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What is the normal protocol after the first postitive and than 2nd test to confirm?

I was initially diagnosed in 2013. The dr. was someone who i had never been to before and my only reason for being there was because of insurance i needed a referral for a foot dr. She checked out my and got that taken care of and out of the blue she asked me if i seemed to stay tired a lot. Strange question to me considering the only discussion we had was about my foot. So with no explanation she was like lets get some labs. No problem right...just drawing some blood for a blood test couldnt do any harm. They got the labs and i left... About a week later i recieved a call and they said they wanted to come back in to repeat just to confirm because there was numbers a lil elevated. The labs came back and i got the phone call that said your labs have confirmed you are pos. for hep C.

At this point, other than hearing about it, I knew nothing. "Whats that mean" is exactly what i said. I would have thought the lady new what i meant but guess not. Her reply, "it means you have hep-C"–now what? Convo over and i went on with life. To me if the dr. Didn't find it to concerning than i wasn't going to worry about it either... They are the professionals. 2016...4 and 1/4 into it...i find out i am pregnant because i went to see a dr. To fix the pain in my wrist before i cut it off. The same day i found out what i was having when i was due and everything they normally space out over the first 4 1/2 months. One of the first things i told the dr. Was that i had tested pos. However this time the results were neg. Which i questioned her about because i had heard of some miracle pill but was understanding that before that existed it was incurable. Anyway i was happy about and went on with life again.

Now, here it is 2020 and I am losing my mind. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I even started picking apart every bit of my past trying to figure out the insanity with my brain thinking maybe some ptsd or something since I had allowed myself stay some relationship abuse among some other sketchy situations. Couldn't figure it out. Well I had been having some other things going that reminded me of sugar... Exact same things as when i found out i had gestational diabetes. Went to a dr and she did some blood work. Sugar was ok follow up in a month. The first time i had went I didn't mention the things with my head because i wasnt even sure i believed it was really happening and i was gonna ask about the vision issue but forgot. Time for the follow up and i am positive something has got to be done. I have to figure out a way to explain whats going on so that she believes me. She was cool...said she wanted to do more labs and gave me a very low dose of zoloft. So the labs come back and it just so happenes that i have a cousin that works there whom got the honors of calling with results. Liver enzymes were a little elevated but not really enough to really worry until we were talking and my cousin happens to remember that i had tested positive for HCV in the past. Orders were immediately written and hep panels were drawn results 2 days later were positive. Dr wanted to refer me to a specialist. So out of curiosity for why i wasn't sent to one the first time i and so i would at least be mildly familiar when i get to see someone...i started researching.


My questions are...Has anyone had a similar experience where they were never asked to come back in or sent elsewhere after initial dx? What could possibly have made her ask the tired question and want to draw labs based on a conversation about feet? Has anyone who was positive had a neg.result during? I found an article that stated it was believed getting info or something from the baby so the results were not accurate but immediately after delivery they tested positive again? (It also stated that it was only good possibility without clinical trials and all that ) but how concerned should I be about my child...i am gonna have him tested but they cant see him for two weeks.

  1. Hi , thank you for sharing your story and current situation with us. It sounds like you've had quite the journey, and haven't always received clear answers about your health. We know that hep C can be unclear and scary, and are here with you for support and information.

    We can't speak for why your doctor decided to conduct testing based on a conversation about your feet. It's possible given you mentioned you felt fatigue that they wanted to test for any abnormalities with your levels.

    Sometimes, false positive tests results can happen. A positive test result from an antibody blood test doesn't necessarily means that someone has an active hep C infection. That test usually should be complimented by a second test that will indicate if there's an active HCV infection.

    The risk for mother-to-child transmission is there, though generally considered low–just around a 5% chance. This means that if you do have hepatitis C, the chance that your son has it are low–though him testing negative doesn't you may not have it yourself.

    It sounds like it may be worthwhile to get another test for yourself or to check in with the doctors who did your first two tests. Let us know how things are when you have an update? Warmly, Matt (Team Member)

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