A Few Questions

[Lexie103]

Hello All,

Haven't been around the forums lately. I've been busy preparing for the arrival of our baby girl. As the due date nears, (Oct 30) I find that my anxiety about the birth is growing. I know that mother-to-child transmission is rare but my cousin, who also has hep C, has 3 children and 2 of hers got chronic hep. I've been reading as much as I can about natural childbirth and having as little medical intervention as possible to avoid them using something like the vacuum. It'd be nice to hear something from any mothers with experience in this.

Also, I've been planning on getting tattoos for a long time now. Of course, I want to wait until after I have the baby (and get back in shape!) but my boyfriend told me I should wait to go through treatment before I get a tattoo. Is this necessary? Do I need to tell the tattoo artist that I'm positive for hepC? Some thoughts on that would be helpful.

Lexie

[alice]

Congratulations about the baby, Lexie! That is great news. You know the risk is low of passing the disease to your child but FWIW, I've had 4 and none of my children have HCV. They actually used a fetal scalp monitor with my daughter and she is clear. My third child might have had a scalp monitor too (can't remember-- it was a chaotic delivery) but the point is the same--- very hard to transmit to infants before and during birth.

About the tattoo... As long as you are healthy enough, seems OK. Some people with advanced liver disease tend to have low white blood cells whether they are on treatment or not. If that's your case, your chances of infection after the tattoo are higher. If your blood work is fine, no reason not to get a tattoo. Whether you tell the tattoo artist about being HCV+ is up to you but I ALWAYS tell anyone who is drawing my blood, checking my teeth, etc that I am HCV+. Personally, I think it's only fair to let them know. I would also ask them a lot of questions about their sterilization procedures. Just because you have HCV now, does not prevent you from being infected with another strain. Just always a good idea to be careful.

Congrats on again on the baby! so exciting! 

shalice

[triplel]

Congrats on the baby!!!!
I had two children both natural, and neither of them contracted Hep C.
My mother had hep c, and had 4 natural and 1 c-section, and none of us contracted Hep C at birth.
I contracted the Hep C from her after birth, but none of us contracted it during birth.

Tattoo's, I finally got one after my diagnosis of Hep C, and I did tell my tattoo artist. I actually wasn't sure if they would do it with my positive diagnosis, but they did!!! He thanked me for telling him, and I have gotten two from the same guy now. I personally wouldn't feel right with myself if I didn't tell them that I had Hep C. My artist always showed me the brand new needles, and always threw it away in the sharps container prior to my leaving the building... along with disposal of all instruments/tissues used during the procedure. I was just happy to find someone who didn't mind tattooing me with my hep c diagnosis! I got mine after round one, and two of treatment, but was still positive.

Good luck with everything, and try not to stress too much!
Congrats again on the baby!
Hepper Huggssss!
Lisa

[Lexie103]

Thanks for the advice.

In an earlier thread where I inquired about natural cures, someone mentioned that I should "be very careful about breastfeeding if you have HCV"

My infectious disease specialist told me it was safe to breastfeed. Has anyone heard anything different? Should I bring this up again with my doctor?

[greyrocker]

Just a guess, but perhaps they meant to watch and make sure your nipples and surrounding area don't become chapped and bleeding. That's all I can think of, anyway.

greyrocker

[alice]

I think GR is right about the cracked/bleeding nipples. I also nursed all 4 of my kids and, again, no transmission via that way, either.

If you do develop cracked/bleeding nipples (I never did) you can always pump until it clears up and bottle feed in the interim.

Good luck, lexie.

shalice

[Cali]

How wonderful...you're having a baby!!!  And a Scorpio to boot!!!  Congratulations and best wishes for an easy birth and a beautiful healthy baby!

I had two children and neither was infected with HepC.

Cali

[alice]

Thanks for the advice.

In an earlier thread where I inquired about natural cures, someone mentioned that I should "be very careful about breastfeeding if you have HCV"

My infectious disease specialist told me it was safe to breastfeed. Has anyone heard anything different? Should I bring this up again with my doctor?

Lexie,

Please forgive me if I'm being nosy but I am wondering... Are you still nursing the baby? Pegylated interferon/ribavirin and the Incivek you said you're taking are not supposed to be taken while breastfeeding or pregnant due to potentially serious events for the infant. Have you discussed this further with your doctor?

i hope I'm not being rude...just trying to do the right thing here. Please see the links below.
alice
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interferon alfa-2b / ribavirin Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Warnings
http://www.drugs.com/pregnancy/interferon-alfa-2b-ribavirin.html

Telaprevir Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Warnings
http://www.drugs.com/pregnancy/telaprevir.html

[Lexie103]

Alice, thanks so much for your concern. I actually decided not to breastfeed before my daughter was born. I just didn't feel confident in the information I found that said it was safe. My doctor made me well aware of the fact that I could not treat and breastfeed at the same time. Feeding her formula has allowed me to start treatment sooner - I didn't want to chase a toddler and be sick!

[alice]

I'm glad to hear that, Lexie. Will you forgive an old fart for worrying? You also mentioned in an earlier post that your doc was going to start you on Incivek but you say you are a Genotype 3....Incivek doesn't work for Geno 3 HCV--- it's not even approved by the FDA for G3--- so I'm a little worried about that, too.

Now if you want to think I'm nosy i understand but, really, my heart is in the best place. I would hate to see you going through all the additional trouble/difficulty of taking a drug unnecessarily. Geno 3 patients typically do 24 weeks of inf/riba.

I may sound like a cranky old witch sometimes but, deep down, I'm really an old softie who has been in a situation not too far removed from the one you're in right now.  Hope you're having a good day.

alice

[Lexie103]

My infectious disease specialist says he has treated previous non-responder gen 3 patients with Incivek and had success. Doctors can prescribe medications for off label uses. I used to take a blood pressure medication to treat migraines. My insurance ended up NOT approving it - I have to try dual therapy peg int/rib first. So, I'm just on those two. I'm scheduled for 48 weeks but he said he may drop to 24 depending on how my first labs are. If tx doesn't work this time, my insurance will approve the Incivek and I'll try again with triple therapy.

I don't think you're being nosy at all; I appreciate someone being concerned. No one else around me is really familiar with any of this. My mother in law is an LPN at Ohio State University Hospital here in Columbus and is the one who got me in to see my doctor; they've worked together for years. He's a great doctor and takes a lot of time each visit to listen to and address my concerns and answer any questions I have.

I just got prescribed zofran to help combat some of the never ending nausea I've had since I started tx last week. I'm hoping it helps; I've hardly been able to eat.

[alice]

That's interesting about the Incivek for Geno3. I know they're testing it on G2s now but current published data do not support its use with G3. Regardless, since you're determined to do tx, I hope it  works and you don't have to consider doing this again.

I also hope the zofran works for you and the nausea is short-lived. That kind of puking is the worst. i've had to get phenergan shots to control the vomiting but it's gotten much better over the past couple of months. i've taken only a few phenergan over the past few weeks and I don't need an appetite stimulant anymore.... but I need bigger pants! 

alice

ps-- also glad my posts haven't put you off.

 

[Lexie103]

I don't like taking more pills than I have to, I'd rather use something natural. I've been a cannabis patient for five years for previously existing stomach problems so that's what I've been doing to help the nausea, headaches, and loss of appetite, but I can't afford to smoke as much as I need to feel decent for a while. I need a lot more since starting tx. Insurance will pay for the zofran so I've got to deal with that. I hope it works.

[alice]

zofran works great for lots of people. Unfortunately, it gives me terrible headaches (I have horrendous migraines that get worse on tx) so I use phenergan. I don't like taking the extra pills, either, so I have smoked to help with the nausea, vomiting, and anorexia. It works up to a point and that point is when I take the pills, suppositories or shots, if necessary. Since you don't like pills, i hope you try ginger; it really can help, too. In studies with cancer chemo patients, they found ginger helped most if taken before administering the chemo drugs. Like many side effects, it's best to be proactive and stay on top of them instead of playing catch-up.

alice