, I TESTED POSTIVE FOR HEP C, FURTHER TESTING WAS DONE. HEPATITIS C TYPE 1A, VIRAL LOAD OR COUNT WAS 168,000, 4 MONTHS LATER AND AFTER I RETURNED FROM A ONE MONTH SOLO SABBATICAL TO JAPAN SO THAT I COULD CLEARLY CONSIDER MY OPTIONS PLUS POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES IF I STARTED THE TREATMENTS.

MAYBE TWO TO THREE DAYS AFTER I RETURNED MY SPECIALIST CALLED WANTING TO KNOW IF I WAS READY TO TO BEGIN AND IF SO WHEN, I FELT PRESSURED BY THE TONE OF HIS VOICE. I TOLD HIM WHEN I RECEIVED THE MEDICATIONS, I WOULD START.

I BEGAN THE TREATMENTS ON NOV 1,2007. MY FIRST BLOOD TEST PRIOR TO THE FIRST INJECTION OF INTERFERON THAT EVENING. THE RESULT FOR VIRAL LOAD WAS 29.5 LOG IUL/mL.

SECOND BLOOD TESTING COLLECTION THE DAY AFTER MY FIRST INJECTION OF INTERFERON WITH THE TEST RESULT SHOWING 6,000 IUL/mL VIRAL COUNT.

THE THIRD BLOOD TEST COLLECTED EXACTLY 9 DAYS AFTER TREATMENT BEGAN, HAD A RESULT OF CLEARING THE VIRUS AND BECOMING NEGATIVE OF HEP. C.

BACK TRACKING MY FIRST VIRAL LOAD WAS 168,000, A FEW MONTHS LATER IT HAD DROPPED TO 29.5 AND THEN 6,000, NEGATIVE TO THE HAVING THE VIRUS AFTER ONLY TWO INJECTIONS OF INTERFERON AND RIBAVIRAN, WHICH MEANT I WAS ONE OF 27 OR 47% OF THE POPULATION THAT COULD CLEAR THE VIRUS WITHOUT MEDICATION.

THE ABOVE LAB TEST RESULTS I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT NOR WAS I INFORMED OF, I FOUND THEM WHEN I BEGAN SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS IN AREAS THAT OCCURED THAT JUST DID NOT MAKE SENSE. I FOUND OUT ABOUT THESE RESULTS WAY AFTER MY 39TH WEEK OF TREATMENT AND FOOUND OUT WAY TOO LATE.

I WAS INFORMED OF BECOMING NEGATIVE AFTER THE FOURTH WEEK OF TREATMENT AND THEN GIVEN THE TITLE OF “EARLY RAPID RESPONDER”. I THINK DURING THIS CONVERSATION WITH MY DOCTOR IS WHEN HE INFORMED ME THAT MY WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT HAD DROPPED TOO MUCH AND I WAS INSTRUCTED TO START SELF-INJECTIONS OF NEUPOGEN 2 x A WEEK, TO FORCE THE BONE MARROW TO PRODUCE MORE WBC’S.

I WAS NEVER TOLD AMOUNT OR THE NUMBERS OF MY VIRAL COUNT AFTER THE FIRST ONE WHICH 168,000. I HAD CLEARED THE VIRUS AFTER ONLY 9 DAYS AFTER THE TREATMENT ONSET.

I APPARENTLY LIKE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO CLEAR THIS VIRUS WITHOUT MEDICATIONS 27% TO 47% OF THE POPULATION, CONSEQUENTLY I CONTINUED THE TREATMENTS UNTIL THE 39TH WEEK WHEN I DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA, AND WAS PLACED IN THE HOSPITAL. AFTER BEING RELEASED, THE TREATMENT HAD TO BE STOPPED.

UPON LEAVING THE HOSPITAL I WAS TOLD TO GET A PNEUMONIA VACCINE AND FLU VACCINE ASAP, i WENT TO MY PCP, WHEN THE NURSE ASKED TWO INJECTIONS IN ONE ARM? I ASKED TO BE GIVEN ONE VACCINE IN ONE ARM AND THE OTHER VACCINE IN THE OTHER ARM, IN CASE OF A REACTION. NURSING TRAINING AND SOME COMMON
SENSE. (^-^)I devloped cellulitis IN THE ARM VACCINATED FOR PNEUMONIA, MY ARM HAD DOUBLED IN SIZE, BRIGHT RED, FLUID FILLED, I CALLED ER, AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO GO THE ER WHERE I RECEIVED ANITIBOTICS. MY IMMUNE SYSTEM HAD BEEN SEVERELY COMPROMISED.

WHEN THE TREATMENTS WERE STOPPED I NEVER FELT BETTER, I FELT AS BADLY DURING THE TREATMENTS AND I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY. I WAS REFERRED TO A RHEUMATOID/AUTOIMMUNE PHYSICIAN TO LOOK FOR OTHER IMMUNE SYSTEM DISORDERS, AFTER MANY TESTS I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH FIBROMYALGIA AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME.

MY QUESTION IS DO YOU THINK THAT I MAY HAVE GOTTEN THE FIBROMYALGIA AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME FROM THE HEPATITIS C EXPOSURE, OR WHEN THE TREATMENTS WERE BEING GIVEN WHICH REDUCED MY WBC COUNT AND AS A RESULT LOWERED MY IMMUNE SYSTEM GIVING THE FIBROMYALGIA AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME OPPORTUNITY TO INVADE MY BODY?

IF I HAD KNOWN I WAS NEGATIVE AFTER 9 DAYS AND IF I HAD BEEEN GIVEN THE OPTION TO STOP AND LET MY BODY REST TO AVOID THE NEUPOGEN SHOTS, AND BE TESTED/MONITORED EVERY MONTH OR TWO FOR THE HEP C REOOCCURING, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I COULD HAVE AVOIDED GETTING FIBROMYALGIA AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME?

I THANK YOU FOR ANY ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER ME, GOOD OR BAD.

WITH MUCH GRATITUDE,
JENNIFER

Please do keep us informed of the clinical trials and other results.

THANK YOU! for your determined efforts.

CFS for 38 years