Guest guest Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Well, I don't know about that Janet - I was never tested for it... And the hospital clinic that did my initial pre-diagnosis work-up, only did a hepatitis panel - that did not include autoimmune hep c. That involves another round of blood work for ANA - (which some places do a general ANA test routinely), SMA and anti-LKM tests. Usually, once a dx of hep c is made, and a & b are ruled out, most clinics and doctors do not look for autoimmune hep - Though sometimes, depending on the facility and bloodwork, they will dig deeper and run specific tests for various autoimmune disorders. For example, my "general" ANA was always positive but not specific for any one disorder. The liver docs at the clinic told me that most folks with hep c will have a positive ANA but that there were a lot of false positives. Recently, a more intensive test was done and it came up positive for Sjogren's Syndrome (which I have few if any symptoms of). So, if they are looking for AIH, they will then run the tests but generally they do not. Chris I bet your booties they did test for this, just gave you the info that they felt you needed to know at the time.Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 They should have tested you for the common forms of Hepatitis, Hep A, Hep B and Hep C. As well as done a liver panel to see what your liver enyzmes were. I bet your booties they did test for this, just gave you the info that they felt you needed to know at the time. You can ask your doctor or his nurse for copies of your lab reports. You might have to pay a nominal fee for the copies, but it is important for you to have this as part of your own personal records. Love Janet "There are souls in this world that have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go" Frederick Faber To: Hepatitis_C_Central Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:32:38 AMSubject: Auto-immune hep? I am confused..what is that exactly? Would I, or should I have been tested for that additionally, to HCV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 No I don't have it. I do have celiac disease which is another autoimmune disorder linked to heppers. It is also found in many other autoimmune disorders, including sarcoidosis. Celiac is inherited and can be the underlying problem in the formation of other autoimmune disorders, particularly after interferon therapy is started. It's been proven that interferon does trigger celiac disease in susceptible people, which is why a celiac panel should be done prior to treatment. Once the celiac disease is triggered, then the door is open for more autoimmune disorders to form. If you eliminate the gluten (the protein found in wheat) from your diet, you lessen the chance of these other autoimmune disorders from becoming a chronic problem. Or, you will make the symptoms much more bearable or eliminate the symptoms or the disorder by changing one's diet. The blood tests done today are a little more sophisticated than they were a few years ago, but most doctors are unaware of them and rely mainly in IgA testing instead of doing the full celiac panel or at least an IgG test. My own IgA was normal on the first test but tested low in the next 5 - so being IgA deficient can throw off the test. But my IgG was sky high but went back down to normal on my 4 month blood work after I went on a gluten-free diet. The ANA & RA tests do have a high number of false positive results in hep c folks too. Plus, there can be a bit of molecular mimicry going on as well, which will screw up the test results too in patients. If the tests are done in depth, then they will usually pick up a true disorder, otherwise, a general ANA and RA test is not that accurate in pin-pointing a certain disease. And it seems to depend on what type of autoimmune hepatitis you have - in one type, the steroids and antivirals is supposed to work, but on another type, they would do more harm than good. But statistically, 30% of those with autoimmune hepatitis actually have celiac disease instead with symptoms resolving on a gluten-free diet alone. Chris I truely hope you do not have autoimmune hep,, what a bummer,, they treat that with steroids which are soooo hard on the rest of your body! now I have a negative ana but pos RA factors, pos sed rate, pos c-reactive proteins etc, and while my blood test for Sarcoidosis is neg and my chest exray is negative for it, I have sarcoidosis in my right eye,, all from interferon.. I've had two surgeries on my eye to have the sarcoid membrane scraped off my retina.. I dont know that the tests always tell the whole story or that they can always figure things out.. they dont know what is wrong with me,, lol, well I hope all is well with you! hugs jax From: smalk50aol <smalk50aol>Subject: Re: Auto-immune hep?To: Hepatitis_C_Central Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 9:58 AM Well, I don't know about that Janet - I was never tested for it... And the hospital clinic that did my initial pre-diagnosis work-up, only did a hepatitis panel - that did not include autoimmune hep c. That involves another round of blood work for ANA - (which some places do a general ANA test routinely), SMA and anti-LKM tests. Usually, once a dx of hep c is made, and a & b are ruled out, most clinics and doctors do not look for autoimmune hep - Though sometimes, depending on the facility and bloodwork, they will dig deeper and run specific tests for various autoimmune disorders. For example, my "general" ANA was always positive but not specific for any one disorder. The liver docs at the clinic told me that most folks with hep c will have a positive ANA but that there were a lot of false positives. Recently, a more intensive test was done and it came up positive for Sjogren's Syndrome (which I have few if any symptoms of). So, if they are looking for AIH, they will then run the tests but generally they do not. Chris In a message dated 12/4/2008 11:25:38 A.M. Central Standard Time, doc_jadeyahoo (DOT) com writes: I bet your booties they did test for this, just gave you the info that they felt you needed to know at the time. Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try it now.Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Normally when they test for HCV they will test for AHCV Auto-immune hep? I am confused..what is that exactly? Would I, or should I have been tested for that additionally, to HCV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 I truely hope you do not have autoimmune hep,, what a bummer,, they treat that with steroids which are soooo hard on the rest of your body! now I have a negative ana but pos RA factors, pos sed rate, pos c-reactive proteins etc, and while my blood test for Sarcoidosis is neg and my chest exray is negative for it, I have sarcoidosis in my right eye,, all from interferon.. I've had two surgeries on my eye to have the sarcoid membrane scraped off my retina.. I dont know that the tests always tell the whole story or that they can always figure things out.. they dont know what is wrong with me,, lol, well I hope all is well with you! hugs jax Subject: Re: Auto-immune hep?To: Hepatitis_C_Central Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 9:58 AM Well, I don't know about that Janet - I was never tested for it... And the hospital clinic that did my initial pre-diagnosis work-up, only did a hepatitis panel - that did not include autoimmune hep c. That involves another round of blood work for ANA - (which some places do a general ANA test routinely), SMA and anti-LKM tests. Usually, once a dx of hep c is made, and a & b are ruled out, most clinics and doctors do not look for autoimmune hep - Though sometimes, depending on the facility and bloodwork, they will dig deeper and run specific tests for various autoimmune disorders. For example, my "general" ANA was always positive but not specific for any one disorder. The liver docs at the clinic told me that most folks with hep c will have a positive ANA but that there were a lot of false positives. Recently, a more intensive test was done and it came up positive for Sjogren's Syndrome (which I have few if any symptoms of). So, if they are looking for AIH, they will then run the tests but generally they do not. Chris In a message dated 12/4/2008 11:25:38 A.M. Central Standard Time, doc_jadeyahoo (DOT) com writes: I bet your booties they did test for this, just gave you the info that they felt you needed to know at the time. Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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